4G From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia This article is about the mobile telecommunications standard.

For other uses, see 4G (disambiguation). This article's factual accuracy may be compromised due to out-of-date information. Please help improve the article by updating it. There may be additional information on the talk page. (March 2011) In telecommunications, 4G is the fourth generation of cellular wireless standards. It is a successor to the 3G and 2G families of standards. In 2009, the ITU-R organization specified the IMT-Advanced (International Mobile Telecommunications Advanced) requirements for 4G standards, setting peak speed requirements for 4G service at 100 Mbit/s for high mobility communication (such as from trains and cars) and 1 Gbit/s for low mobility communication (such as pedestrians and stationary users).[1] A 4G system is expected to provide a comprehensive and secure all-IP based mobile broadband solution to laptop computer wireless modems, smartphones, and other mobile devices. Facilities such as ultra-broadband Internet access, IP telephony, gaming services, and streamed multimedia may be provided to users. 4G technologies such as mobile WiMAX, HSPA+, and first-release Long term evolution (LTE) have been on the market since 2006[2], 2008[3], and 2009[4][5][6] respectively. IMT-Advanced compliant versions of LTE and WiMAX are under development and called "LTE Advanced" and "WirelessMAN-Advanced" respectively. ITU has decided that LTE Advanced and WirelessMAN-Advanced should be accorded the official designation of IMT-Advanced. On December 6, 2010, ITU recognized that current versions of LTE, WiMax and other evolved 3G technologies that do not fulfill "IMT-Advanced" requirements could nevertheless be considered "4G", provided they represent forerunners to IMT-Advanced and "a substantial level of improvement in performance and capabilities with respect to the initial third generation systems now deployed."[7] As seen below, in all suggestions for 4G, the CDMA spread spectrum radio technology used in 3G systems and IS-95 is abandoned and replaced by OFDMA and otherfrequency-domain equalization schemes. This is combined with MIMO (Multiple In Multiple Out), e.g., multiple antennas, dynamic channel allocation and channel-dependent scheduling. Contents [hide]

1 Background 2 Requirements 3 4G and near-4G systems

3.1 4G candidate systems

3.1.1 LTE Advanced 3.1.2 IEEE 802.16m or WirelessMAN-Advanced 3.2.1 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) 3.2.2 Mobile WiMAX (IEEE 802.16e) 3.2.3 UMB (formerly EV-DO Rev. C) 3.2.4 Flash-OFDM 3.2.5 iBurst and MBWA (IEEE 802.20) systems

3.2 4G predecessors and discontinued candidate systems

4 Data rate comparison 5 Objective and approach

5.1 Objectives assumed in the literature 5.2 Approaches

5.2.1 Principal technologies

6 4G features assumed in early literature 7 Components

7.1 Multiplexing and Access schemes 7.2 IPv6 support 7.3 Advanced antenna systems 7.4 Software-defined radio (SDR) 8.1 Deployment plans

8 History of 4G and pre-4G technologies

9 Beyond 4G research 10 References 11 External links [edit]Background The nomenclature of the generations generally refers to a change in the fundamental nature of the service, non-backwards compatible transmission technology, higherspectral bandwidth and

new frequency bands. New generations have appeared about every ten years since the first move from 1981 analog (1G) to digital (2G) transmission in 1992. This was followed, in 2001, by 3G multi-media support, spread spectrum transmission and at least 200 kbit/s, in 2011 expected to be followed by 4G, which refers to all-IP packet-switched networks, mobile ultra-broadband (gigabit speed) access and multi-carrier transmission.[citation needed] The fastest 3G based standard in the WCDMA family is the HSPA+ standard, which was commercially available in 2009 and offers 28 Mbit/s downstreams without MIMO, i.e. only with one antenna (it would offer 56 Mbit/s with 2x2 MIMO), and 22 Mbit/s upstreams. The fastest 3G based standard in the CDMA2000 family is the EV-DO Rev. B, which was available in 2010 and offers 15.67 Mbit/s downstreams.[citation needed] [edit]Requirements In mid 1990s, the ITU-R organization specified the IMT-2000 specifications for what standards that should be considered 3G systems. However, the cell phone market only brands some of the IMT-2000 standards as 3G (e.g. WCDMA and CDMA2000), but not all (3GPP EDGE, DECT and mobile-WiMAX all fulfil the IMT-2000 requirements and are formally accepted as 3G standards, but are typically not branded as 3G). In 2008, ITU-R specified the IMT-Advanced (International Mobile Telecommunications Advanced) requirements for 4G systems. This article uses 4G to refer to IMT-Advanced (International Mobile Telecommunications Advanced), as defined by ITU-R. An IMT-Advanced cellular system must fulfill the following requirements:[8]

Based on an all-IP packet switched network. Peak data rates of up to approximately 100 Mbit/s for high mobility such as mobile access and up to approximately 1 Gbit/s for low mobility such as nomadic/local wireless access, according to the ITU requirements. Dynamically share and use the network resources to support more simultaneous users per cell. Scalable channel bandwidth 520 MHz, optionally up to 40 MHz.[9][9][10] Peak link spectral efficiency of 15 bit/s/Hz in the downlink, and 6.75 bit/s/Hz in the uplink (meaning that 1 Gbit/s in the downlink should be possible over less than 67 MHz bandwidth). System spectral efficiency of up to 3 bit/s/Hz/cell in the downlink and 2.25 bit/s/Hz/cell for indoor usage.[9] Smooth handovers across heterogeneous networks.

Ability to offer high quality of service for next generation multimedia support.

In September 2009, the technology proposals were submitted to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) as 4G candidates.[11] Basically all proposals are based on two technologies:

LTE Advanced standardized by the 3GPP 802.16m standardized by the IEEE (i.e. WiMAX)

Present implementations of WiMAX and LTE are largely considered a stopgap solution that will offer a considerable boost while WiMAX 2 (based on the 802.16m spec) and LTE Advanced are finalized. Both technologies aim to reach the objectives traced by the ITU, but are still far from being implemented.[8] The first set of 3GPP requirements on LTE Advanced was approved in June 2008.[12] LTE Advanced will be standardized in 2010 as part of the Release 10 of the 3GPP specification. LTE Advanced will be fully built on the existing LTE specification Release 10 and not be defined as a new specification series. A summary of the technologies that have been studied as the basis for LTE Advanced is included in a technical report.[13] Current LTE and WiMAX implementations are considered pre-4G, as they don't fully comply with the planned requirements of 1 Gbit/s for stationary reception and 100 Mbit/s for mobile. Confusion has been caused by some mobile carriers who have launched products advertised as 4G but which are actually current technologies, commonly referred to as '3.9G', which do not follow the ITU-R defined principles for 4G standards. A common argument for branding 3.9G systems as new-generation is that they use different frequency bands to 3G technologies; that they are based on a new radio-interface paradigm; and that the standards are not backwards compatible with 3G, whilst some of the standards are expected to be forwards compatible with "real" 4G technologies. While the ITU has adopted recommendations for technologies that would be used for future global communications, they do not actually perform the standardization or development work themselves, instead relying on the work of other standards bodies such as IEEE, The WiMAX Forum and 3GPP. Recently, ITU-R Working Party 5D approved two industry-developed technologies (LTE Advanced and WirelessMAN-Advanced)[14] for inclusion in the ITUs International Mobile Telecommunications Advanced (IMT-Advanced program), which is focused on global communication systems that would be available several years from now. [edit]4G and near-4G systems

