THIRD GENERATION (3G) WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY
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ABSTRACT:
Third Generation (3G) mobile devices and services will transform wireless communications in to on-line, real-time connectivity. 3G wireless technology will allow an individual to have immediate access to location-specific services that offer information on demand. The first generation of mobile phones consisted of the analog models that emerged in the early 1980s. The second generation of digital mobile phones appeared about ten years later along with the first digital mobile networks. During the second generation, the mobile telecommunications industry experienced exponential growth both in terms of subscribers as well as new types of value-added services. Mobile phones are rapidly becoming the preferred means of personal communication, creating the world's largest consumer electronics industry.
The rapid and efficient deployment of new wireless data and Internet services has emerged as a critical priority for communications equipment manufacturers. Network components that enable wireless data services are fundamental to the next-generation network infrastructure. Wireless data services are expected to see the same explosive growth in demand that Internet services and wireless voice services have seen in recent years.
3G Wireless Market Drivers:
Telecommunications service providers and network operators are embracing the recently adopted global third generation (3G) wireless standards in order to address emerging user demands and to provide new services. The concept of 3G wireless technology represents a shift from voice-centric services to multimedia-oriented (voice, data, video, fax) services. In addition, heavy demand for remote access to personalized data is fueling development of applications, such as the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) and multimedia management, to complement the 3G protocols. Complementary standards, such as Bluetooth, will enable interoperability between a mobile terminal (phone, PDA etc.) and other electronic devices, such as a laptop/desktop and peripherals, providing added convenience to the consumer and allowing for the synchronization and uploading of information at all times. According to Lehman Brothers, approximately 50 percent of current voice services subscribers are expected to use wireless data services by 2007, instead of 25 percent as previously forecast1. Lehman Brothers further predicts that, within seven years, 18 percent of cellular revenues and 21 percent of PCS (personal communications services) revenue will come from wireless data services. Cellular subscriptions are forecast to exceed one billion by 20032, compared with the 306 million that was forecast at the end of 1998, representing a compound annual growth of 29 percent. Demand for voice services has traditionally been a market driver. However, today, demand for data services has emerged as an equally significant market driver. After many years of stasis, the telecommunications industry is undergoing revolutionary changes due to the impact of increased demand for data services on wireline and wireless networks.
Generation First Wireless Technology:
The first generation of wireless mobile communications was based on analog signalling. Analog systems, implemented in North America, were known as Analog Mobile Phone Systems (AMPS), while systems implemented in Europe and the rest of the world were typically identified as a variation of Total Access Communication Systems (TACS). Analog systems were primarily based on circuit-switched technology and designed for voice, not data.
Second Generation Wireless Technology:
The second generation (2G) of the wireless mobile network was based on low-band digital data signalling. The most popular 2G wireless technology is known as Global Systems for Mobile Communications (GSM). GSM systems, first implemented in 1991, are now operating in about 140 countries and territories around the world. An estimated 248 million users now operate over GSM systems. GSM technology is a combination of Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) and Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA). The first GSM systems used a 25MHz frequency spectrum in the 900MHz band. FDMA is used to divide the available 25MHz of bandwidth into 124 carrier frequencies of 200kHz each. Each frequency is then divided using a TDMA scheme into eight timeslots. The use of separate timeslots for transmission and reception simplifies the electronics in the mobile units. Today, GSM systems operate in the 900MHz and 1.8 GHz bands throughout the world with the exception of the Americas where they operate in the 1.9 GHz band. In addition to GSM, a similar technology, called Personal Digital Communications (PDC), using TDMA-based technology, emerged in Japan. Since then, several other TDMA-based systems have been deployed worldwide and serve an estimated 89 million people worldwide. While GSM technology was developed in Europe, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technology was developed in North America. CDMA uses spread spectrum technology to break up speech into small, digitized segments and encodes them to identify each call. CDMA systems have been implemented worldwide in about 30 countries and serve an estimated 44 million subscribers. While GSM and other TDMA-based systems have become the dominant 2G wireless technologies, CDMA technology is recognized as providing clearer voice quality with less background noise, fewer dropped calls, enhanced security, greater reliability and greater network capacity. The Second Generation (2G) wireless networks mentioned above are also mostly based on circuit-switched technology. 2G wireless networks are digital and expand the range of applications to more advanced voice services, such as Called Line Identification. 2G wireless technology can handle some data capabilities such as fax and short message service at the data rate of up to 9.6 kbps, but it is not suitable for web browsing and multimedia applications.
