MOBILE

COMMUNICATIONS
TECHNOLOGIES MADE
EASY
A simplified view of the different
generations of Mobile Cellular Networks

First Edition + Updated 4G

and 5G Sections

By A Ghayas @ COMMSBRIEF LIMITED

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 Mobile Communications Technologies Made Easy Copyright © 2021 by
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1 INTRODUCTION

Mobile communications is an exciting industry that is

full of high-tech terminologies and buzzwords. People
in the industry frequently use terms like 3G, 4G, LTE,
HSPA, HSPA+, etc., but it is not clear to everyone as to
what these words represent. In today's market, when
it is common for people to work internationally,
having an unclear view of the basic terms can lead
to misunderstandings. For example, 3G could mean
CDMA2000 to someone from the United States, but it
may mean UMTS (based on W-CDMA) to someone in
Europe. It is especially confusing for those who are
relatively new to the industry, such as students or new
graduates.

This e-book aims to simplify these terminologies for you

by focusing on those aspects of the terminologies
that really matter. The explanations in this e-book can
give you a general understanding of mobile
communications technologies. The focus is mainly on
the "what" and "how" aspects, but you may find useful
information on the relevance of these terminologies
also.

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2 TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 Introduction ............................................................. 4
2 Table of Contents .................................................... 5
3 Background ............................................................. 8
3.1 The Analogue Era............................................. 8
3.2 The Digital Era ................................................... 9
4 1G – First Generation............................................. 11
1G – First Generation ................................................ 12
4.1 AMPS ............................................................... 14
5 2G – Second Generation ..................................... 15
5.1 GSM ................................................................. 16
5.2 D-AMPS ........................................................... 17
5.3 IS-95 ................................................................. 18
5.4 GPRS ................................................................ 19
5.5 EDGE ............................................................... 20
6 3G – Third Generation ........................................... 22
6.1 UMTS ................................................................ 23
6.2 CDMA2000 ...................................................... 24
6.3 HSPA ................................................................ 25
6.4 HSPA+ .............................................................. 26
6.5 EVDO ............................................................... 27

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7 4G – Fourth Generation ........................................ 30
7.1 LTE .................................................................... 30
8 5G – Fifth Generation ............................................ 33
8.1 NR .................................................................... 33
9 About The Author .................................................. 35
10 Learning Material & Templates......................... 37
Introduction To Mobile Communications – Pro Series 37
Mobile Networks Made Easy ....................................... 38
Product & Portfolio Roadmaps .................................... 39
Product One Pager ...................................................... 40
Useful links ................................................................. 41

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3 BACKGROUND

The exciting world of mobile communications is still

evolving, but it has already changed the way we live
our daily lives. Mobile networks have seen various
generations over the last few decades, and the
services they offer have evolved from basic voice
calls to high-definition video calls as well as media
streaming. The first mobile networks were analogue,
but the technological developments and the
constant demand for new services moved us into the
advanced digital era that we have today.

3.1 THE ANALOGUE ERA

Analogue mobile systems refer to the first generation
of mobile networks. These networks existed in the
1980s and were deployed in different parts of the
world based on various standards. These standards
mainly comprised Advanced Mobile Phone System
(AMPS), Nordic Mobile Telephone (NMT), Radio
Telephone Network C (C-Netz) and Total Access
Communications System (TACS). Analogue
communications systems are more sensitive to noise in
the air interface, which deteriorates the clarity of the
speech. They also lack encryption capabilities, which
makes them more vulnerable to security issues.

All analogue mobile systems use a pair of frequency

bands to transmit and receive the communications

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over the air interface between the base station and
the mobile phone. The frequency bands are then
further divided into multiple sub-frequencies or
channels which enable communication between the
base station and the mobile phone. Unlike digital
systems, analogue communications systems do not
have encryption capabilities, which makes them
susceptible to security issues. The continuous nature of
the signal also makes the analogue systems more
prone to noise.

3.2 THE DIGITAL ERA

Digital mobile systems started with the second
generation of mobile networks (2G) in the early 1990s.
In comparison to their predecessor analogue systems,
digital systems are much more resilient to noise and
offer much higher security levels. Digital mobile
networks around the world are based on various
standards. Early examples of the digital mobile
networks used for 2G mobile services comprises
Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM),
Digital Advanced Mobile Phone System (D-AMPS),
and Interim Standard 95 (IS-95 proprietary name:
cdmaOne).

