• 1G,2G,3G,4G,5G

First-Generation Analog Cellular Systems

• The first-generation cellular systems are based on analog transmission technology. The most popular first
generation cellular systems are AMPS (widely deployed in most parts of US, South America, Australia,
China), and ETACS (deployed throughout Europe).
• The systems transmit speech signals employing FM, and important control information is transmitted in
digital form using FSK.
• The entire service area is divided into logical cells, and each cell is allocated one specific band in the
frequency spectrum.
• AMPS and ETACS cellular radio systems deploy cell-sites with tall towers that support several receiving
antennas and have transmitting antennas that typically radiate a few hundred watts of effective radiated power.
• Each cell-site has one control channel transmitter that broadcasts on the forward control channel, one control
channel receiver that listens on the reverse control channel for any mobile phone to set-up a call.
• All these systems use two separate frequency bands for forward (from cell-site to mobile) and reverse (from
mobile to cell-site) links. Such a system is referred to as a frequency division duplex ( DD) scheme.
• The typical allocated overall band in each direction, for example, for AMPS, and NMT-900, is 25 MHz in
each direction. The dominant spectra of operation for these systems are the 800-and 900-MHz bands.
Second-Generation Digital Cellular Systems

• The second generation (2G) cellular systems represent the set of wireless air interface standards that rely on
digital modulation and sophisticated digital signal processing in the handset and the base station.
• Digital cellular technologies support a much higher user capacity, providing superior security and voice
quality, and lay the foundation for value-added services (including data) that will continue to be developed
and enhanced in future.
• To have efficient use of the frequency spectrum, time division or code-division multiple access technique is
used in 2G digital cellular systems so that low-rate data along with voice can be processed.
• There are four major standards in this category: the North American Interim Standard (IS-54) that later on
improved into IS-136; GSM, the pan-European digital cellular; and Personal digital cellular (PDC) — all of
them using TDMA technology; and IS-95 in North America, which uses CDMA technology.
• The 2G digital cellular systems are all FDD and mostly operate in the 800- and 900-MHz bands.
• Based on the analog AMPS cellular system, the TDMA system IS-54/136 was developed in the US that adds
digital traffic channels. IS-54/136 uses dual-mode mobile phones and incorporates associated control channels,
authentication procedures using encryption, and mobile assisted handoff. The IS-136 includes digital control
channels which enable to provide several additional services such as identification, voice mail, SMS, call
waiting, group calling, etc.
• Global System for Mobile (GSM), which supports eight time slotted mobile subscribers for each 200-kHz
radio channel in both the cellular and PCS bands and Pacific Digital Cellular (PDC), a Japanese TDMA
standard that is similar to IS-136, are the other two most popular TDMA based digital cellular standards.
• The popular 2G CDMA standard (IS-95), also known as cdmaOne, can support up to 64 mobile subscribers
that are orthogonally coded and simultaneously transmitted on each 1.25 MHz channel. The speech-coding
technique of all 2G systems operates at about 10 kbps.
• GSM supports eight users in a 200-kHz band; IS-54 and PDC support three users in 30 and 25-kHz bands,
respectively. In other words, GSM uses 25 kHz for each user, IS-54 uses 10 kHz per user, and JDC uses 8.33
kHz per user. Therefore, GSM supports 2.5 times less number of subscribers in the given bandwidth.
• The number of users for CDMA depends on the acceptable quality of service; therefore, the number of users
in the 1,250 kHz CDMA channels cannot be theoretically fixed. But this number is large enough to convince
the standards organization to adopt CDMA technology for next-generation 3G systems.
Third-Generation Digital Cellular Systems

• The fundamental purpose of the 3G mobile communications system is to provide a globally integrated
wireless communication system combining different incompatible network technologies already deployed
across the world.
• All 2G and 2.5G cellular communications systems and mobile phones will eventually evolve towards a
global standard, which is referred to IMT-2000. While no one common standard for the air interface has
been approved, the number of different standard specifications includes one FDMA standard, one TDMA
standard, and one CDMA standard with three variations.
• The IMT-2000 system incorporates three variations of CDMA. The modes differ in how duplexing is
accomplished and how many carriers are used. All variations operate in a 5-MHz channel, as compared to
1.25 MHz for cdmaOne systems.
• The need for a capacity increase necessitates a greater spectrum allocation (1885 MHz–2025 MHz and
2110 MHz–2200 MHz) for 3G systems.
The key features of the IMT-2000 system defining the ITU’s view of 3G cellular network capabilities are
as follows:
(a) High degree of worldwide commonality of design.
(b) Compatibility of services with fixed networks and within IMT-2000.
(c) More efficient use of the available spectrum.
(d) Voice quality comparable to that of PSTN.
(e) 144–kbps data rate available to users in high-speed vehicles over large areas.
(f) 384 kbps available to pedestrians standing or moving slowly over small areas.
(g) Support for 2-Mbps data rate for office use
(h) Symmetrical and asymmetrical data-transmission rates
(i) Support for both circuit-switched and packet-switched data services
(j) Support for wide variety of mobile phones for worldwide use including pico, micro, macro, and global
cellular/satellite cells
(k) Worldwide roaming capability
(l) Capability for multimedia applications and a wide range of services
(m) Flexibility to allow the introduction of new services and technologies
Fourth-Generation Digital Cellular Systems

