University Of Poonch Rawalakot

Department of BBA
Assignment no 1
Course Title: System analysis & Design
Project Title: 2G,3G&4G Technologies
Course code: Comp_244
Semester: BBA(4th)
Session: 2020-24
Submitted to: Mam-Anum
Submitted by:
Name Roll No
touseef 88
Abdullah Riaz 91
Saleh Abbasi 100
Junaid Ishfaq 102
Awais Tariq 81

Submission date: 13-09-2022

 Introduction
Mobile networks have matured over the last two decades from a data speed perspective, but they
continue to evolve to enable many new use cases for people and I o T (Internet of Things)
devices. Today, the 4G use the same technologies worldwide; however, it wasn’t the case before
the fourth generation of mobile networks. The first generation of mobile networks is now
obsolete, but we still have 2G, 3G, 4G networks active in most parts of the world.

2G, 3G, 4G are the four generations of mobile networks where G stands for Generation, and the
number denotes the generation number. 4G is the latest generation, whereas 1G networks are
now obsolete. The cellular technologies GSM, UMTS, LTE and NR enable 2G, 3G & 4G ,
respectively.

Term Stands For Launch Year

2G Second Generation 1991

3G Third Generation 2001

4G Fourth Generation 2009

Q-What 2G, 3G & 4G mean and when they were launched ?

Ans: We live in an era of mobile communications where we have four different generations of
mobile networks that provide us with cellular services. The first generation of mobile networks
was introduced in most parts of the world in the early 1980s. Digital mobile networks replaced
the first generation in 1991-92, but some of the technologies that replaced the 1G networks are
still around even after thirty years.
2G, 3G & 4G Are The Generations Of Mobile Networks:
There have been four generations of mobile networks so far. 2G, 3G & 4G generations of
mobile networks where G stands for ‘Generation’ and the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 represent
the generation number. Since the early 1980s, we have seen a new generation of mobile
networks nearly every ten (10) years.

Each generation of mobile networks (e.g. 2G) has a set of requirements fulfilled by the relevant
cellular technologies (e.g. GSM). Examples of cellular technologies include AMPS, GSM, UMTS,
CDMA2000, LTE, etc.

Mobile networks started their journey in a very decentralised way, and different regions, e.g.
Nordic, US, UK, Germany, Japan etc., followed their own preferred technologies for launching
local cellular services.

As mobile networks became an integral part of our lives, the technologies started to mature
with the aim to allow customers to enjoy the same experience abroad as they would in their
home country.

Generation Technology Standard Radio access technology

2G GSM, D-AMPS, IS-95 Combination of TDMA & FDMA,

and Narrowband CDMA

3G UMTS (WCDMA) and Wideband CDMA and

CDMA2000 Narrowband CDMA

4G LTE (Long Term Evolution) OFDMA and SC-FDMA

Multiple Technologies Are Required For 1G, 2G, 3G, 4G And 5G:

The first-generation mobile networks (1G) used analogue technologies: AMPS, NMT, TACS, J-
TACS and C-Netz. The following generations were digital and used GSM, D-AMPS and IS-95 for
second-generation (2G), CDMA2000 and UMTS for third (3G), LTE for fourth (4G).

The first generation of mobile networks used analogue technologies to deliver mobile
communications services. Later, with technological developments and constant demand for
new services, we moved into the secure world of digital communications.

Analogue mobile systems were based on FDMA technology. FDMA stands for Frequency
Division Multiple Access and uses separate frequency bands to transmit and receive
communication wirelessly. The frequency bands are then divided into multiple sub-frequencies,
also known as channels, to enable communication between the mobile network and the mobile
phone.

Analogue networks do not have encryption capabilities, making them susceptible to security
issues. The continuous nature of the radio signal also makes the analogue systems more prone
to noise.

The mobile networks started their digital era in the early 1990s to overcome the challenges that
analogue networks could not address. This digital journey started with the second generation of
mobile networks, also known as 2G. The technology standards that enabled the second
generation of mobile networks (2G) followed two major tracks.

The first track used a combination of FDMA (Frequency Division Multiple Access) and TDMA
(Time Division Multiple Access). The other track employed the CDMA technology (Code Division
Multiple Access) for the first time in mobile communications. More about 2G and later
generations can be found in the following sections, but have a look at the table be low for a
summary of the technologies used for various generations of mobile networks.
2G (Second Generation):

2G stands for the second generation of mobile networks that initially offered voice calls, text
messages and limited mobile internet. 2G networks started in the early 1990s and were
introduced in different parts of the world through various digital technologies, including GSM,
D-AMPS and IS-95.

The second-generation (2G) mobile networks are digital, and they replaced the first-generation
(1G) networks. 2G networks enabled highly secure voice calls, text messages (SMS), and limited
mobile data services. 2G networks started in the 1990s and were deployed in different parts of
the world through various digital technologies.

The most widely used technology standard for the second generation of mobile networks
is Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). Digital Advanced Mobile Phone System (D-
AMPS) and Interim Standard 95 (IS-95) are the other technologies that were used for launching
second-generation mobile networks (2G).

The second generation of mobile networks employed two new access technologies, TDMA
(Time Division Multiple Access) and CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access). Access technologies
are part of the mobile radio network that allows a mobile phone to connect to the mobile
network wirelessly through radio waves. The original GSM and D-AMPS networks were circuit-
switched and not designed to provide efficient data services.