The digital mobile networks in many countries,

including the UK, started with the most commonly
used standard, GSM. The GSM networks use a
combination of Frequency Division Multiple Access
(FDMA) and Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) to
use the allocated frequency spectrum efficiently.
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These networks have a relatively higher bandwidth as
compared to their 1G counterpart, which provides
the capability to offer additional services like SMS. The
communication in the GSM networks uses digital
encryption and decryption, which provides superior
security capabilities. The digital mobile networks
today are well ahead of the GSM networks of the
1990s. The later generations, such as 3G and 4G,
provide significantly higher bandwidth which allows
them to offer superfast broadband services.

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4 1G – FIRST GENERATION

1G stands for the first generation of mobile networks,

which were built to provide basic voice services to
the customers. 1G networks started in the 1980s and
got introduced in different parts of the world through
various analogue technologies, including AMPS
(Advanced Mobile Phone System), NMT (Nordisk
MobilTelefoni or Nordic Mobile Telephone), TACS
(Total Access Communications System) and C-Netz
(Funktelefonnetz-C or Radio Telephone Network C).

1G networks used various analogue technology

standards to launch mobile services in different
countries. Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS)
technology was employed in the US to provide 1G
services, while in the UK, 1G was achieved through
Total Access Communications System (TACS). The
Nordic countries utilised another technology standard
for 1G called Nordisk MobilTelefoni (NMT, English
name: Nordic Mobile Telephone), and Germany used
Funktelefonnetz-C (C-Netz, English name: Radio
Telephone Network C) to provide 1G services. The first
generation of mobile networks relied on a technique
called Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) for
the air interface, which connected mobile phones to
the network. 1G offered low network capacity, and
the communication was not very secure. 1G handsets
were hefty in size and offered a talk time of around 30
minutes only. 1G networks are now obsolete and
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have been replaced by digital networks in the form of
2G, 3G and 4G.

1G – FIRST GENERATION

The first generation of mobile networks, 1G, was

introduced in the early 1980s by employing a range
of different analogue technology standards. The most
popular standards were Advanced Mobile Phone
System (AMPS), Nordic Mobile Telephone or Nordisk
MobilTelefoni (NMT), Radio Telephone Network C or
Funktelefonnetz-C (C-Netz) and Total Access
Communications System (TACS). Analogue
communication systems are usually more sensitive to
noise in the air interface, which negatively impacts
speech quality. Analogue mobile networks are also
more vulnerable to security threats than digital
networks as they do not have encryption capabilities.

Let us now have a more in-depth look at one of the

key first-generation network technologies, AMPS.
AMPS uses a frequency band from 824MHz to 894MHz
for the transmission and reception of mobile signals.
This frequency band is divided into two equal parts so
that the first half of the band can be used for
transmitting from the mobile network to the mobile
phone, and the other half can be used for doing the
exact opposite in order to enable two-way

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communication. The communication from the mobile
network (base station) to the mobile phone is called
downlink, and the communication from the mobile
phone back to the network base station is called
uplink. The downlink band in AMPS is called a forward
channel and ranges from 869 to 894MHz. The uplink
band in AMPS is called a reverse channel and ranges
from 824-849MHz. Once the uplink and downlink split
has taken place, a multiplexing technique is required
so that the network can serve multiple users. Multiple
access is achieved through Frequency Division
Multiple Access (FDMA) which further divides the
uplink and downlink frequency bands into smaller
frequency channels of 30 kHz bandwidth each. These
frequency channels can be used to send and receive
data-carrying signals from the base station to the
mobile phone and back. The channel bandwidth
determines how much capacity is available on a
particular channel to be able to send or receive
data. Higher channel bandwidth enables higher
capacity, which means more data can be
transferred.

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4.1 AMPS
4.1.1 What it is
AMPS stands for Advanced Mobile Phone System,
and it was the analogue technology used for the first
generation (1G) of mobile networks in the US, which
was followed by other countries. AMPS was
introduced in the early 1980s to provide 1G mobile
services, and its successor Digital AMPS (D-AMPS) was
later launched in the 1990s to offer the 2nd
generation of mobile networks in the US and some
other countries.

