3G Wireless

Biju Shrestha
EE 3340

Introduction
The technological change in mobile communications is described with a term generations
(Xavier, 2001). The 1G (First Generation) technology refers to the analog cellular system which
was widely used in 1980s and early 1990s. 2G (Second Generation) wireless technology refers to
digital cellular system like GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications).

3G is a short form for third generation technology and it is also written as 3-G (Wikipedia). This
3G wireless technology is used for mobile phone standards. With this technology, the mobile
phone attains a capability of simultaneous data transfer of voice and other non-voice like SMS
(Short Message Service), MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service), E-mails, video, etc.

3G wireless networks are different than 2G (Second Generation) and 1G (First Generation)
wireless networks in terms of function and operating frequency spectrum (Xavier, 2001). Thus,
in order to introduce 3G wireless network, entire new networks has to be built and mobile
operators should be assigned a new frequencies.

Figure 1: An Integrated 3G and Wireless LAN Network

Source: Design and performance of 3G wireless networks and wireless LANs.

Figure 1 clarifies an integrated design of a 3G cellular and wireless LAN system (Chuah &
Zhang). In a wireless network system, we typically have a mobile terminal communicating with
a base station in a radio access portion. The radio interface usually terminate within the base
station in a wireless LAN system and usually terminate in radio network controller in a cellular
system. In CDMA/WCDMA technology, the radio network controller combines the radio frames
to faciliate the path diversity from different base station to the users. The circuit and packet data
from the radio network controller will be segregated and routed to different portions of the core
network. Then the voice data are transferred to a mobile switching center and the other data are
transferred via specialized routers that support mobility to the internet.

Background
Over the past decade, the world wide use of cellular-based wireless telecommunications system
has skyrocketed (Hatch). With the continuous development to technology, the 3G system was
developed in order to provide the users with mobile and satellite based broadband capabilities.
Accounting for the development and trend toward global markets for wireless technology, the
ITU (International Telecommunication Union) has considered the spectrum requirement for 3G
wireless. This requirement is termed as International Mobile Telecommunication – 2000 (IMT –
2000).

In 2001, NTT DoCoMo, Telecommunication Company in Japan launched a first commercial

WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) network as 3G service (Wikipedia).
Europe began the 3G service in early 2003. On the ITU (International Telecommunication
Union) family of standards, the International Mobile Telecommunications Programme, “IMT –
2000”, is the base for the official 3G network systems and services. In Europe, 3G mobile
network was given a high preference for to meet their goal of covering 80% of the European
national populations by the end of 2005.

Features
Third generation wireless networks possess many extra features than first and second generation
wireless. According to Xavier, 3G wireless system is intended for providing the following
features:
o High data transfer rate with a minimum rate of 144 kbits/s for all mobile conditions and 2
Mbits/s for low mobility or indoor conditions.
o Symmetrical and asymmetrical data transmission
o circuit-switched and packet-switched services, like IP (Internet Protocol) traffic and real-
time video
o better voice quality
o larger capacity and better spectrum efficiency
o several concurrent services to end-users and terminals
o flawless merging of 2G systems
o global roaming between different 3G environments
o mobile videoconferencing
o video phone/mail
o remote medical diagnosis
o remote education
o mobile tv/video player
o advanced car navigation/city guides
o digital catalog shopping
o digital audio/video delivery
o collaborative B2B (Business – to – Business) applications
In 3G wireless network system, all the data and voices are chopped into packets and then
transferred (BBC). Also, each packet is coded which helps in determining what data and
dialogue is to form. Since, the packets of information is used in this system, phone is always
connected to the network which decreases the receiving time for receiving any information like
SMS, MMS, video clips, e-mails, etc., since we don’t have to manually check in order to receive
those. Also, usage of packet of information also leads to mobile operators to pay based on the
packets they receive instead of minute they use. Moving to 3G wireless technology also opens a
door to do many things using mobile. For example: hold information of concert tickets, discount
coupons for shopping, key to unlock the house, and so on.

Types of 3G Wireless
As described by http://www.3g.co.uk, 3G wireless networks have their own standard set by
International Telecommunications Unit (ITU). IMT – 2000 of ITU consists of five radio
interfaces.
1. WCDMA
2. CDMA2000 and CDMA2001
3. TD-CDMA / TD-SCDMA
4. UWC-136
5. DECT+

3G is a general term covering a range of future wireless network technologies like CDMA2000,
UMTS, WCDMA and EDGE.

Even though 3G provides high-speed mobile access via IP (Internet Protocol), it literally doesn’t
mean providing fast mobile connection to the WWW (World Wide Web) sites. In fact, 3G
wireless network technology provides a new and better way to communicate, access information,
conduct business and so on.