GSM networks added an enhancement called General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) that

introduced new network nodes in the GSM architecture to provide efficient mobile data
(internet) services. GPRS is a second-generation enhancement and is often referred to as 2.5G
as it paved the way for the 3G data services that later utilised the same network nodes that
GPRS originally introduced. These nodes are part of the mobile core network and are
called SGSN (Serving GPRS Support Node) and GGSN (Gateway GPRS Support Node).

In addition, another enhancement, EDGE – Enhanced Data for Global Evolution, was launched
after GPRS and before the 3G networks to improve the peak download speeds from 171.2 kbps
(with GPRS) to 384 kbps (with EDGE). EDGE is also a second-generation enhancement and is
referred to as 2.75G because it bridged the gap between GPRS and 3G UMTS. We have a
dedicated post on GPRS, EGPRS and EDGE that you may check out for more information.

Another key technology of the 2G era is IS-95, commercially known as cdmaOne. IS-95 was the
first-ever CDMA-based mobile network and was also designed to support mobile data. There
have been two versions of IS-95: IS-95 A and IS-95 B.

IS-95 A can support peak download data rates of up to 14.4 kbps. IS-95 B can improve these
rates to up to 115 kbps. IS-95 is also important because it is the technology that evolved to
CDMA2000 for the 3G cellular services. We have a dedicated post on IS-95 vs CDMA2000, which
can help you understand the difference between these two technologies.

3G (Third Generation):

3G stands for the third generation of mobile networks that offer voice, text and data services. The
technologies that enable 3G are UMTS and CDMA2000 which are based on the CDMA
technology. UMTS is the 3G technology for GSM, and CDMA2000 is the 3G technology for IS-
95.

There have been two 3G migration tracks which were both based on the CDMA technology
(Code Division Multiple Access). The first track was UMTS for migrating GSM networks to 3G,
and the other track was CDMA2000 for IS-95 and D-AMPS.
UMTS, which represents the first track, stands for Universal Mobile Telecommunication System.
It employs Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) for its air interface to offer
peak download data rates of up to 2 Mbps. The average data rate with UMTS is around 384 kbps.

We have a dedicated post on 3G UMTS that dives deeper into the technical aspects, including
frequencies, bandwidths and more. High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) networks are built upon
the UMTS technology. HSPA can offer peak downlink and uplink speeds of up to 14.4
Mbps and 5.76 Mbps, respectively.

UMTS was introduced as part of the 3GPP Release 1999, which later saw enhancements in the
form of HSDPA (High-Speed Downlink Packet Access), HSUPA (High-Speed Uplink Packet
Access) and Evolved High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA+) to provide data rate improvements.
HSPA+ can offer data rates of up to 42 Mbps in the downlink and 11.5 Mbps in the uplink.

The other track, CDMA2000, was mainly for IS-95 and D-AMPS. CDMA2000 can support peak
data rates of up to 153 kbps in the downlink and the uplink. The data rates in CDMA2000
networks were later enhanced through EVDO (EVolution Data Optimized). EVDO can offer
maximum download speeds of up to 14.7 Mbps and top upload speeds of up to 5.4 Mbps. 

4G (Fourth Generation):

4G stands for the fourth generation of mobile networks that are data-only networks enabled by
the LTE technology. 4G networks use packet-switching to offer IP-based voice calls and text
messages in addition to high-speed mobile data. LTE is the 4G technology for both UMTS and
CDMA2000.

4G is enabled by the LTE technology, which stands for Long Term Evolution (of mobile
networks). LTE is the 4G migration path for key 3G technologies, including UMTS and
CDMA2000. Even though another technology WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for
Microwave Access), can also fulfil the 4G requirements, LTE has been the primary technology
for worldwide 4G deployments.

LTE networks are fully packet-switched and do not have a circuit-switched part. A packet-based

technology Voice over LTE (VoLTE), is responsible for enabling voice calls and text messaging in
4G LTE networks. However, LTE networks have a 2G/3G circuit-switched fallback, which allows
them to facilitate voice calls and SMS over 2G or 3G networks if the VoLTE capability is not
supported by the phone or your mobile operator.

LTE can offer peak downlink data rates of up to 300 Mbps and lower latencies than3G
networks. From a customer use case viewpoint, 4G LTE networks can offer reliable mobile
broadband services due to the average speeds they can enable. LTE on your mobile phone can
also work as a mobile hotspot to provide an internet backup for your home broadband.
After the launch of LTE, some enhancements were introduced in the form of LTE Advanced
(LTE-A) and LTE Advanced Pro. LTE-Advanced and LTE-Advanced Pro are shown on the mobile
phone screen as LTE+ and can support maximum theoretical speeds of up to 1 Gbps and 3Gbps,
respectively. The average 4G LTE speeds are considerably lower than the peak speeds. On
average, 4G LTE Advanced networks can offer download speeds of around 65 Mbps.

LTE uses Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access – OFDMA for radio access, which is
highly efficient than earlier radio access technologies. OFDMA supports a highly efficient
modulation technique, QAM – Quadrature Amplitude Modulation, which generates higher data
rates to utilise the available frequency better. You may also check out our post on LTE and LTE+
symbols on your phone for a general understanding of 4G LTE and to learn what it means for
you as a customer.