4.1.2 How it works

AMPS uses frequency bands from 824MHz to 894MHz
for communication over the air interface. This
frequency band is divided into two sub-bands, with
824-849MHz allocated to uplink/reverse channels
(Mobile to Base station) and 869-894MHz assigned to
the downlink/forward channels (Base Station to
Mobile). AMPS uses Frequency Division Multiple
Access (FDMA) to further divide the uplink and
downlink frequency bands into channels of 30 kHz
each. These channels are then used to communicate
from the Base Station to the mobile phone and vice
versa.

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5 2G – SECOND GENERATION

2G stands for the second generation of mobile

networks, which were digital and replaced 1G
analogue networks. These networks provided highly
secure voice and text messaging services and limited
data services to the customers. 2G networks started in
the 1990s and were introduced in different parts of
the world through various digital technologies. 2G
included GSM (Global System for Mobile
Communications), D-AMPS (Digital Advanced Mobile
Phone System also known as TDMA) and IS-95 (Interim
Standard 95 or cdmaOne).

2G networks use various digital technology standards

to offer mobile services in different countries. The most
widely used technology standard is GSM which uses a
combination of FDMA and TDMA techniques for
multiple access in order to provide highly secure
voice and short-message-service (SMS) to the
customers. D-AMPS also referred to as TDMA, is the
digital version of AMPS which provided the 2G
upgrade path to mobile operators using AMPS in the
US and other countries. Another prominent 2G
standard is IS-95 (proprietary name: cdmaOne),
which uses Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) for
its air interface. The 2G GSM networks use a switching
method called circuit-switched, in which a dedicated
circuit is made available for the entire duration of a

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call or session even when the users are not speaking
or exchanging any data.

5.1 GSM
5.1.1 What it is
GSM stands for Global System for Mobile
communications and is one of the most widely used
standards for the 2nd generation of mobile networks.
GSM was introduced in the early 1990s, and it marked
the beginning of the digital mobile cellular systems in
Europe and many other countries. GSM offered clear
benefits over its predecessors, including enhanced
security and capability to send and receive text
messages, also known as Short Message Service
(SMS). GSM networks were also much more efficient in
using the frequency spectrum.

5.1.2 How it works

GSM networks used a combination of two access
techniques, FDMA and TDMA, to use the allocated
frequency spectrum efficiently. These networks had a
relatively higher bandwidth compared to their 1G
counterpart, which allowed the capability to provide
additional services like SMS. The communication in
the GSM networks was sent and received using digital
encryption/decryption, which provided superior
security capabilities. GSM networks co-exist today
with GPRS, EDGE, 3G UMTS and 4G LTE networks in
most mature markets. In not so developed markets,
GSM networks are still the bread & butter for the

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mobile operators. You may check out this dedicated
post on GSM for more information.

5.2 D-AMPS
Chapter Text

5.2.1 What it is
D-AMPS or Digital AMPS stands for Digital Advanced
Mobile Phone System, also referred to as TDMA. It is a
digital technology that was introduced to provide 2G
mobile cellular services in the US and other countries.
D-AMPS started in the early 1990s, nearly a decade
after its predecessor, AMPS which provided 1G
analogue cellular services.

5.2.2 How it works

D-AMPS uses the same frequency band for
communication as AMPS which is 824 MHz to 894MHz.
The frequency band is divided into two with 824-849
MHz for uplink (Mobile to Base Station) and 869-
894MHz downlink (Base Station to Mobile). D-AMPS
uses a combination of Frequency Division Multiple
Access (FDMA) and Time Division Multiple Access
(TDMA), which is a concept similar to the 2G GSM
networks. The available uplink and downlink
frequency bands are first divided into frequency
channels of 30 kHz each using FDMA, and then TDMA
is applied, which further breaks each of these 30 kHz
channels into three (3) time slots. Digital voice
compression is also used to make efficient use of the
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existing capacity. The communication in D-AMPS
networks is also encrypted to ensure security.