The wireless telecommunications industry as a whole has early assumed the term 4G as a shorthand way to describe those advanced cellular technologies that, among other things, are based on or employ wide channel OFDMA and SC-FDE technologies, MIMO transmission and an all-IP based architecture.[citation needed] Mobile-WiMAX, first release LTE, IEEE 802.20 as well as Flash-OFDM meets these early assumptions, and have been considered as 4G candidate systems, but do not yet meet the more recent ITU-R IMT-Advanced requirements. [edit]4G candidate systems [edit]LTE Advanced See also: 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) below LTE Advanced (Long-term-evolution Advanced) is a candidate for IMT-Advanced standard, formally submitted by the 3GPP organization to ITU-T in the fall 2009, and expected to be released in 2012. The target of 3GPP LTE Advanced is to reach and surpass the ITU requirements.[15] LTE Advanced is essentially an enhancement to LTE. It is not a new technology but rather an improvement on the existing LTE network. This upgrade path makes it more cost effective for vendors to offer LTE and then upgrade to LTE Advanced which is similar to the upgrade from WCDMA to HSPA. LTE and LTE Advanced will also make use of additional spectrum and multiplexing to allow it to achieve higher data speeds. Coordinated Multi-point Transmission will also allow more system capacity to help handle the enhanced data speeds. Release 10 of LTE is expected to achieve the LTE Advanced speeds. Release 8 currently supports up to 300 Mbit/s download speeds which is still short of the IMT-Advanced standards.[16] Data speeds of LTE Advanced

LTE Advanced

Peak Download 1 Gbit/s

Peak Upload

500 Mbit/s

[edit]IEEE 802.16m or WirelessMAN-Advanced

The IEEE 802.16m or WirelessMAN-Advanced evolution of 802.16e is under development, with the objective to fulfill the IMT-Advanced criteria of 1 Gbit/s for stationary reception and 100 Mbit/s for mobile reception.[17] [edit]4G predecessors and discontinued candidate systems [edit]3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) See also: LTE Advanced above

Telia-branded Samsung LTE modem The pre-4G technology 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) is often branded "4G", but the first LTE release does not fully comply with the IMT-Advanced requirements. LTE has a theoretical net bit rate capacity of up to 100 Mbit/s in the downlink and 50 Mbit/s in the uplink if a 20 MHz channel is used and more if multiple-input multipleoutput (MIMO), i.e. antenna arrays, are used. The physical radio interface was at an early stage named High Speed OFDM Packet Access (HSOPA), now named Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA). The first LTE USB dongles do not support any other radio interface. The world's first publicly available LTE service was opened in the two Scandinavian capitals Stockholm (Ericsson and Nokia Siemens Networks systems)

and Oslo (a Huawei system) on 14 December 2009, and branded 4G. The user terminals were manufactured by Samsung.[4] Currently, the two publicly available LTE services in the United States are provided byMetroPCS,[18] and Verizon Wireless.[19] AT&T also has an LTE service in planned for deployment between mid-2011 and end of 2013, Sprint Nextel has stated it's considering switching from WiMax to LTE in the near future.[19] In South Korea, SK Telecom and LG U+ have enabled access to LTE service since 1 July 2011 for data devices, slated to go nationwide by 2012.[20] Data speeds of LTE

LTE

Peak Download 100 Mbit/s

Peak Upload

50 Mbit/s

[edit]Mobile WiMAX (IEEE 802.16e) The Mobile WiMAX (IEEE 802.16e-2005) mobile wireless broadband access (MWBA) standard (also known as WiBro in South Korea) is sometimes branded 4G, and offers peak data rates of 128 Mbit/s downlink and 56 Mbit/s uplink over 20 MHz wide channels[citation needed]. The world's first commercial mobile WiMAX service was opened by KT in Seoul, South Korea on 30 June 2006.[2] Sprint Nextel has begun using Mobile WiMAX, as of September 29, 2008 branded as a "4G" network even though the current version does not fulfil the IMT Advanced requirements on 4G systems.[21] In Russia, Belarus and Nicaragua WiMax broadband internet access is offered by a Russian company Scartel, and is also branded 4G, Yota. Data speeds of WiMAX

WiMAX

Peak Download 128 Mbit/s

Peak Upload

56 Mbit/s

[edit]UMB (formerly EV-DO Rev. C) Main article: Ultra Mobile Broadband UMB (Ultra Mobile Broadband) was the brand name for a discontinued 4G project within the 3GPP2 standardization group to improve the CDMA2000 mobile phone standard for next generation applications and requirements. In November 2008, Qualcomm, UMB's lead sponsor, announced it was ending development of the technology, favouring LTE instead.[22] The objective was to achieve data speeds over 275 Mbit/s downstream and over 75 Mbit/s upstream. [edit]Flash-OFDM At an early stage the Flash-OFDM system was expected to be further developed into a 4G standard. [edit]iBurst and MBWA (IEEE 802.20) systems The iBurst system ( or HC-SDMA, High Capacity Spatial Division Multiple Access) was at an early stage considered as a 4G predecessor. It was later further developed into the Mobile Broadband Wireless Access (MBWA) system, also known as IEEE 802.20. [edit]Data rate comparison The following table shows a comparison of 4G candidate systems as well as other competing technologies. Comparison of Mobile Internet Access methods (This box: view talk edit)

Commo n Name

Famil y

Primar y Use

Radio Tech

Downst ream (Mbit/s)

Upstr eam (Mbit/ s)

Notes

HSPA+

3GPP

Used in

CDMA/FDD

21 84

5.8 22

HSPA+ is widely

Comparison of Mobile Internet Access methods (This box: view talk edit)

Commo n Name

Famil y

Primar y Use

Radio Tech

Downst ream (Mbit/s) 672

Upstr eam (Mbit/ s) 168

Notes

4G

MIMO

deployed. Revision 11 of the 3GPP states thatHSPA+ is expected to have a throughput capacity of 672 Mbps.

LTE

3GPP

General 4G

LTEAdvanced up 100 Cat3 50 Cat3/4 date expected 150 Cat4 75 Cat5 to offer peak OFDMA/MIM 300 Cat5 (in 20 rates up to 1 O/SC-FDMA (in 20MHz MHz Gbit/s fixed FDD)[23] FDD)[23] speeds and 100 Mb/s to mobile users.

