A new edition of the long wheelbase A8 luxury saloon car from Audi has been unveiled, featuring advanced LTE broadband technology.
Long-term evolution, or LTE for short, is next-generation broadband technology capable of delivering data transfer speeds which are on a par with the fixed-line broadband connection you are likely to have in your home. With speeds of 100Mbps the LTE technology that will now be fitted to the A8 L car is capable of streaming music, high-definition videos and other media to as many as six computers or mobile phones without slowing. The 3G connections which are currently available are only able to deliver data speeds of 14.4Mbps, and have real difficulty streaming large media files like high-definition videos to multiple devices, so this really is a huge step forward for in-car internet connections at Audi.
The new 4G LTE connections have been developed in collaboration with communications pioneer Alcatel-Lucent. Industry experts are expecting 4G LTE systems like this to replace the current GSM (Global System for Mobile communications) and UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications Standard) systems which are currently in use for 3G internet connections. The extra bandwidth offered by this new technology allows faster speeds, larger data transfers, and can cope with a large number of users even a peak times.
During the presentation of the A8 L prototype Audi Board Member for Technical Development Michael Dick has announced that the company are also preparing this LTE technology for use in production models as part of their 'Audi Connect' strategy. This will fulfil the pledge made by Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of Management of Audi AG, who had previously promised that LTE technology would be used in cars by early 2011.
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