5.3 IS-95
5.3.1 What it is
IS-95 stands for Interim Standard 1995, which was
introduced to deliver CDMA-based 2G cellular
services. The proprietary name for IS-95 is cdmaOne,
and it was a digital technology that used CDMA to
provide 2G cellular services just like the GSM and D-
AMPS networks. It led to various commercial 2G
deployments around the world and is a predecessor
of CDMA2000.

5.3.2 How it works

IS-95 was the first cellular standard to use CDMA as
the access technology. Cellular services before this
were using FDMA for the analogue systems and a
combination of FDMA and TDMA for the digital
cellular systems. The standard IS-95 has two variants IS-
95A and IS95-B. The frequency band used by IS95-A
can be either 824MHz-894MHz or 1850-1990 MHz with
separate uplink and downlink frequency bands. The
carrier frequencies used in IS-95 have a bandwidth of
1.25 MHz Data rates of up to 14.4 kbps can be
achieved from IS95-A, which can be improved to 115
kbps with the technology enhancement in IS95-B. IS-
95 provided capacity advantages for its ability to
accommodate more users per MHz of bandwidth.
The power consumption in these networks is low,

18
which allows users to make phone calls in decent
quality even when the signal strength is not at its best.
Low power consumption also extends the cell
coverage and increases the size of the cell. Due to
soft handovers (also known as handoffs), the calls are
less likely to be dropped.

5.4 GPRS
5.4.1 What it is
GPRS stands for General Packet Radio Service and is
often referred to as 2.5G or second and a half-
generation of mobile networks, which were an
enhancement to the 2G GSM networks. The
introduction of GPRS allowed mobile operators to
offer efficient mobile data services to their customers,
providing download speeds of up to 171.2 kbps.
Before the introduction of 3G (third generation of
mobile networks), a further improvement was made
to the 2.5G networks in the form of Enhanced Data
for Global Evolution (EDGE) which is often referred to
as 2.75G.

5.4.2 How it works

The 2G GSM networks use a switching method called
circuit-switched, in which a dedicated circuit is made
available for the entire duration of a call or session
even when the users are not speaking or exchanging
any data. This technique does not make efficient use
of the network resources, and even though it enables
high-quality voice calls, it does not make efficient use

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of the available bandwidth to offer mobile data
services. In 2.5G, the General Packet Radio Service
(GPRS) introduces another switching technique called
packet-switched, which allows the internet data to
be sent and received in the form of packets of data
bursts at different time intervals by sharing the
available capacity among multiple users. The circuit-
switched part for voice services stays the same and
works alongside the packet-switched network. GPRS
can provide maximum download speeds of up to
171.2 kbps.

5.5 EDGE
5.5.1 What it is
EDGE stands for Enhanced Data for Global Evolution,
and it is one of the pre-3G digital cellular
technologies which was an enhancement to the
GPRS (General Packet Radio Service aka 2.5G)
networks. EDGE was more efficient than GPRS, and it
improved the achievable data rates at least three
times as compared to GPRS, and it is therefore also
referred to as 2.75G.

5.5.2 How it works

EDGE uses the Packet Switched (PS) methodology to
send and receive data just like the GPRS networks.
The GSM networks rely on a switching method called
Circuit-Switched, which means when a user calls
another user, a dedicated circuit is available for the
entire duration of the call, even when the users are

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not speaking. This approach is not very efficient, and
even though it provides the means to accommodate
voice calls in high quality, it is not the most efficient for
data services. With the introduction of GPRS, a new
technique, packet-switched, was introduced, which
was later enhanced by EDGE to send packets of
data bursts at different time intervals by sharing the
available capacity more efficiently among multiple
users.

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6 3G – THIRD GENERATION

3G in mobile communications refers to the third

generation of mobile networks. There have been two
primary paths for the 3G deployments globally. The
first path applies to the most widely deployed GSM
networks, which use UMTS WCDMA for 3G. The
second path is relevant for TDMA/D-AMPS and CDMA
One and uses CDMA2000 to achieve 3G capabilities
in the existing CDMA networks in Asia and the US.
Even though the mobile internet services were
already introduced in the GSM networks through
GPRS and EDGE, but with 3G, users were able to get
much higher data speeds providing a superior overall
user experience as compared to the earlier
technologies. With 3G, users could enjoy multimedia
services on their phones, including video streaming.

