4G LTE Device to Device, D2D

- 4G LTE Advanced device to device, D2D communications for high data rate local communications and machine to machine, M2M links.

4G LTE Advanced technology tutorial includes:
    •  LTE Advanced Tutorial
    •  Carrier Aggregation
    •  Coordinated Multipoint - CoMP
    •  LTE Relay
    •  LTE Device to Device, D2D
    •  LTE HetNet
See also: 3G LTE

One of the schemes that is being researched and considered for 4G LTE Advanced is the concept of Device to Device communications.

4G LTE device to device, D2D would enable the direct link of a device, user equipment UE, etc to another device using the cellular spectrum. This could allow large volumes of media or other data to be transferred from one device to another over short distances and using a direct connection.. This form of device to device transfer would enable the data to be transferred without the need to run it via the cellular network itself, thereby avoiding problems with overloading the network.

LTE device to device concept

There are a number of benefits that arise from developing the LTE device to device standards. It could bring benefits to users and operators alike.

The provision of high data rate local services is likely to emerge as the use of rich multimedia services becomes more commonplace as the use of mobile computers such as tablets, netbooks, and latest generation smartphones increases.

The LTE platform would have the advantage over others such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth that operate device to device protocols is that they use licence exempt spectrum, and the performance is likely to be poor, especially where large numbers of users are present.

The possibility with LTE device to device communications is that using the LTE spectrum a controlled interference environment could be used. This would provide a much more effective environment for the high data rate communications which could include downloads of video, music, etc.

Another possibility is that the licence free spectrum could be used alongside the licensed spectrum, one being used as the other becomes exhausted.

LTE device to device, D2D concept

There are several advantages to using LTE device to device communications

• The network can advertise the presence of the LTE device to device connection possibility.
• Devices do not need to scan for available WLANs - this reduces power consumption.
• The LTE network can distribute the security keys in a safe fashion.

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