Figure 2: The Race to 3G

Source: http://www.3g.co.uk/All%20About%203G.htm

CDMA2000 (Code Division Multiple Access 2000)

CDMA2000 was commercially introduced in 1995 which in short period became world’s fastest
growing wireless technologies (http://www.3g.co.uk). Thus, in 1999 CDMA was set as an
industry standard for 3G wireless systems by International Telecommunications Union. 3G
CDMA networks are capable of providing voice along with high-speed data transfer rate. At
present, CDMA is a reliable system for clear voice communications and leading edge data
capability.

CDMA2000 1X for Voice and Data

CDMA2000 1X network technology supports voice and data services over a standard CDMA
channel, and also it provides various performance advantages over other technologies
(http://www.3g.co.uk). First of all, it provides almost double the capacity of previous CDMA
systems, helping to accommodate the continuing growth of voice services as well as new
wireless internet services. Secondly, it provides a peak data transfer rate of 153 kbits/s without
sacrificing voice capacity for data capabilities. In addition, phones using this technology feature
longer standby times.

CDMA2000 1XEV-DO Faster Data

CDMA2000 1XEV-Do is a data-optimized version of CDMA2000 with a peak data transfer rate
of over 2 Mbits/s with an average throughput of over 700 kbits/s (http://www.3g.co.uk). Thus, in
comparison to wire line DSL, its fast enough to support the most demanding applications like
watching streaming videos and downloading large files. In addition, this technology provides the
packet of data for lowest cost per megabyte, which is a most important factor to increase the
popularity of this service. Along with all the features, it also has always-on packet data
connections giving easy and faster access to wireless features.

WCDMA – Wideband Code Division Multiple Access

WCDMA is a technology for widely used for digital radio communications of internet,
multimedia, video and other capacity demanding applications (http://www.3g.co.uk). United
States, Japan and Europe has selected WCDMA system for the third generation mobile
telephone. In this network system, voices, images, data, and videos are first converted to a
narrow band digital radio signal which is assigned a marker to distinguish it from the signal of
other users. WCDMA can achieve multi-rate transmissions as it uses variable rate techniques in
digital processing. ITU under the name of IMT – 2000 direct spread has accepted WCDMA as a
standard.

According to the information provided by CXO Media Inc, In Japan WCDMA technology is
used as a part of 3G wireless technology to provide a new service called freedom of mobile
multimedia access (FOMA). This service basically provides the mobile user to convert their
phones into multimedia players, and also use it to download music and video clips.

UMTS – Universal Mobile Telecommunications System

UMTS uses WCDMA as an underlying standard and it is standardized by 3GPP (Third
Generations Partnership Project) (Wikipedia). UMTS provides a peak data transfer rate of 1920
kbits/s but in practice 384 kbit/s is obtained during operation. Even with those it is much better
than CDMA2000, PHS or WLAN as it provieds an access to World Wide Web along with other
data services in a mobile devices.
EDGE – Enhanced Data for Global Evolution
EDGE is the technology which provides additional capacity to GSM technology making it useful
on third generation mobile telephony (http://www.3g.co.uk). EDGE was built to transfer large
size data at relatively high speed with a peak data transfer rate of 384 kbits/s. EDGE uses Time
Division Multiple Access (TDMA) frame structure, logic channel and 200 KHz carrier
bandwidth like of GSM networks. This helps the existing cell plans to remain inact.

Demand of 3G Wireless

Table 1: Applications that could drive demand for mobile data

Product Service examples
Communications SMS, E-mail
Information News, weather, sport, finance, timetables
Financial Stock quotes, trading
Organisational Personal organiser functions
Office services Access to company networks
E-commerce Electronic wallets, tickets, gambling
Advertising TV-style, full-screen ‘flash’ adverts
Entertainment Games, video, music
Source: ABN-AMRO, Telecom Sector Research, June 2001.

Table 1 gives a summary about the 3G technology and its demand.

References
Chuah, Mooi Choo, & Zhang, Qinqing (2006). Design And Performance of 3G Wireless
Networks and Wireless LANs. New York: Springer.
http://www.3g.co.uk .Introduction of 3G. Retreived September 17, 2006, from
http://www.3g.co.uk/All%20About%203G.htm
Xavier, Patric (2001). Briefing Paper [Electronic Version]. Licensing of Third Generation (3G)
Mobile, 5 – 16.
Editors of Encyclopedia Wikipedia Online. 3G. Retreived September 16, 2006, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3G
EurActve. 3G – The Third Generation Mobile Communications. Retreived September 15, 2006,
from http://www.euractiv.com/en/infosociety/3g-third-generation-mobile-
communications/article-117436#lxcielxh_Background
BBC. How do 3G phones Work ? Retreived September 17, 2006, from
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/1273944.stm
Hatch, William T. Spectrum Management and 3rd generation wireless service. Retreived
September 16, 2006, from
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/congress/2001/073101hatch3g.htm
CXO Media Inc. What is 3G Technology ? Retreived September 18, 2006 from
http://www.darwinmagazine.com/learn/curve/column.html?ArticleID=182