3G networks, for the GSM track, required network

upgrades in the existing 2G/2.5G networks. In contrast
to GPRS and EDGE that used the same access
technology like GSM, UMTS networks employed
WCDMA, which required mobile operators to deploy
new base stations and allocate new frequencies. For
customers, this meant new mobile phones which
would support the new frequencies used by 3G
networks. Since the 3G deployments were expected
to co-exist with the 2G networks, 3G enabled mobile
phones supported both 2G and 3G frequencies. This

22
way, customers were able to use the same 3G mobile
phones in 2G-only coverage areas also.

6.1 UMTS
6.1.1 What it is
UMTS stands for Universal Mobile Telecommunication
System, and it is one of the key paths for 3G network
deployment. There have been two main routes for
the 3G deployments globally. The first route applies to
the most widely deployed GSM networks, which use
UMTS for 3G. The other route is relevant for D-AMPS
and IS-95 networks, which use CDMA2000 to achieve
3G capabilities. Even though the mobile internet
services were already introduced in the GSM
networks through GPRS and EDGE, but with 3G UMTS,
users were able to get much higher data speeds
providing superior overall performance as compared
to the earlier technologies. With UMTS, users could
enjoy multimedia services on their phones, including
video streaming.

6.1.2 How it works

3G UMTS networks required upgrades in the existing
2G GSM/2.5G EDGE networks. 3G UMTS networks used
WCDMA, which required mobile operators to deploy
new base stations and allocate new frequencies. For
customers, that meant new mobile phones which
would support the new frequencies used by 3G UMTS
networks. Since these deployments were expected to
co-exist with the 2G/2.5G networks, 3G UMTS enabled

23
mobile phones supported both 2G and 3G
frequencies. This way, customers were able to use the
same 3G mobile phones in 2G-only coverage areas
also.

6.2 CDMA2000
6.2.1 What it is
CDMA2000, also known as CDMA2000 1xRTT or IS-
2000, is a standard used to deliver 3G cellular services.
It is a successor of IS-95 (proprietary name:
cdmaOne), which was used to provide 2G cellular
services. 3G services around the globe usually follow
two main paths; the first is UMTS which is the successor
of GSM, and the other is CDMA2000 which follows IS-
95. The users of 3G cellular services can get much
higher data speeds as compared to 2G networks.
With 3G, users can enjoy multimedia services on their
phones, including video streaming.

6.2.2 How it works

CDMA2000 is a successor of the earlier standard IS-95,
and it is used to provide 3G services as specified in
IMT2000 (International Mobile Telecommunication
specifications for the year 2000). CDMA2000 is
backwards compatible with its predecessor, IS-95,
which makes the upgrade easy and seamless. It uses
the same carrier bandwidth of 1.25 MHZ and is both
circuit-switched as well as packet-switched. It can
support peak data rates of up to 153 kbps in downlink
and uplink. The access technology used in

24
CDMA2000 is Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA),
where all the users share the same 1.25 MHz channel,
but each user is assigned an individual pseudo-noise
(PN) sequence to avoid interference.

6.3 HSPA
6.3.1 What it is
HSPA stands for High-Speed Packet Access, and it is a
technology used in 3G UMTS (Universal Mobile
Telecommunications Service) networks to significantly
improve the achievable mobile data rates (internet
speed) of the 3G network. HSPA is a combination of
HSDPA (High-Speed Downlink Packet Access) and
HSUPA (High-Speed Uplink Packet Access).

HSDPA can enable download speeds of up to 14.4

Mbps, and its counterpart, HSUPA (High-Speed Uplink
Data Access), improves the upload speeds up to 5.76
Mbps. HSPA is also often referred to as 3.5G and is
usually shown on a mobile phone as 'H' or '3G+' icons.

6.3.2 How it works

HSPA is an enhancement to the existing 3G UMTS
networks, which enables networks to provide much
better download and upload speeds than the 3G
UMTS network. This is achieved by using the frequency
spectrum much more efficiently through better
modulation techniques and reduced transmission
and retransmission intervals.