• The stage of broadband mobile communications that supersedes 3G (third-generation wireless) and is the
predecessor of 5G (fifth-generation wireless).
• The 4G wireless cellular standard was defined by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and
specifies the key characteristics of the standard, including transmission technology and data speeds.
• Each generation of wireless cellular technology has introduced increased bandwidth speeds and network
capacity. 4G users get speeds of up to 100 Mbps, while 3G only promised a peak speed of 14 Mbps.
• The transmission and receiving capabilities of 4G are powered by MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output)
and Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) technologies.
• Both MIMO and OFDM enable more capacity and bandwidth in comparison to 3G. OFDM provides more
speed than the primary technologies that powered 3G, which include TDMA (Time Division Multiple
Access) and CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) technology. With MIMO, 4G reduces network
congestion in comparison to 3G, because more users can be supported.

Source: https://www.techtarget.com/searchmobilecomputing/definition/4G
What is the difference between 4G and 4G LTE?
• LTE (Long Term Evolution) was originally developed to make the transition for carriers easier from 3G
to 4G. 4G was first defined by the ITU in 2008, but its speeds and technical specifications were not
immediately achievable for mobile networks or mobile devices.
• As an interim step up from 3G, LTE provides more bandwidth than 3G, without achieving the full
bandwidth network speed minimum of 100 Mbps that 4G promises.
• Depending on the carrier, speeds range from 20 Mbps to 100 Mbps. 4G LTE-A (LTE-Advanced),
however, is a specific term that is defined as enabling 100 Mbps
History of 4G
• The earliest phases of what became known as 4G started in 2008 as the International Mobile
Telecommunications-Advanced (IMT-Advanced) specification.
• In 2008, LTE and WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access), which aimed to bridge
the gap between 3G and 4G.
• Sprint was among the principal backers of WiMAX, while Verizon pushed LTE.
• LTE has steadily increased in speed and performance since 2011, with the 4G LTE-A technology
providing cellular networks with the full 100 Mbps of network performance defined by the original
IMT-Advanced specification.
Fifth-Generation Digital Cellular Systems
• 5G is the 5th generation mobile network. 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.
• 5G is based on OFDM (Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing), a method of modulating a digital signal
across several different channels to reduce interference. 5G uses 5G NR air interface alongside OFDM
principles. 5G also uses wider bandwidth technologies such as sub-6 GHz and mmWave.
• Like 4G LTE, 5G OFDM operates based on the same mobile networking principles. However, the new 5G NR
air interface can further enhance OFDM to deliver a much higher degree of flexibility and scalability. This
could provide more 5G access to more people and things for a variety of different use cases.
• 5G will bring wider bandwidths by expanding the usage of spectrum resources, from sub-3 GHz used in 4G to
mmWave band and beyond. 5G can operate in both lower bands (e.g., sub-6 GHz) as well as mmWave (e.g.,
24 GHz and up), which will bring extreme capacity, multi-Gbps throughput, and low latency.
• 5G is designed to not only deliver faster, better mobile broadband services compared to 4G LTE, but can also
expand into new service areas such as mission-critical communications and connecting the massive IoT. This is
enabled by many new 5G NR air interface design techniques, such as a new self-contained TDD subframe
design. Source: https://www.qualcomm.com/5g/what-is-5g
5G is used across three main types of connected services, including enhanced mobile broadband, mission-critical
communications, and the massive IoT. A defining capability of 5G is that it is designed for forward
compatibility—the ability to flexibly support future services that are unknown today.

Enhanced mobile broadband

In addition to making our smartphones better, 5G mobile technology can usher in new immersive experiences
such as VR and AR with faster, more uniform data rates, lower latency, and lower cost-per-bit.

Mission-critical communications
5G can enable new services that can transform industries with ultra-reliable, available, low-latency links like
remote control of critical infrastructure, vehicles, and medical procedures.

Massive IoT
5G is meant to seamlessly connect a massive number of embedded sensors in virtually everything through the
ability to scale down in data rates, power, and mobility—providing extremely lean and low-cost connectivity
solutions.

5G is designed to deliver peak data rates up to 20 Gbps based on IMT-2020 requirements.

References:

• Wireless Communication by TL Singal Tata McGraw Hill Education, Ist edition 2010, ISBN:
978-0-07-068178-1.
• Wireless Communication Principle and Practice by TS Rappaport, Pearson, first edition 2002.