WiMAX

802.16

Mobile MIMOInternet SOFDMA cf. 802.16e

128 (in 20MHz bandwidth FDD)

WiMAX update IEEE 802.16m is to offer peak 56 (in rates of at 20MHz least 1 Gbit/s bandwidt fixed speeds h FDD) and 100 Mbit/s to mobile users.[24]

Comparison of Mobile Internet Access methods (This box: view talk edit)

Commo n Name

Famil y

Primar y Use

Radio Tech

Downst ream (Mbit/s)

Upstr eam (Mbit/ s)

Notes

FlashOFDM

FlashOFDM

Mobile Internet mobility Flash-OFDM up to 200mph (350km/h)

5.3 10.6 15.9

1.8 3.6 5.4

Mobile range 30km (18 miles) extended range 55 km (34 miles)

HIPERMA HIPERM Mobile AN Internet N

OFDM

56.9

Antenna, RF front end enhancem ents and minor protocol timer tweaks have 300 (using 4x4 helped deploy configuration in Mobile Int 20MHz bandwidth) or long OFDM/MIMO ernet 600 (using 4x4 range P2P net configuration in 40MHz bandwidth) works compromisin g on radial coverage, throughput and/or spectra efficiency (310km & 38

Wi-Fi

802.11 (11n)

Comparison of Mobile Internet Access methods (This box: view talk edit)

Commo n Name

Famil y

Primar y Use

Radio Tech

Downst ream (Mbit/s)

Upstr eam (Mbit/ s)

Notes

2km) Cell Radius: 312 km Speed: 250km/h Spectral Efficiency: 13 bits/s/Hz/cell Spectrum Reuse Factor: "1" 3GPP Release 7 HSDPA is widely deployed. Typical downlink rates today 2 Mbit/s, ~200 kbit/s uplink; HSPA+ downlink up to 56 Mbit/s. Reported speeds according to IPWireless using 16QAM modulation similar to HSDPA+H SUPA 0.15 Rev B note: N

iBurst

802.20

HCMobile Int SDMA/TDD/ 95 ernet MIMO

36

EDGE GSM Evolution

Mobile Int TDMA/FDD ernet

1.6

0.5

UMTS WCDMA UMTS/3 HSDPA+H GSM SUPA

CDMA/FDD General 3G 0.384 CDMA/FDD/ 14.4 MIMO 0.384 5.76

UMTSTDD

UMTS/3 GSM

Mobile Internet

CDMA/TDD

16

EV-

CDMA20 Mobile

CDMA/FDD

2.45

Comparison of Mobile Internet Access methods (This box: view talk edit)

Commo n Name

Famil y

Primar y Use

Radio Tech

Downst ream (Mbit/s) 3.1 4.9xN

Upstr eam (Mbit/ s) 1.8 1.8xN

Notes

DO Rel. 0 00 EVDO Rev.A EVDO Rev.B

Internet

is the number of 1.25 MHz chunks of spectrum used. EV-DO is not designed for voice, and requires a fallback to 1xRTT when a voice call is placed or received.

Notes: All speeds are theoretical maximums and will vary by a number of factors, including the use of external antennae, distance from the tower and the ground speed (e.g. communications on a train may be poorer than when standing still). Usually the bandwidth is shared between several terminals. The performance of each technology is determined by a number of constraints, including the spectral efficiency of the technology, the cell sizes used, and the amount of spectrum available. For more information, see Comparison of wireless data standards. For more comparison tables, see bit rate progress trends, comparison of mobile phone standards, spectral efficiency comparison table and OFDM system comparison table. [edit]Objective and approach [edit]Objectives assumed in the literature 4G is being developed to accommodate the quality of service (QoS) and rate requirements set by further development of existing 3G applications like mobile broadbandaccess, Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), video chat, mobile TV, but also new services like HDTV. 4G may allow roaming with wireless local area networks, and may interact with digital video broadcasting systems.

In the literature, the assumed or expected 4G requirements have changed during the years before IMT-Advanced was specified by the ITU-R. These are examples of objectives stated in various sources:

A nominal data rate of 100 Mbit/s while the client physically moves at high speeds relative to the station, and 1 Gbit/s while client and station are in relatively fixed positions as defined by the ITU-R[25]

A data rate of at least 100 Mbit/s between any two points in the world[25] Smooth handoff across heterogeneous networks[26] Seamless connectivity and global roaming across multiple networks[27] High quality of service for next generation multimedia support (real time audio, high speed data, HDTV video content, mobile TV, etc.)[27] Interoperability with existing wireless standards[28] An all IP, packet switched network[27] IP-based femtocells (home nodes connected to fixed Internet broadband infrastructure)

[edit]Approaches [edit]Principal technologies

Physical layer transmission techniques are as follows:[29]

MIMO: To attain ultra high spectral efficiency by means of spatial processing including multi-antenna and multi-user MIMO Frequency-domain-equalization, for example Multi-carrier modulation (OFDM) in the downlink or single-carrier frequency-domain-equalization (SC-FDE) in the uplink: To exploit the frequency selective channel property without complex equalization. Frequency-domain statistical multiplexing, for example (OFDMA) or (Singlecarrier FDMA) (SC-FDMA, a.k.a. Linearly precoded OFDMA, LP-OFDMA) in the uplink: Variable bit rate by assigning different sub-channels to different users based on the channel conditions

Turbo principle error-correcting codes: To minimize the required SNR at the reception side

Channel-dependent scheduling: To utilize the time-varying channel. Link adaptation: Adaptive modulation and error-correcting codes

Relaying, including fixed relay networks (FRNs), and the cooperative relaying concept, known as multi-mode protocol

[edit]4G features assumed in early literature The 4G system was originally envisioned by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).[citation needed] The DARPA selected the distributed architecture, end-toend Internet protocol (IP), and believed at an early stage in peer-to-peer networking in which every mobile device would be both a transceiver and a router for other devices in the network eliminating the spoke-and-hub weakness of 2G and 3G cellular systems.[30] Since the 2.5G GPRS system, cellular systems have provided dual infrastructures: packet switched nodes for data services, and circuit switched nodes for voice calls. In 4G systems, the circuit-switched infrastructure is abandoned, and only a packet-switched network is provided, while 2.5G and 3G systems require both packetswitched and circuit-switched network nodes, i.e. two infrastructures in parallel. This means that in 4G, traditional voice calls are replaced by IP telephony. Cellular systems such as 4G allow seamless mobility; thus a file transfer is not interrupted in case a terminal moves from one cell (one base station coverage area) to another, but handover is carried out. The terminal also keeps the same IP address while moving, meaning that a mobile server is reachable as long as it is within the coverage area of any server. In 4G systems this mobility is provided by the mobile IP protocol, part of IP version 6, while in earlier cellular generations it was only provided by physical layer and datalink layer protocols. In addition to seamless mobility, 4G provides flexible interoperability of the various kinds of existing wireless networks, such as satellite, cellular wirelss, WLAN, PAN and systems for accessing fixed wireless networks.[31] While maintaining seamless mobility, 4G will offer very high data rates with expectations of 100 Mbit/s wireless service. The increased bandwidth and higher data transmission rates will allow 4G users the ability to utilize high definition video and the video conferencing features of mobile devices attached to a 4G network. The 4G wireless system is expected to provide a comprehensive IP solution where multimedia applications and services can be delivered to the user on an 'Anytime, Anywhere' basis with a satisfactory high data rate, premium quality and high security.[32] 4G is described as MAGIC: mobile multimedia, any-time anywhere, global mobility support, integrated wireless solution, and customized personal service.[citation needed]Some key features (primarily from users' points of view) of 4G mobile networks are:[citation
needed]

