Today’s mobile broadband communication which allows a mobile phone to seamlessly surf the internet, upload and download files rapidly – at about 14 Mbps with HSPA - and adequately support multimedia and gaming applications relies chiefly on a technology known as 3G, or UMTS.
3G itself is based on the popular GSM system which has become the world standard as far as cellular based mobile communication is concerned. Indeed, as of September 2009 the GSM family of technologies reached nearly 4 billion subscriptions worldwide or 89.5 percent share of market with service on 860 networks in 220 countries.
3G is the first step in transforming the narrowband GSM based cellular system to a full ip based edge to edge broadband wireless system. 3G is a hybrid system supporting voice communication through the circuit switched network and data communication through the data network.
3G Long Term Evolution (LTE)
The main intention of 3G is to slowly evolve the CS GSM network towards a full data network while guaranteeing an acceptable return on investment (ROI) on previous network cash outlays.
LTE will take mobile broadband communication to the next level by first of all simplifying the mobile network and secondly radically increasing communication speeds to over 100 Mbps downlink (see 3GPP LTE and LTE SAE).
Compared to their 3G predecessors, LTE networks will be based on an end to end ip network with high data rates and wide area coverage, reduced latency and delay, and much greater system capacity.
The underlying LTE ip transport network will facilitate interconnection with other ip based networks and overall alignment with web evolution. Also, the flatter and simpler ip based network will lead to service provider maintenance and upgrade savings that are surely to be passed on to the subscriber.
LTE Advanced
LTE advanced , which will follow LTE, will support peak data rates of around 1 Gbps with bandwidths of up to 100 MHz and will apply several changes to the physical layer in order to support these larger bandwidths with more flexible allocations and enhanced antenna technologies.
Base station and scheduler coordination and interference/suppression management will require further changes to the underlying network architecture. Connectivity will be improved through the introduction of the relay node.
LTE Advanced will be standardised in the 3GPP specification Release 10.
There are a number of exceptional books, and ebooks, that deal with Long Term Evolution and LTE advanced and these include -and are considered favorites by the author and not only- LTE, The UMTS Long Term Evolution: From Theory to Practice, 3G Evolution:HSPA and LTE for Mobile Broadband,Evolved Packet System,New Air Interface for Long Term Evolution, and HSPA/HSUPA for UMTS the latter giving a strong background on the present 3G based systems.
These books are available online or through any decent up to date technical bookstore.
Regarding ebooks, Long Term Evolution is an excellent free source for those that wish to gain a quick but complete overview of the technology. This ebook has become very, very popular as is evident from the high hit rate and download volume that the ebook has attained in a short amount of time.
Near or In Building Communication
Many mobile communication devices, such as mobile communication terminals, smartphones,laptops, notebooks,netbooks,Pods and Pads offer a potpourri of access choices including mobile broadband (3G and later LTE; initially for data and then from data/VoIP applications), and Wlan.
This means that when close to a building the user can opt for free internet access via Wlan, including incoming and outgoing wireless VoIP, and when on the road for mobile broadband download applications such as route guidance and geographic detection and information services.
The Battle for the Building
One could instinctively predict that traffic around buildings will be dominated by free Wlan, or low cost fixed of Wlan based VoIP systems while on the road coverage and related services (such as mobile commerce) will be the domain of mobile communication service providers.
Basically, the nature of the service and corresponding user behavior may eventually determine whether the medium used will be purely mobile, purely fixed or a mix of both.
The jury's still out on which technology or business model, if any, will prevail in the battle for the building. What is certain is that communication technology was, still is, and will most surely remain,one of the most exciting research, development and business areas in the years to come.
Antonis Hontzeas - Antonis Hontzeas has been in the forefront of the Telecommunications industry for over twenty years. Tenures include positions ranging ...
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