4G Technology - Features

 FEATURES OF FOURTH GENERATION 

TECHNOLOGY (4G)

                                       User requirements are growing faster than ever and the limitations of the current mobile communication systems have forced the researchers to come up with more advanced and efficient technologies. 4G mobile technology is the next step in this direction. 4G is the next generation of wireless networks that will totally replace 3G networks. 

With the deployment of 3G (3rd generation mobile communication systems) in process, the interest of many research bodies shifts towards future systems beyond 3G. They are called B3G (beyond 3G) or 4G (4th generation mobile communication). The term 4G is used broadly to include several types of broadband wireless access communication systems, not only cellular telephone systems.

OBJECTIVES 

•4G will be a fully IP-based integrated system.

•Providing transfer rate between 100 Mbit/s to 1 Gbit/s speeds 

    both indoors and outdoors.

•Premium quality and high security.

•Interoperability with existing wireless standards

CHALLENGES IN MIGRATION TO 4G 

•Multimode user terminals 

•Security 

•Attacks on application level 

•Jamming and spoofing 

•Data encryption

SCOPE IN 4G

      •Multiple-input and multiple-output, or MIMO

      •Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM)

      •Software Defined Radio (SDR)

Features

•High performance

•Interoperability and easy roaming

•Fully converged services.

•Devices: more user friendly interface

•Enhanced GPS Services•Scalability•Crisis-Management 

applications

Conclusion

This blog article provided an overview of the 4G evolution and

technologies. 4G will certainly add perceived benefit to an

ordinary person’s life over 3G. 4G will be an intelligent

technology that will interconnect the entire world seamlessly.

Projected 4G mobile communication system will reduce

number of different technologies to a single global standard.

Technologies are evolving every day and night but the final

success of 4G mobile communication will depend upon the

new services and contents made available to users. These

new applications must meet user expectations, and give

added value over existing offers.

1G , 2G, 3G Moble Services

                          User requirements are growing faster than ever and the limitations of the current mobile communication systems have forced the researchers to come up with more advanced and efficient technologies.The history and evolution of mobile service from the 1G (First generation) to third generation is discussed in this section.

A. 1G (First generation)

The process began with the designs in the 1970s that have become known as 1G. Almost all of the systems from this generation were analog systems where voice was considered to be the main traffic. The first generation wireless standards used plain TDMA and FDMA. These systems could often be listened to by third parties. Some of the standards are NMT, AMPS, Hicap, CDPD, Mobitex, DataTac, TACS and ETACS.

B. 2G (Second generation)

The 2G (second generation) systems designed in the 1980s were still used mainly for voice applications but were based on digital technology, including digital signal processing techniques. These 2G systems provided circuit-switched data communication services at a low speed. All the standards belonging to this generation were commercial centric and they were digital in form. The second generation of wireless mobile communication systems was a huge success story because of its revolutionary technology and the services that it brought to its users. Besides high-quality speech service, global mobility was a strong and convincing reason for users to buy 2G terminals. The second generation standards are GSM, iDEN, D-AMPS, IS-95, PDC, CSD, PHS, GPRS, HSCSD, and WiDEN.

C. 2.5G

2.5G is the intermediate generation between 2G and 3Gcellular wireless technologies. This term is used to describe 2G-systems that have implemented a packet switched domain in addition to the circuit switched domain. 2.5G is not an officially defined term rather it was invented for marketing purpose. 2.5G provides some of the benefits of 3G (e.g. it is packet-switched) and can use some of the existing 2G infrastructure in GSM and CDMA networks.

D. 3G (Third generation)

To meet the growing demands in network capacity, rates required for high speed data transfer and multimedia applications, 3G standards started evolving. The systems in this standard are essentially a linear enhancement of 2G systems. They are based on two parallel backbone-infrastructures, one consisting of circuit switched nodes, and one of packet oriented nodes. The third generation (3G) has been launched in several parts of the world, but the success story of 2G is hard to repeat.