3G stands for third generation, and is a wireless industry term for a collection of international standards and technologies aimed at increasing efficiency and improving the performance of mobile wireless networks.
3G wireless services offer enhancements to current applications, including greater data speeds, increased capacity for voice and data and the advent of packet data networks versus today’s switched networks.
As second-generation (2G) wireless networks evolve into third-generation systems around the globe operators are working hard to enable 2G and 3G compatibility and worldwide roaming, including 3G UMTS, GSM, GPRS, IS-95A/B, 3G CDMA2000 1X and CDMA2000 1xEV technologies.
The Different Types Of 3G
3G is a generic term covering a range of future wireless network technologies, including WCDMA, CDMA2000, UMTS and EDGE.
3G combines high-speed mobile access with Internet Protocol (IP) based services. This doesn't just mean fast mobile connection to the World Wide Web - by liberating us from slow connections, cumbersome equipment and immovable access points, 3G will enable new ways to communicate, access information, conduct business and learn. This is summarised in the diagram on below produced by Allied Business.
- WCDMA - Wideband Code Division Multiple Access
A technology for wideband digital radio communications of Internet, multimedia, video and other capacity-demanding applications. WCDMA has been selected for the third generation of mobile telephone systems in Europe, Japan and the United States.
Voice, images, data, and video are first converted to a narrowband digital radio signal. The signal is assigned a marker (spreading code) to distinguish it from the signal of other users. WCDMA uses variable rate techniques in digital processing and it can achieve multi-rate transmissions.
WCDMA has been adopted as a standard by the ITU under the name IMT-2000 direct spread.
- CDMA 2000 - Code Division Multiple Access 2000
Commercially introduced in 1995, CDMA quickly became one of the world's fastest-growing wireless technologies. In 1999, the International Telecommunications Union selected CDMA as the industry standard for new "third-generation" (3G) wireless systems. Many leading wireless carriers are now building or upgrading to 3G CDMA networks in order to provide more capacity for voice traffic, along with high-speed data capabilities.
Today, over 100 million consumers worldwide rely on CDMA for clear, reliable voice communications and leading-edge data services.
- UMTS - Universal Mobile Telecommunications System
The name for the third generation mobile telephone standard in Europe, standardized by ETSI.
- EDGE - Enhanced Data for Global Evolution
A technology that gives GSM the capacity to handle services for the third generation of mobile telephony. EDGE was developed to enable the transmission of large amounts of data at a high speed, 384 kilobits per second. EDGE uses the same TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access) frame structure, logic channel and 200kHz carrier bandwidth as today's GSM networks, which allows existing cell plans to remain intact.
3G systems will provide access, by means of one or more radio links, to a wide range of telecommunication services supported by the fixed telecommunication networks and to other services that are specific to mobile users. A range of mobile terminal types will be encompassed, linking to terrestrial and/or satellite-based networks, and the terminals may be designed for mobile or fixed use.
Key features of 3G systems are a high degree of commonality of design worldwide, compatibility of services, use of small pocket terminals with worldwide roaming capability, Internet and other multimedia applications, and a wide range of services and terminals. According to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) International Mobile Telecommunications 2000 initiative ("IMT-2000") third generation mobile ("3G") system services are scheduled to be initiated around the year 2000, subject to market considerations. The following Table describes some of the key service attributes and capabilities expected of 3G systems:
Security
3G networks offer greater security than their 2G predecessors. By allowing the UE (User Equipment) to authenticate the network it is attaching to, the user can be sure the network is the intended one and not an impersonator. 3G networks use the KASUMI block cipherinstead of the older A5/1 stream cipher. However, a number of serious weaknesses in the KASUMI cipher have been identified.
In addition to the 3G network infrastructure security, end-to-end security is offered when application frameworks such as IMS are accessed, although this is not strictly a 3G property.
Applications of 3G
The bandwidth and location information available to 3G devices gives rise to applications not previously available to mobile phone users. Some of the applications are:
- Mobile TV
- Video on demand
- Videoconferencing
- Telemedicine
- Location-based services
References:
- http://transition.fcc.gov/3G/
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3G
- http://www.dryaseen.pk/wp_3g.pdf
- http://www.3g.co.uk/All%20About%203G.htm
- http://www.hill.com/resources/whitepapers/signaling_processes.pdf
- http://www.motorola.com/Business/US-EN/Training+Home/Networks_Training/Available+Courses/Technology+Paths/ENG942
- http://www.agilent.com/cm/wireless/pdf/3G-Seminar2001_02.pdf