High usability: anytime, anywhere, and with any technology Support for multimedia services at low transmission cost Personalization Integrated services

[edit]Components [edit]Multiplexing and Access schemes This section contains information which may be of unclear or questionable importance or relevance to the article's subject matter. Please help improve this article by clarifying or removing superfluous information. (May 2010) As the wireless standards evolved, the access techniques used also exhibited increase in efficiency, capacity and scalability. The first generation wireless standards used plain TDMA and FDMA. In the wireless channels, TDMA proved to be less efficient in handling the high data rate channels as it requires large guard periods to alleviate the multipath impact. Similarly, FDMA consumed more bandwidth for guard to avoid inter carrier interference. So in second generation systems, one set of standard used the combination of FDMA and TDMA and the other set introduced an access scheme called CDMA. Usage of CDMA increased the system capacity, but as a theoretical drawback placed a soft limit on it rather than the hard limit (i.e. a CDMA network setup does not inherently reject new clients when it approaches its limits, resulting in a denial of service to all clients when the network overloads; though this outcome is avoided in practical implementations by admission control of circuit switched or fixed bitrate communication services). Data rate is also increased as this access scheme (providing the network is not reaching its capacity) is efficient enough to handle the multipath channel. This enabled the third generation systems, such as IS-2000, UMTS, HSXPA, 1xEVDO, TD-CDMA and TD-SCDMA, to use CDMA as the access scheme. However, the issue with CDMA is that it suffers from poor spectral flexibility and computationally intensive time-domain equalization (high number of multiplications per second) for wideband channels. Recently, new access schemes like Orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA), Single Carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA), Interleaved FDMA and Multi-carrier CDMA (MC-CDMA) are gaining more importance for the next generation systems. These are based on efficient FFT algorithms and frequency domain equalization, resulting in a lower number of multiplications per second. They also make it possible to control the bandwidth and

form the spectrum in a flexible way. However, they require advanced dynamic channel allocation and traffic adaptive scheduling. WiMax is using OFDMA in the downlink and in the uplink. For the next generation UMTS, OFDMA is used for the downlink. By contrast, IFDMA is being considered for the uplink since OFDMA contributes more to the PAPR related issues and results in nonlinear operation of amplifiers. IFDMA provides less power fluctuation and thus avoids amplifier issues. Similarly, MC-CDMA is in the proposal for the IEEE 802.20 standard. These access schemes offer the same efficiencies as older technologies like CDMA. Apart from this, scalability and higher data rates can be achieved. The other important advantage of the above mentioned access techniques is that they require less complexity for equalization at the receiver. This is an added advantage especially in the MIMO environments since the spatial multiplexing transmission of MIMO systems inherently requires high complexity equalization at the receiver. In addition to improvements in these multiplexing systems, improved modulation techniques are being used. Whereas earlier standards largely used Phase-shift keying, more efficient systems such as 64QAM are being proposed for use with the 3GPP Long Term Evolution standards. [edit]IPv6 support Main articles: Network layer, Internet protocol, and IPv6 Unlike 3G, which is based on two parallel infrastructures consisting of circuit switched and packet switched network nodes respectively, 4G will be based on packet switchingonly. This will require low-latency data transmission. By the time that 4G was deployed, the process of IPv4 address exhaustion was expected to be in its final stages. Therefore, in the context of 4G, IPv6 support is essential in order to support a large number of wireless-enabled devices. By increasing the number of IP addresses, IPv6 removes the need for network address translation (NAT), a method of sharing a limited number of addresses among a larger group of devices, although NAT will still be required to communicate with devices that are on existing IPv4networks. As of June 2009, Verizon has posted specifications that require any 4G devices on its network to support IPv6.[33] [edit]Advanced antenna systems Main articles: MIMO and MU-MIMO

The performance of radio communications depends on an antenna system, termed smart or intelligent antenna. Recently, multiple antenna technologies are emerging to achieve the goal of 4G systems such as high rate, high reliability, and long range communications. In the early 1990s, to cater for the growing data rate needs of data communication, many transmission schemes were proposed. One technology, spatial multiplexing, gained importance for its bandwidth conservation and power efficiency. Spatial multiplexing involves deploying multiple antennas at the transmitter and at the receiver. Independent streams can then be transmitted simultaneously from all the antennas. This technology, called MIMO (as a branch of intelligent antenna), multiplies the base data rate by (the smaller of) the number of transmit antennas or the number of receive antennas. Apart from this, the reliability in transmitting high speed data in the fading channel can be improved by using more antennas at the transmitter or at the receiver. This is called transmit or receive diversity. Both transmit/receive diversity and transmit spatial multiplexing are categorized into the space-time coding techniques, which does not necessarily require the channel knowledge at the transmitter. The other category is closed-loop multiple antenna technologies, which require channel knowledge at the transmitter. [edit]Software-defined radio (SDR) SDR is one form of open wireless architecture (OWA). Since 4G is a collection of wireless standards, the final form of a 4G device will constitute various standards. This can be efficiently realized using SDR technology, which is categorized to the area of the radio convergence. [edit]History of 4G and pre-4G technologies

In 2002, the strategic vision for 4Gwhich ITU designated as IMT-Advancedwas laid out. In 2005, OFDMA transmission technology is chosen as candidate for the HSOPA downlink, later renamed 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) air interface E-UTRA.

In November 2005, KT demonstrated mobile WiMAX service in Busan, South Korea.[34] In June 2006, KT started the world's first commercial mobile WiMAX service in Seoul, South Korea.[2]

In mid-2006, Sprint Nextel announced that it would invest about US$5 billion in a WiMAX technology buildout over the next few years[35] ($5.45 billion in real terms[36]). Since that time Sprint has faced many setbacks, that have resulted in steep quarterly losses. On May 7, 2008, Sprint, Imagine, Google, Intel, Comcast, Bright House, andTime Warner announced a pooling of an average of 120 MHz of spectrum; Sprint merged its Xohm WiMAX division with Clearwire to form a company which will take the name "Clear". In February 2007, the Japanese company NTT DoCoMo tested a 4G communication system prototype with 4x4 MIMO called VSF-OFCDM at 100 Mbit/s while moving, and 1 Gbit/s while stationary. NTT DoCoMo completed a trial in which they reached a maximum packet transmission rate of approximately 5 Gbit/s in the downlink with 12x12 MIMO using a 100 MHz frequency bandwidth while moving at 10 km/h,[37] and is planning on releasing the first commercial network in 2010.

In September 2007, NTT Docomo demonstrated e-UTRA data rates of 200 Mbit/s with power consumption below 100 mW during the test.[38] In January 2008, a U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) spectrum auction for the 700 MHz former analog TV frequencies began. As a result, the biggest share of the spectrum went to Verizon Wireless and the next biggest to AT&T.[39] Both of these companies have stated their intention of supporting LTE. In January 2008, EU commissioner Viviane Reding suggested re-allocation of 500 800 MHz spectrum for wireless communication, including WiMAX.[40] On 15 February 2008 - Skyworks Solutions released a front-end module for eUTRAN.[41][42][43] In 2008, ITU-R established the detailed performance requirements of IMTAdvanced, by issuing a Circular Letter calling for candidate Radio Access Technologies (RATs) for IMT-Advanced.[44] In April 2008, just after receiving the circular letter, the 3GPP organized a workshop on IMT-Advanced where it was decided that LTE Advanced, an evolution of current LTE standard, will meet or even exceed IMT-Advanced requirements following the ITU-R agenda.

