Wireless and Mobile Communication

Assignment-I Sudheesh TK: 2020HT66127

Birla Institute of Technology and Science

MTech - Computing Systems & Infrastructure

First Semester – Wireless and Mobile Communication

Evolution of Mobile communication

Assignment Submitted by

Sudheesh TK - 2020HT661
Wireless and Mobile Communication

Assignment-I Sudheesh TK: 2020HT66127

Introduction

Telecommunication and networking have been and will be one of the core technologies in
helping the evolution of mankind and technology itself. If it wasn’t for it for these channels of
communications and data transmission, we would probably still be in an era where technology
isn’t as advanced as today.

Wireless communication technology inside cell phones and other mobile devices has evolved
over several decades. Starting with the then revolutionary 1G (referred to as the earliest form of
voice only network) all the way to the 4G of today and the 5G of the near future. First off, the G
in “4G” or “5G” stands for generation and the number is just a representation of the evolution of
technology. Currently, we are using the 4th generation of wireless communication technology.
Wireless and Mobile Communication

Assignment-I Sudheesh TK: 2020HT66127

1G: Where it all began

The first generation of mobile networks – or 1G as they were retroactively dubbed when the next
generation was introduced – was launched by Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) in Tokyo
in 1979. By 1984, NTT had rolled out 1G to cover the whole of Japan.

In 1983, the US approved the first 1G operations and the Motorola’s DynaTAC became one of
the first ‘mobile’ phones to see widespread use stateside. Other countries such as Canada and the
UK rolled out their own 1G networks a few years later.

However, 1G technology suffered from a number of drawbacks. Coverage was poor and sound
quality was low. There was no roaming support between various operators and, as different
systems operated on different frequency ranges, there was no compatibility between systems.
Worse of all, calls weren’t encrypted, so anyone with a radio scanner could drop in on a call.

2G: The Cultural Revolution

The second generation of mobile networks, or 2G, was launched under the GSM standard in

Finland in 1991. For the first time, calls could be encrypted, and digital voice calls were
significantly clearer with less static and background crackling.

But 2G was about much more than telecommunications; it helped lay the groundwork for
nothing short of a cultural revolution. For the first time, people could send text messages (SMS),
picture messages, and multimedia messages (MMS) on their phones. The analog past of 1G gave
way to the digital future presented by 2G. This led to mass-adoption by consumers and
businesses alike on a scale never before seen. The advance in technology from 1G to 2G
introduced many of the fundamental services that we still use today, such as SMS, internal
roaming, conference calls, call hold and billing based on services e.g. charges based on long
distance calls and real time billing.

2.5G:

Between the year 2000 and 2003, an upgrade in technologies introduced the packet network
which provided high speed data transfer and internet and became known as 2.5G.The standards
included GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) and EDGE (enhanced Data Rates in GSM).
Wireless and Mobile Communication

Assignment-I Sudheesh TK: 2020HT66127

GPRS supports flexible data transmission rates and provides continuous connection with the
network. It also allows for the service provider to charge for the amount of data that is sent rather
than their connection time.

3G: The ‘Packet-Switching’ Revolution

3G was launched by NTT DoCoMo in 2001 and aimed to standardize the network protocol used
by vendors. This meant that users could access data from any location in the world as the ‘data
packets’ that drive web connectivity were standardized. This made international roaming
services a real possibility for the first time.

3G’s increased data transfer capabilities (4 times faster than 2G) also led to the rise of new
services such as video conferencing, video streaming and voice over IP (such as Skype). In 2002,
the Blackberry was launched, and many of its powerful features were made possible by 3G
connectivity. For the first time, this generation supported high speed wide band internet access as
well as fixed wireless internet access and allowed for video calls, chatting and conferencing,
mobile TV, video on demand services, navigational maps, email, mobile gaming, music and
digital services such as movies.

The twilight era of 3G saw the launch of the iPhone in 2007, meaning that its network capability
was about to be stretched like never before.

4G: The Streaming Era

4G was first deployed in Stockholm, Sweden and Oslo, Norway in 2009 as the Long Term

Evolution (LTE) 4G standard. It was subsequently introduced throughout the world and made
high-quality video streaming a reality for millions of consumers. 4G offers fast mobile web
access (up to 1 gigabit per second for stationary users) which facilitates gaming services, HD
videos and HQ video conferencing. The major benefit of an IP based network is that it is able to
seamlessly handover, for voice and data to GSM, UMTS and CDMA2000 technologies from the
previous different generation’s infrastructure.
Wireless and Mobile Communication

Assignment-I Sudheesh TK: 2020HT66127

4G introduced the LTE standard which only support packet switching and an all IP Network.
There are a significant amount of infrastructure changes needed to be implemented by service
providers in order to supply because voice calls in GSM, UMTS and CDMA2000 are circuit
switched, so with the adoption of LTE, carriers will have to re-engineer their voice call network.

5G: The Internet of Things Era

5g is the 5th generation mobile network. it is a new global wireless standard after 1g, 2g, 3g, and
4g networks. 5g enables a new kind of network that is designed to connect virtually everyone
and everything together including machines, objects, and devices.5g wireless technology is
meant to deliver higher multi-gbps peak data speeds, ultra low latency, more reliability, massive
network capacity, increased availability, and a more uniform user experience to more users.
higher performance and improved efficiency empower new user experiences and connects new
industries.

Goals for future 5G include significantly faster speeds (a minimum of 1 Gbps and perhaps up to
10 Gbps) plus lower power requirements to better support huge numbers of new Internet of
Things (IoT) devices. It will have capabilities to provide faster dialing speeds, multiple device
connectivity, higher data speeds just to name a few.

Conclusion

There has been a lot of advancements in the field of wireless network communication over the
years in terms of overall development and change in core functionality, which has been crucial to
put us in a era that is driven by technology all around us and with 5G a couple years away,
technologies such as IoT, Cloud computing and AI will completely redefine our world by 2025.
Wireless and Mobile Communication

Assignment-I Sudheesh TK: 2020HT66127