Emerging Wireless Technologies
Emerging Wireless Technologies
A look into the future of wireless communications – beyond 3G
Forward: The Public Safety Wireless Network (PSWN) Program is conducting an ongoing assessment of advancements in the wireless communications industry. The scope of this assessment is to identify emerging wireless services and technologies for potential public safety use in the near future and beyond. This particular document is the first of a series of emerging wireless technologies studies. This study will concentrate primarily on the fourth generation of mobile telecommunications and beyond.
3G – i.e., an entirely packet switched network with all digital network elements and extremely high available bandwidth. For the most part, it is believed that 4G will bring true multimedia capabilities such as high-speed data access and video conferencing to the handset. It is also envisioned that 4G systems will be deployed with software defined radios, allowing the equipment to be upgraded to new protocols and services via software upgrades. 4G also holds the promise of worldwide roaming using a single handheld device. Wireless Generations At-a-Glance As with all technology progressions, the “next” upgrades must be in planning and development phases while its predecessors are being deployed. This statement holds true with all mobile telecommunications to date. It seems that it will also hold true for the next generations of wireless networks. The original analog cellular systems are considered the first generation of mobile telephony (1G). In the early 1980s, 1G systems were deployed. At the same time, the cellular industry began developing the second generation of mobile telephony (2G). The difference between 1G and 2G is in the signaling techniques used: 1G used analog signaling, 2G used digital signaling. As experience shows, the lead-time for mobile phone systems development is about 10 years. It was not until the early to mid 1990s that 2G was deployed. Primary thinking
A look into the future of wireless communications – beyond 3G
Forward: The Public Safety Wireless Network (PSWN) Program is conducting an ongoing assessment of advancements in the wireless communications industry. The scope of this assessment is to identify emerging wireless services and technologies for potential public safety use in the near future and beyond. This particular document is the first of a series of emerging wireless technologies studies. This study will concentrate primarily on the fourth generation of mobile telecommunications and beyond.
3G – i.e., an entirely packet switched network with all digital network elements and extremely high available bandwidth. For the most part, it is believed that 4G will bring true multimedia capabilities such as high-speed data access and video conferencing to the handset. It is also envisioned that 4G systems will be deployed with software defined radios, allowing the equipment to be upgraded to new protocols and services via software upgrades. 4G also holds the promise of worldwide roaming using a single handheld device. Wireless Generations At-a-Glance As with all technology progressions, the “next” upgrades must be in planning and development phases while its predecessors are being deployed. This statement holds true with all mobile telecommunications to date. It seems that it will also hold true for the next generations of wireless networks. The original analog cellular systems are considered the first generation of mobile telephony (1G). In the early 1980s, 1G systems were deployed. At the same time, the cellular industry began developing the second generation of mobile telephony (2G). The difference between 1G and 2G is in the signaling techniques used: 1G used analog signaling, 2G used digital signaling. As experience shows, the lead-time for mobile phone systems development is about 10 years. It was not until the early to mid 1990s that 2G was deployed. Primary thinking
References: http://users.ece.gatech.edu/~jxie/4G/ http://voicendata.ciol.com/content/columns/fromcell/101010301.asp http://voicendata.ciol.com/content/columns/fromcell/201010301.asp http://www.atp.nist.gov/nationalmeeting/kenney.pdf http://www.cnn.com/2001/TECH/ptech/03/08/4G.world.idg/ http://www.linkair.com/press_room/media_coverage.html http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/1999/nsf9968/nsf9968.htm