In April 2008, LG and Nortel demonstrated e-UTRA data rates of 50 Mbit/s while travelling at 110 km/h.[45] On 12 November 2008, HTC announced the first WiMAX-enabled mobile phone, the Max 4G[46]

In December 2008, San Miguel Corporation, Asia's largest food and beverage conglomerate, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Qatar Telecom QSC (Qtel) to build wireless broadband and mobile communications projects in the Philippines. The joint-venture formed wi-tribe Philippines, which offers 4G in the country.[47]Around the same time Globe Telecom rolled out the first WiMAX service in the Philippines. On 3 March 2009, Lithuania's LRTC announcing the first operational "4G" mobile WiMAX network in Baltic states.[48] In December 2009, Sprint began advertising "4G" service in selected cities in the United States, despite average download speeds of only 36 Mbit/s with peak speeds of 10 Mbit/s (not available in all markets).[49] On 14 December 2009, the first commercial LTE deployment was in the Scandinavian capitals Stockholm and Oslo by the Swedish-Finnish network operatorTeliaSonera and its Norwegian brandname NetCom (Norway). TeliaSonera branded the network "4G". The modem devices on offer were manufactured by Samsung(dongle GT-B3710), and the network infrastructure created by Huawei (in Oslo) and Ericsson (in Stockholm). TeliaSonera plans to roll out nationwide LTE across Sweden, Norway and Finland.[5][50] TeliaSonera used spectral bandwidth of 10 MHz, and single-in-single-out, which should provide physical layer net bitrates of up to 50 Mbit/s downlink and 25 Mbit/s in the uplink. Introductory tests showed a TCP throughput of 42.8 Mbit/s downlink and 5.3 Mbit/s uplink in Stockholm.[6]

On 25 February 2010, Estonia's EMT opened LTE "4G" network working in test regime.[51] On 4 June 2010, Sprint Nextel released the first WiMAX smartphone in the US, the HTC Evo 4G.[52] In July 2010, Uzbekistan's MTS deployed LTE in Tashkent.[53] On 25 August 2010, Latvia's LMT opened LTE "4G" network working in test regime 50% of territory. On 6 December 2010, at the ITU World Radiocommunication Seminar 2010, the ITU stated that LTE, WiMax and similar "evolved 3G technologies" could be considered "4G".[7] On 12 December 2010, VivaCell-MTS launches in Armenia 4G/LTE commercial test network with a live demo conducted in Yerevan.[54]

On 28 April 2011, Lithuania's Omnitel opened LTE "4G" network working in 5 biggest cities.[55] In September 2011, All three Saudi telecom giants STC, Mobily and Zain announced that they will offer 4G LTE for high speed USB sticks for mobile computers, with further development for telephones by 2013.[56]

[edit]Deployment plans In May 2005, Digiweb, an Irish fixed and wireless broadband company, announced that they had received a mobile communications license from the Irish Telecoms regulator,ComReg. This service will be issued the mobile code 088 in Ireland and will be used for the provision of 4G Mobile communications.[57][58] Digiweb launched a mobile broadband network using FLASH-OFDM technology at 872 MHz. On September 20, 2007, Verizon Wireless announced plans for a joint effort with the Vodafone Group to transition its networks to the 4G standard LTE. On December 9, 2008, Verizon Wireless announced their intentions to build and begin to roll out an LTE network by the end of 2009. Since then, Verizon Wireless has said that they will start their rollout by the end of 2010. On July 7, 2008, South Korea announced plans to spend 60 billion won, or US$58,000,000, on developing 4G and even 5G technologies, with the goal of having the highest mobile phone market share by 2012, and the hope of an international standard.[59] Telus and Bell Canada, the major Canadian cdmaOne and EV-DO carriers, have announced that they will be cooperating towards building a fourth generation (4G) LTE wireless broadband network in Canada. As a transitional measure, they are implementing 3G UMTS that went live in November 2009.[60] Sprint Nextel offers a 3G/4G connection plan, currently available in select cities in the United States.[49] It delivers rates up to 10 Mbit/s. Sprint has announced that they will launch a LTE network in early 2012.[61] In the United Kingdom, Telefnica O2 is to use Slough as a guinea pig in testing the 4G network and has called upon Huawei to install LTE technology in six masts across the town to allow people to talk to each other via HD video conferencing and play PlayStation games while on the move.[62] Verizon Wireless has announced that it plans to augment its CDMA2000-based EV-DO 3G network in the United States with LTE, and is supposed to complete a rollout of 175 cities by the end of 2011, two thirds of the US population by mid-2012, and cover the

existing 3G network by the end of 2013.[63] AT&T, along with Verizon Wireless, has chosen to migrate toward LTE from 2G/GSM and 3G/HSPA by 2011.[64] Sprint Nextel has deployed WiMAX technology which it has labeled 4G as of October 2008. It is currently deploying to additional markets and is the first US carrier to offer a WiMAX phone.[65] The U.S. FCC is exploring the possibility of deployment and operation of a nationwide 4G public safety network which would allow first responders to seamlessly communicate between agencies and across geographies, regardless of devices. In June 2010 the FCC released a comprehensive white paper which indicates that the 10 MHz of dedicated spectrum currently allocated from the 1700 MHz spectrum for public safety will provide adequate capacity and performance necessary for normal communications as well as serious emergency situations.[66] TeliaSonera started deploying LTE (branded "4G") in Stockholm and Oslo November 2009 (as seen above), and in several Swedish, Norwegian, and Finnish cities during 2010. In June 2010, Swedish television companies used 4G to broadcast live television from the Swedish Crown Princess' Royal Wedding.[67] Safaricom, a telecommunication company in East& Central Africa, began its setup of a 4G network in October 2010 after the now retired& Kenya Tourist Board Chairman, Michael Joseph, regarded their 3G network as a white elephant i.e. it failed to perform to expectations. Huawei was given the contract the network is set to go fully commercial by the end of Q1 of 2011 Telstra announced on 15 February 2011, that it intends to upgrade its current Next G network to 4G with Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology in the central business districts of all Australian capital cities and selected regional centers by the end of 2011.[68] Sri Lanka Telecom Mobitel and Dialog Axiata announced that first time in South Asia Sri Lanka have successfully tested and demonstrated 4G technology on 6th of May 2011(Sri Lanka Telecom Mobitel) and 7th of May 2011(Dialog Axiata) and began the setup of their 4G Networks in Sri Lanka.[69][70] On May 2011, Brazil's Communication Ministry announced that the 12 host cities for the 2014 FIFA World Cup to be held there will be the first to have their networks upgraded to 4G.[71] Mobitel was able to reach 96mbps of speed while Dialog Axiata reached 128mbps on their demonstration.

