3G MOBILE TECHNOLOGIES

Introduction - Evolution of the Mobile Market

The first radiotelephone service was introduced in the US at the end of the
1940s, and was meant to connect mobile users in cars to the public fixed
network. In the 1960s, a new system launched by Bell Systems, called
Improved Mobile Telephone Service” (IMTS), brought many improvements
like direct dialing and higher bandwidth. The first analog cellular systems
were based on IMTS and developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The
systems were “cellular” because coverage areas were split into smaller areas
or “cells”, each of which is served by a low power transmitter and receiver.

This first generation (1G) analog system for mobile communications saw
two key improvements during the 1970s: the invention of the
microprocessor and the digitization of the control link between the
mobilephone and the cell site.

Second generation (2G) digital cellular systems were first developed at the
end of the 1980s. These systems digitized not only the control link but also
the voice signal. The new system provided better quality and higher
capacity at lower cost to consumers.

Third generation (3G) systems promise faster communications services,

including voice, fax and Internet, anytime and anywhere with seamless
global roaming. ITU’s IMT-2000 global standard for 3G has opened the
way to enabling innovative applications and services (e.g. multimedia
entertainment, infotainment and location-based services, among others). The
first 3G network was deployed in Japan in 2001. 2.5G networks, such as
GPRS (Global Packet Radio Service) are already available in some parts of
Europe.

Work has already begun on the development of fourth generation (4G)

technologies in Japan.

It is to be noted that analog and digital systems, 1G and 2G, still co-exist in
many areas.
3G Technology
International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 (IMT--2000), better
known as 3G or 3rd Generation, is a generation of standards for mobile
phones and mobile telecommunications services fulfilling specifications by
the International Telecommunication Union,. Application services include
wide-area wireless voice telephone, mobile Internet access, video calls and
mobile TV, all in a mobile environment. Compared to the older 2G and 2.5G
standards, a 3G system must allow simultaneous use of speech and data
services, and provide peak data rates of at least 200 kbit/s according to the
IMT-2000 specification. Recent 3G releases, often denoted 3.5G and 3.75G,
also provide mobile broadband access of several Mbit/s to laptop computers
and smartphone

The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) was formed in 1998 to foster
deployment of 3G networks that descended from GSM. 3GPP technologies
evolved as follows.

• General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) offered speeds up to 114 Kbps.

• Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution (EDGE) reached up to 384

Kbps.

• UMTS Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) offered downlink speeds up to 1.92

Mbps.

• High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) boosted the downlink to

14Mbps.

• LTE Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) is aiming for

100 Mbps.

Features
Application services include wide-area wireless voice telephone, mobile
Internet access, video calls and mobile TV, all in a mobile environment.
Compared to the older 2G and 2.5G standards, a 3G system must allow
simultaneous use of speech and data services, and provide peak data rates of
at least 200 kbit/s according to the IMT-2000 specification. Recent 3G
releases, often denoted 3.5G and 3.75G, also provide mobile broadband
access of several Mbit/s to laptop computers and smartphones.

3G Network
Macro Cells, Micro Cells, and Pico Cells

The 3G network might be divided up in hierarchical fashion:

• Macro cell - the area of largest coverage, e.g., an entire city.

• Micro cell - the area of intermediate coverage, e.g., a city centre.
• Pico cell - the area of smallest coverage, e.g., a "hot spot" in a hotel or
airport.

Access Technologies (FDMA, TDMA, CDMA)

FDMA: Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) is the most common
analog system. It is a technique whereby spectrum is divided up into
frequencies and then assigned to users. With FDMA, only one subscriber at
any given time is assigned to a channel. The channel therefore is closed to
other conversations until the initial call is finished, or until it is handed-off to
a different channel. A “full-duplex” FDMA transmission requires two
channels, one for transmitting and the other for receiving. FDMA has been
used for first generation analog systems.

TDMA: Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) improves spectrum

capacity by splitting each frequency into time slots. TDMA allows each
user to access the entire radio frequency channel for the short period of a
call. Other users share this same frequency channel at different time slots.
The base station continually switches from user to user on the channel.
TDMA is the dominant technology for the second generation mobile cellular
networks.

CDMA: Code Division Multiple Access is based on “spread” spectrum

technology. Since it is suitable for encrypted transmissions, it has long been
used for military purposes. CDMA increases spectrum capacity by allowing
all users to occupy all channels at the same time. Transmissions are spread
over the whole radio band, and each voice or data call are assigned a unique
code to differentiate from the other calls carried over the same spectrum.
CDMA allows for a “ soft hand-off” , which means that terminals can
communicate with several base stations at the same time. The dominant
radio interface for third-generation mobile, or IMT-2000, will be a
wideband version of CDMA with three modes (IMT-DS, IMT-MC and
IMT-TC).

Advantages Of 3G

• New radio spectrum to relieve overcrowding in existing

systems.
• More bandwidth, security and reliability.
• Interoperability between services providers.
• Fixed and variable data rates.
• Asymmetric data rates.
 • Backward compatibility of devices with existing networks.
• Rich multimedia services

Disadvantages

• High spectrum licensing fees for the 3g services.

• Huge capital is required to build infrastructure for 3G
services.
• Health impact of electro magnetic waves.
• Prices are high for 3G mobile services.
• Takes time to catch up the service.
• Battery life of 3G phones.
• Lack of coverage in some areas.

Applications
The bandwidth and location information available to 3G devices gives rise
to applications not previously available to mobile phone users. Some of the
applications are:

Mobile TV – a provider redirects a TV channel directly to the subscriber's

phone where it can be watched.

Video on demand – a provider sends a movie to the subscriber's phone.

Video conferencing – subscribers can see as well as talk to each other.

Tele-medicine – a medical provider monitors or provides advice to the

potentially isolated subscriber.

Location-based services – a provider sends localized weather or traffic

conditions to the phone, or the phone allows the subscriber to find nearby
businesses or friends.

Conclusion
3G is for high speed networks for variety of data intensive applications. 3G
provides more advanced services like wide-area wireless voice Telephone,
video calls and broadband wireless data and also it provides advanced
multimedia access and global roaming. 3G is giving way to new generation
wireless networks i.e. 4G .