This post is about mobile communications.
Mobile Communications Generations
There are different generations regarding mobile communications.
- 1G
- 2G
- 3G
- 4G
- 5G
1G
First Generation (1G) is referred to analogic communications.
Each region had a different mobile systems, and they were not compatible between them.
Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS) was the first mobile system, implemented in the USA.
NMT-450 was based in the 450 MHz band.
NMT-900 is an evolution of NMT-450, based in a 900 MHz band.
TACS is the European version of AMSP.
2G
Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) is a circuit-switched type of network. The GSM channel is assign permanently to the user during the call.
General Packet Radio Services (GPRS) is a packet-switched type of network. It allows packets transfer over a GSM network. The GPRS channel is assigned to the user only while packets are being transmitted or received.
GPRS
WAP was used for data and it had a layered architecture.
IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) has the following layers:
- Access
- Transport
- Control
- Application
DCS-1800 was developed by ETSI
High-Speed Circuit Switched Data (HSCSD)
EDGE (Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution) or Enhanced GPRS (EGPRS). Some authors consider them 2.75G.
EDGE Evolution
3G
3G technologies:
- UMTS
- CDMA2000
Universal Mobile Telecommunications Systems (UMTS) was developed by 3G Partnership Project (3GPP). UMTS uses the standard Wideband Vision Multiple Access (W-CDMA).
UTRAN
CDMA2000 was developed by 3GPP2.
High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) optimizes technology W-CDMA.
HSDPA uses Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ).
High-Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA) can be considered 3.75G.
Evolved High Speed Packet Access (HSPA+)
4G
4G solutions have encryption, device-based authentication and SIM-based authentication.
Long Term Evolution (LTE) was introduced by 3GPP. It uses Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA).
Enhanced UTRAN (E-UTRAN)
IEEE 802.16 is also known as Wireless MAN or WiMax.
5G
5G adds to 4G new mutual authentication capability and additional protections for subscriber identities.
3GPP Release 15 is considered 5G.
There are 3 bands:
- High-band or mmWave
- Mid-band
- Low-band or 5G DSS
The main band used in Europe was 3.4 – 3.8 GHz.
In Spain, the 700 MHz band, referred as the Segundo Dividendo Digital, that was used by the Televisión Digital Terrestre (TDT) service, was released to be used for 5G. You can read more about this on this external link.
5G consider these elements:
- User equipment (UE)
- NG-RAN
- 5GC
5G NR (5G New Radio) is a radio access technology (RAT) developed by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) for the 5G (fifth generation) mobile network.
New generation radio access network (NG-RAN) might be the same as 5G NR.
The base stations for 5G NR or NG-RAN are called eNodeB (eNB) or gNodeB (gNB).
5GC is the core network that consists of AMF/UPF’s.
Mobile Technology Overview
| Generation | Technology | Multiplex |
|---|---|---|
| 1G | TACS | |
| 2G | GPRS | |
| 3G | UMTS | |
| 4G | WiMax | |
| 4G | 4G LTE | OFDMA |
| 5G | 5G NR |