In mid September 2011, [4] Mobily of Saudi Arabia, announced their 4G LTE networks to be ready after months of testing and evaluations. On September 2011, UAE's Etisalat announced commercial launch of 4G LTE services covering over 70% of country's urban areas. India is expected to see launch of 4G services using TD-LTE technology in January 2012.[72] The services will be launched by Augere, a UK based company, in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh under the Zoosh brand name. [edit]Beyond 4G research Main article: 5G A major issue in 4G systems is to make the high bit rates available in a larger portion of the cell, especially to users in an exposed position in between several base stations. In current research, this issue is addressed by macro-diversity techniques, also known as group cooperative relay, and also by Beam-Division Multiple Access (BDMA).[73] Pervasive networks are an amorphous and at present entirely hypothetical concept where the user can be simultaneously connected to several wireless access technologies and can seamlessly move between them (See vertical handoff, IEEE 802.21). These access technologies can be Wi-Fi, UMTS, EDGE, or any other future access technology. Included in this concept is also smart-radio (also known as cognitive radio) technology to efficiently manage spectrum use and transmission power as well as the use of mesh routing protocols to create a pervasive network.

Registration for WikiConference India 2011, Mumbai is now open. Click here to register. 3G From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia For other uses, see 3G (disambiguation). This article may be too technical for most readers to understand. Please help improve this article to make it understandable to non-experts, without removing the technical details. The talk page may contain suggestions. (October 2011) 3G or 3rd generation mobile telecommunications is a generation of standards for mobile phones and mobile telecommunication services fulfilling the International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 (IMT-2000) specifications by the International Telecommunication Union.[1] Application services include wide-area wireless voicetelephone, mobile

Internet access, video calls and mobile TV, all in a mobile environment. To meet the IMT-2000 standards, a system is required to provide peak data rates of at least 200 kbit/s. Recent 3G releases, often denoted 3.5G and 3.75G, also provide mobile broadband access of several Mbit/s to smartphones and mobile modems in laptop computers. The following standards are typically branded 3G:

the UMTS system, first offered in 2001, standardized by 3GPP, used primarily in Europe, Japan, China (however with a different radio interface) and other regions predominated by GSM 2G system infrastructure. The cell phones are typically UMTS and GSM hybrids. Several radio interfaces are offered, sharing the same infrastructure:

The original and most widespread radio interface is called W-CDMA. The TD-SCDMA radio interface was commercialised in 2009 and is only offered in China. The latest UMTS release, HSPA+, can provide peak data rates up to 56 Mbit/s in the downlink in theory (28 Mbit/s in existing services) and 22 Mbit/s in the uplink.

the CDMA2000 system, first offered in 2002, standardized by 3GPP2, used especially in North America and South Korea, sharing infrastructure with the IS-95 2G standard. The cell phones are typically CDMA2000 and IS-95 hybrids. The latest release EVDO Rev B offers peak rates of 14.7 Mbit/s downstream.

The above systems and radio interfaces are based on kindred spread spectrum radio transmission technology. While the GSM EDGE standard ("2.9G"), DECT cordless phones and Mobile WiMAX standards formally also fulfill the IMT-2000 requirements and are approved as 3G standards by ITU, these are typically not branded 3G, and are based on completely different technologies. A new generation of cellular standards has appeared approximately every tenth year since 1G systems were introduced in 1981/1982. Each generation is characterized by new frequency bands, higher data rates and non backwards compatible transmission technology. The first release of the 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard does not completely fulfill the ITU 4G requirements called IMT-Advanced. First release LTE is not backwards compatible with 3G, but is a pre-4G or 3.9G technology, however sometimes branded "4G" by the service providers. Its evolution LTE Advanced is a 4G technology. WiMAX is another technology verging on or marketed as 4G.

Contents [hide]

1 Overview
o

1.1 Detailed breakdown of 3G systems

2 History 3 Adoption
o o

3.1 Africa 3.2 Asia

3.2.1 Pakistan 3.2.2 Bangladesh 3.2.3 China 3.2.4 India 3.2.5 North Korea 3.2.6 Philippines

o o o o o

3.3 Europe 3.4 North America 3.5 Middle East 3.6 Turkey 3.7 New Zealand 4.1 Data rates 4.2 Security 4.3 Applications of 3G

4 Features
o o o

5 Evolution 6 See also 7 References [edit]Overview The following common standards comply with the IMT2000/3G standard:

EDGE, a revision by the 3GPP organization to the older 2G GSM based transmission methods, utilizing the same switching nodes, basestation sites and frequencies as GPRS, but new basestation and cellphone RF circuits. It is based on the three times as

efficient 8PSK modulation scheme as supplement to the original GMSKmodulation scheme. EDGE is still used extensively due to its ease of upgrade from existing 2G GSM infrastructure and cell-phones.

EDGE combined with the GPRS 2.5G technology is called EGPRS, and allows peak data rates in the order of 200 kbit/s, just as the original UMTS WCDMA versions, and thus formally fulfills the IMT2000 requirements on 3G systems. However, in practice EDGE is seldom marketed as a 3G system, but a 2.9G system. EDGE shows slightly better system spectral efficiency than the original UMTS and CDMA2000 systems, but it is difficult to reach much higher peak data rates due to the limited GSM spectral bandwidth of 200 kHz, and it is thus a dead end. EDGE was also a mode in the IS-135 TDMA system, today ceased. Evolved EDGE, the latest revision, has peaks of 1 Mbit/s downstream and 400kbit/s upstream, but is not commercially used.

The Universal Mobile Telecommunications System, created and revised by the 3GPP. The family is a full revision from GSM in terms of encoding methods and hardware, although some GSM sites can be retrofitted to broadcast in the UMTS/W-CDMA format.

W-CDMA is the most common deployment, commonly operated on the 2100 MHz band. A few others use the 900 and 1850 MHz bands. HSPA is a revision and upgrade to W-CDMA UMTS, used by AT&T Wireless, Telstra and Telecom NZ, typically broadcasting on the 850 MHz band. HSPA requires updates to the

HSPA+ a revision and upgrade of HSPA, can provide peak data rates up to 56 Mbit/s in the downlink in theory (28 Mbit/s in existing services) and 22 Mbit/s in the uplink. It utilises multiple base stations to potentially double the channels available utilising MIMO principles.

The CDMA2000 system, or IS-2000, including CDMA2000 1x and CDMA2000 High Rate Packet Data (or EVDO), standardized by 3GPP2 (differing from the 3GPP), evolving from the original IS-95 CDMA system, is used especially in North America, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia, Europe and Africa[2].

CDMA2000 1x Rev. E more than triples the voice capacity from the widely deployed Rev. 0 and is in the process of being deployed in the U.S. EVDO Rev. B offers downstream peak rates of 14.7 Mbit/s while Rev. C enhanced existing and new terminal user experience.