Next Generation Mobile Networks:
Second Generation (2G+) Wireless Networks: As stated in a previous section, the virtual explosion of Internet usage has had a tremendous impact on the demand for advanced wireless data communication services. However, the effective data rate of 2G circuit-switched wireless systems is relatively slow -- too slow for today's Internet. As a result, GSM, PDC and other TDMA-based mobile system providers and carriers have developed 2G+ technology that is packet-based and increases the data communication speeds to as high as 384kbps. These 2G+ systems are based on the following technologies: High Speed Circuit-Switched Data (HSCSD), General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) and Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution (EDGE) technologies. HSCSD is one step towards 3G wideband mobile data networks. This circuit-switched technology improves the data rates up to 57.6kbps by introducing 14.4 kbps data coding and by aggregating 4 radio channels timeslots of 14.4 kbps. GPRS is an intermediate step that is designed to allow the GSM world to implement a full range of Internet services without waiting for the deployment of full-scale 3G wireless systems. GPRS technology is packet-based and designed to work in parallel with the 2G GSM, PDC and TDMA systems that are used for voice communications and for table look-up to obtain GPRS user profiles in the Location Register databases. GPRS uses a multiple of the 1 to 8 radio channel timeslots in the 200kHz-frequency band allocated for a carrier frequency to enable data speeds of up to 115kbps. The data is packetized and transported over Public Land Mobile Networks (PLMN) using an IP backbone so that mobile users can access services on the Internet, such as SMTP/POP-based e-mail, ftp and HTTP-based Web services. EDGE technology is a standard that has been specified to enhance the throughput per timeslot for both HSCSD and GPRS. The enhancement of HSCSD is called ECSD, whereas the enhancement of GPRS is called EGPRS. In ECSD, the maximum data rate will not increase from 64 kbps due to the restrictions in the A interface, but the data rate per timeslot will triple. Similarly, in EGPRS, the data rate per timeslot will triple and the peak throughput, including all eight timeslots in the radio interface, will exceed 384 kbps.
Third Generation (3G) Wireless Networks:
3G wireless technology represents the convergence of various 2G wireless telecommunications systems into a single global system that includes both terrestrial and satellite components. One of the most important aspects of 3G wireless technology is its ability to unify existing cellular standards, such as CDMA, GSM, and TDMA, under one umbrella. The following three air interface modes accomplish this result: wideband CDMA, CDMA2000 and the Universal Wireless Communication (UWC-136) interfaces. Wideband CDMA (W-CDMA) is compatible with the current 2G GSM networks prevalent in Europe and parts of Asia. W-CDMA will require bandwidth of between 5Mhz and 10 Mhz, making it a suitable platform for higher capacity applications. It can be overlaid onto existing GSM, TDMA (IS-36) and IS95 networks. Subscribers are likely to access 3G wireless services initially via dual band terminal devices. W-CDMA networks will be used for high-capacity applications and 2G digital wireless systems will be used for voice calls. The second radio interface is CDMA2000 which is backward compatible with the second generation CDMA IS-95 standard predominantly used in US. The third radio interface, Universal Wireless Communications – UWC-136, also called IS-136HS, was proposed by the TIA and designed to comply with ANSI-136, the North American TDMA standard. 3G wireless networks consist of a Radio Access Network (RAN) and a core network. The core network consists of a packet-switched domain, which includes 3G SGSNs and GSNs, which provide the same functionality that they provide in a GPRS system, and a circuit-switched domain, which includes 3G MSC for switching of voice calls. Charging for services and access is done through the Charging Gateway Function (CGF), which is also part of the core network. RAN functionality is independent from the core network functionality. The access network provides a core network technology independent access for mobile terminals to different types of core networks and network services. Either core network domain can access any appropriate RAN service; e.g. it should be possible to access a “speech” radio access bearer from the packet switched domain. The Radio Access Network consists of new network elements, known as Node B and Radio Network Controllers (RNCs). Node B is comparable to the Base Transceiver Station in 2G wireless networks. RNC replaces the Base Station Controller. It provides the radio resource management, handover control and support for the connections to circuit-switched and packet-switched domains. The interconnection of the network elements in RAN and between RAN and core network is over Iub, Iur and Iu interfaces based on ATM as a layer 2 switching technology. Data services run from the terminal device over IP, which in turn uses ATM as a reliable transport with QoS. Voice is embedded into ATM from the edge of the network (Node B) and is transported over ATM out of the RNC. The Iu interface is split into 2 parts: circuitswitched and packet-switched. The Iu interface is based on ATM with voice traffic embedded on virtual circuits using AAL2 technology and IP-over-ATM for data traffic using AAL5 technology. These traffic types are switched independently to either 3G SGSN for data or 3G MSC for voice.
Comparison of 2G and 3G Mobile Networks:
As mentioned above, although there are many similarities between 2G and 3G wireless networks (and many of the 2G and 3G components are shared or connected through interworking functions), there are also many differences between the two technologies. Table 1 compares the differences between the core network, the radio portion and other areas of the two networks.