Sridharan Natarajan and Karl Wale
Continuous Computing

The ever-increasing demand for wireless broadband by mobile data users is constantly forcing telecom standards bodies to look for newer specifications which can deliver multi-megabit throughput and lower latency levels. In response, 3GPP developed Long Term Evolution which brings with it not only higher throughput but also a flatter architecture with lower latencies and an all-IP infrastructure promising reduced operating expenses. LTE's packet-optimized radio access technology, along with an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) network suitable for "always on" operation, lowers the cost per bit and co-exists nicely with other existing access technologies. One key challenge of LTE, however, is how core network components will keep up.