While DECT cordless phones and Mobile WiMAX standards formally also fulfill the IMT-2000 requirements, they are not usually considered due to their rarity and unsuitability for usage with mobile phones. [edit]Detailed breakdown of 3G systems The 3G (UMTS and CDMA2000) research and development projects started in 1992. In 1999, ITU approved five radio interfaces for IMT-2000 as a part of the ITU-R M.1457 Recommendation; WiMAX was added in 2007.[3] There are evolutionary standards (EDGE and CDMA) that are backwards-compatible extensions to pre-existing 2G networks as well as revolutionary standards that require all-new network hardware and frequency allocations. The cell phones used utilise UMTS in combination with 2G GSM standards and bandwidths, but do not support EDGE.[4] The latter group is the UMTS family, which consists of standards developed for IMT-2000, as well as the independently developed standards DECT and WiMAX, which were included because they fit the IMT-2000 definition. Overview of 3G/IMT-2000 standards[5]

ITU IMT-2000 compliant standards

common name(s)

bandwidth of data

preduplex 4Gupgrade

chann

TDMA Single-Carrier (IMT-SC) EDGE (UWC-136)

EDGE Evolution

likely discontinued

TDMA

CDMA Multi-Carrier (IMT-MC)

FDD CDMA2000 EV-DO UMB[nb 2]

CDMA Direct Spread (IMT-DS)

W-CDMA[nb 4] CDMA UMTS[nb TD-CDMA[nb 5]

HSPA

LTE TDD

CDMA TDD (IMT-TC) TD-SCDMA[nb

FDMA/TDMA (IMT-FT)

DECT

none

FDMA/TD

IP-OFDMA

WiMAX (IEEE 802.16)

OFDMA

1. ^ Can also be used as an upgrade to PDC or D-AMPS. 2. ^ development halted in favour of LTE.[6] 3. ^ also known as FOMA;[7] UMTS is the common name for a standard that encompasses multiple air interfaces. 4. ^ also known as UTRA-FDD; W-CDMA is sometimes used as a synonym for UMTS, ignoring the other air interface options.[7] 5. ^ also known as UTRA-TDD 3.84 Mcps high chip rate (HCR) 6. ^ also known as UTRA-TDD 1.28 Mcps low chip rate (LCR) While EDGE fulfills the 3G specifications, most GSM/UMTS phones report EDGE ("2.75G") and UMTS ("3G") functionality. [edit]History The first pre-commercial 3G network was launched by NTT DoCoMo in Japan, branded as FOMA. It was first available in May 2001 as a pre-release (test) of WCDMAtechnology.[8] The first commercial launch of 3G was also by NTT DoCoMo in Japan on 1 October 2001, although it was initially somewhat limited in scope;[9][10] broader availability of the system was delayed by apparent concerns over its reliability.[11] The first European pre-commercial network was an UMTS network on the Isle of Man by Manx Telecom, the operator then owned by British Telecom, and the first commercial network (also UMTS based W-CDMA) in Europe was opened for business by Telenor in December 2001 with no commercial handsets and thus no paying customers. The first network to go commercially live was by SK Telecom in South Korea on the CDMAbased 1xEV-DO technology in January 2002. By May 2002 the second South Korean 3G network was by KT on EV-DO and thus the Koreans were the first to see competition among 3G operators. The first commercial United States 3G network was by Monet Mobile Networks, on CDMA2000 1x EV-DO technology, but this network provider later shut down operations. The second 3G network operator in the USA was Verizon Wireless in July 2002 also on

CDMA2000 1x EV-DO.[12] AT&T Mobility is also a true 3G UMTS network, having completed its upgrade of the 3G network to HSUPA. The first pre-commercial demonstration network in the southern hemisphere[dubious discuss] was built in Adelaide, South Australia by m.Net Corporation in February 2002 using UMTS on 2100 MHz. This was a demonstration network for the 2002 IT World Congress. The first commercial 3G network was launched by Hutchison Telecommunications branded as Three or "3" in J June 2003. Emtel Launched the first 3G network in Africa. By June 2007, the 200 millionth 3G subscriber had been connected. Out of 3 billion mobile phone subscriptions worldwide this is only 6.7%. In the countries where 3G was launched first Japan and South Korea 3G penetration is over 70%.[13] In Europe the leading country is Italy with a third of its subscribers migrated to 3G. Other leading countries by 3G migration include UK, Austria, Australia and Singapore at the 20% migration level. A confusing statistic is counting CDMA2000 1x RTT customers as if they were 3G customers. If using this definition, then the total 3G subscriber base would be 475 million at June 2007 and 15.8% of all subscribers worldwide. [edit]Adoption 3G was relatively slow to be adopted globally. In some instances, 3G networks do not use the same radio frequencies as 2G so mobile operators must build entirely new networks and license entirely new frequencies, especially so to achieve high-end data transmission rates. Other delays were due to the expenses of upgrading transmission hardware, especially for UMTS, whose deployment required the replacement of most broadcast towers. Due to these issues and difficulties with deployment, many carriers were not able to or delayed acquisition of these updated capabilities. In December 2007, 190 3G networks were operating in 40 countries and 154 HSDPA networks were operating in 71 countries, according to the Global Mobile Suppliers Association (GSA). In Asia, Europe, Canada and the USA, telecommunication companies use W-CDMA technology with the support of around 100 terminal designs to operate 3G mobile networks. Roll-out of 3G networks was delayed in some countries by the enormous costs of additional spectrum licensing fees. (See Telecoms crash.) The license fees in some European countries were particularly high, bolstered by government auctions of a limited number of licenses and sealed bid auctions, and initial excitement over 3G's potential.

The 3G standard is perhaps well known because of a massive expansion of the mobile communications market post-2G and advances of the consumer mophone. An especially notable development during this time is the smartphone (for example, the iPhone, and the Android family), combining the abilities of a PDA with a mobile phone, leading to widespread demand for mobile internet connectivity. 3G has also introduced the term "mobile broadband" because its speed and capability make it a viable alternative for internet browsing, and USB Modems connecting to 3G networks are becoming increasingly common. [edit]Africa The first African use of 3G technology was a 3G video call made in Johannesburg on the Vodacom network in November 2004. The first commercial launch was by Emtel-ltd in Mauritius in 2004. In late March 2006, a 3G service was provided by the new company Wana in Morocco. In May 2007, Safaricom launched 3G services in Kenya while later that year by Vodacom Tanzania also started providing services and in Somaliland, Telesom started first 3G services on 3 July 2011, to both prepaid and postpaid subscription customers. Telecommunication networks in Nigeria like Globacom, Airtel and MTN provide the 3G services to their numerous customers. [edit]Asia Asia is also using 3G services very well. A lot of companies like Dialog Axiata PLC (First to serve 3G Service in South Asia in 2006), BSNL, WorldCall, PTCL, Maxis, Vodafone, Airtel, DoCoMo, Aircel, Reliance have released their 3G services. [edit]Pakistan Pakistan's biggest telecommunication company PTCL launched its 3G network, EVO, in mid2008 and has since then established itself in this sector. It provides 3G services in 105 cities across Pakistan. Omantel's WorldCall also provides 3G services in 50 cities Pakistanwide. On 14 August 2010. Pakistan became the first country in the world to experience EVDO's RevB 3G technology that offers maximum speeds of 9.3 Mbit/s. At present the services of EVO Nitro (brand name (R)) are available in all over the Pakistan. [edit]Bangladesh Two operators, Qubee and Banglalion, currently offer 4G WiMAX data services around Bangladesh. CityCell operates a nationwide third-generation CDMA2000 network capable of delivering super-fast mobile broadband. All GSM voice networks are still on 2G due a government indecision to provide 3G GSM/UMTS licences.

[edit]China China announced in May 2008, that the telecoms sector was re-organized and three 3G networks would be allocated so that the largest mobile operator, China Mobile, would retain its GSM customer base. China Unicom would retain its GSM customer base but relinquish its CDMA2000 customer base, and launch 3G on the globally leading W-CDMA (UMTS) standard. The CDMA2000 customers of China Unicom would go to China Telecom, which would then launch 3G on the CDMA2000 1x EV-DO standard. This meant that China would have all three main cellular technology 3G standards in commercial use. Finally in January 2009, Ministry of industry and Information Technology of China awarded licenses of all three standards: TDSCDMA to China Mobile, W-CDMA to China Unicom and CDMA2000 to China Telecom. The launch of 3G occurred on 1 October 2009, to coincide with the 60th Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China. By August 2011, China Telecom's 3G subscriber has exceeded 23 million [14]. [edit]India 11 December 2008, India entered the 3G arena with the launch of 3G enabled Mobile and Data services by Government owned Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd MTNL inDelhi and later in Mumbai.MTNL becomes the first 3G Mobile service provider in India. After MTNL, another state operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL)launched 3G services on 22 Feb 2009 in Chennai and later launched 3G as Nationwide. The auction of 3G wireless spectrum was announced in April 2010 and 3G Spectrum allocated to all private operators on 1 September 2010. The first Private-sector service provider that launched 3G services is Tata DoCoMo, on November 5, 2010. And the second is by Reliance Communications, December 13, 2010. Vodafone Launched their 3G by mid of March,2011 . Then, Bharti Airtel launched their 3G services on 24 January 2011 in Bangalore and also launched in Delhi & Jaipur on March 4, 2011(not GSM but only USB estick). Aircel also launched 3G in Kolkata in the month of February.Idea also launched its 3G services in mid April. Other providers like Virgin are expected to launch 3G services by Q1 2011. All the operators provide 3G services on the 2100 MHz band. As of now, the Government owned BSNL is the most successful company with the subscribers of 3G service. It has more than 3 million subscribers of its 3G service. It also has the widest coverage with around 826 cities across the country. The private operators like IDEA and Reliance are increasing their 3G coverage as well as the number of subscribers. [edit]North Korea

North Korea has had a 3G network since 2008, which is called Koryolink, a joint venture between Egyptian company Orascom Telecom Holding and the state-owned Korea Post and Telecommunications Corporation (KPTC) is North Korea's only 3G Mobile operator, and one of only two mobile companies in the country. According to Orascom quoted in BusinessWeek, the company had 125,661 subscribers in May 2010. The Egyptian company owns 75 percent of Koryolink, and is known to invest in infrastructure for mobile technology in developing nations. It covers Pyongyang, and five additional cities and eight highways and railways. Its only competitor, SunNet, uses GSM technology and suffers from poor call quality and disconnections.[15] Phone numbers on the network are prefixed with +850 (0)192.[16] [edit]Philippines 3G services were made available in the Philippines on December 2008.[17] [edit]Europe In Europe, mass market commercial 3G services were introduced starting in March 2003 by 3 (Part of Hutchison Whampoa) in the UK and Italy. The European Union Council suggested that the 3G operators should cover 80% of the European national populations by the end of 2005. [edit]North America In Canada, Bell Mobility, SaskTel[18] and Telus launched a 3G EVDO network in 2005.[19] Rogers Wireless was the first to implement UMTS technology, with HSDPA services in eastern Canada in late 2006.[20] Realizing they would miss out on roaming revenue from the 2010 Winter Olympics, Bell and Telus formed a joint venture and rolled out a shared HSDPA network using Nokia Siemens technology. [edit]Middle East In Jordan Orange is the first mobile 3G operator in Jordan. Mobitel Iraq is the first mobile 3G operator in Iraq. It was launched commercially on February 2007. MTN Syria is the first mobile 3G operator in Syria. It was launched commercially on May 2010. In Iran Tamin Telecom won the bid for the third Operator license . Tamin Telecom is going to be the first 3G operator in Iran. Due to many delays Tamin Telecom will commercially launch in the last months of 2011. In Lebanon Ministry of Telecoms launched a test period on September 20, 2011, where 4,000 smart-phone users were selected to enjoy 3G for one month and provide feedback. Currently, the test period is over, MTC Touch and Alfa began rolling out the new 3G services.

[edit]Turkey Turkcell, Avea and Vodafone launched their 3G networks commercially on 30 July 2009 at the same time. Turkcell and Vodafone launched their 3G service on all provincial centres. Avea launched it on 16 provincial centres. It was after Turkey's monopoly mobile operator Turkcell accepted number portability, mobile operators attended frequency band auction and frequencies for 3G usage distributed around mobile operators. Turkcell got A band, Vodafone B and Avea C. Currently Turkcell and Vodafone have 3G networks on most of crowded cities and towns. Turkey has 3.9G networks now. [edit]New Zealand In late 2005, Vodafone NZ Launched their 3G Network, followed by Telecom NZ's XT Network in 2008, and Newcomer 2degrees running off a combination of Vodafone's 3G towers and their own in 2009. 2degrees has since built more towers, and is now mostly self sufficient. [edit]Features [edit]Data rates ITU has not provided a clear definition of the data rate users can expect from 3G equipment or providers. Thus users sold 3G service may not be able to point to a standard and say that the rates it specifies are not being met. While stating in commentary that "it is expected that IMT-2000 will provide higher transmission rates: a minimum data rate of 2 Mbit/s for stationary or walking users, and 384 kbit/s in a moving vehicle,"[21] the ITU does not actually clearly specify minimum or average rates or what modes of the interfaces qualify as 3G, so various rates are sold as 3G intended to meet customers expectations of broadband data. [edit]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 crypto instead of the older A5/1 stream cipher. However, a number of serious weaknesses in the KASUMI cipher have been identified.[22] 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. [edit]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

[edit]Evolution Both 3GPP and 3GPP2 are currently working on extensions to 3G standard that are based on an all-IP network infrastructure and using advanced wireless technologies such as MIMO. These specifications already display features characteristic for IMT-Advanced (4G), the successor of 3G. However, falling short of the bandwidth requirements for 4G (which is 1 Gbit/s for stationary and 100 Mbit/s for mobile operation), these standards are classified as 3.9G or Pre-4G. 3GPP plans to meet the 4G goals with LTE Advanced, whereas Qualcomm has halted development of UMB in favour of the LTE family.[6] On 14 December 2009, Telia Sonera announced in an official press release that "We are very proud to be the first operator in the world to offer our customers 4G services."[23] With the launch of their LTE network, initially they are offering pre-4G (or beyond 3G) services in Stockholm, Sweden and Oslo, Norway.