25
HSDPA adds new capabilities to the UMTS network. It
introduces a new high-speed downlink channel that is
shared among multiple users. It uses a much shorter
transmission duration of just 2ms as compared to over
10ms in UMTS (Release 99), which makes it much
quicker to change users and respond to the
changing radio conditions. It also uses faster data
traffic scheduling which allows it to allocate most of
the available cell capacity to one user, so he/she
receives high-speed data in a short space of time. It
uses superior modulation and coding and faster
retransmission of erroneous packets. Due to all of
these improved capabilities, the users can get a lot
higher data rates.

HSUPA adds a new radio interface for uplink

communication. Unlike HSDPA, HSUPA uses a
dedicated channel and not a shared one. HSUPA
also uses a fast retransmission technique.

6.4 HSPA+
6.4.1 What it is
HSPA+ stands for Evolved High-Speed Packet Access
and is an enhancement to High-Speed Packet
Access (HSPA) to maximise the data rates in the UMTS
3G networks. With HSPA+, the full potential of WCDMA
based 3G UMTS network is achieved through
enhanced spectral efficiency, peak data rates and
reduced latency. The data rates can reach up to 42
Mbps in downlink and 11.5 Mbps in the uplink. A

26
mobile user sees the icon H+ on their phone screen
when being served by HSPA+.

6.4.2 How it works

HSPA+ is a technology upgrade to the HSPA which
maximises the potential of WCDMA UMTS networks. It
makes enhancements to spectral efficiency, peak
data rates and latency. HSPA+ uses a higher-order
modulation as compared to HSPA, MIMO (Multiple In
Multiple Out) downlink operation, and protocol
improvements. The resulting data rates can reach up
to 42 Mbps in downlink and 11.5 Mbps in the uplink.

Have a look at this post to learn more about HSPA

and to see what speeds you can get.

6.5 EVDO
6.5.1 What it is
EVDO stands for EVolution Data Optimized, and it is a
third-generation (3G) technology standard used in
CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) mobile
networks for providing high-speed internet services.
EVDO can offer a maximum download speed of up
to 14.7 Mbps and a maximum upload speed of up to
5.4 Mbps. Originally the abbreviation EVDO stood for
EVolution Data Only, but it was later changed to
EVolution Data Optimised. The counterpart of EVDO
in the GSM/UMTS networks is HSPA (High-Speed
Packet Access).

27
6.5.2 How it works
EVDO services are available from mobile network
operators or other telecom or internet service
providers. A user usually requires a USB data card to
access the service. They simply need to connect the
data card to their computing device and follow the
instructions available from the service provider. In
most cases, the user is required to install software from
the service provider, which has options to connect to
the internet service as well as to manage other
associated services such as checking data
consumption or managing their subscription.

EVDO evolved from CDMA2000, and it is a packet-

only standard that can provide internet data access
only. As an operator, EVDO is a choice made for data
only so it can work together with the existing voice
network. When deployed, it uses a dedicated
channel of 1.25 MHz. The voice part can either be
delivered as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) or on
a separate fall-back carrier dedicated to voice-only,
i.e. CDMA2000 1X carrier. The fall-back option is often
adopted by most CDMA mobile operators, which
ensures better voice quality.

Rev. 0 can provide a peak download data rate of up

to 2.4 Mbps, but in Rev. A, it was enhanced to 3.1
Mbps. The peak upload data rate is 153 kbps in Rev.
0, and 1.8 Mbps in Rev. A. Rev. B offers further
enhancements by providing a multi-carrier capability
in which a mobile can communicate with multiple
carriers at the same time. By doing this, Rev. B
28
effectively increases the data rate by two or more
times. With two carriers, Release B can increase the
download speeds to 6.2 Mbps and with three carriers
to 9.3 Mbps. The maximum download and upload
speeds with Rev. B can be up to 14.7 Mbps and 5.4
Mbps, respectively.

29
7 4G – FOURTH GENERATION
4G stands for the Fourth Generation of mobile
networks. The primary technology that enables 4G is
LTE which provides an upgrade path for leading 3G
technologies UMTS and CDMA2000. Another
technology that can technically enable 4G is WiMAX
(Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access).
However, LTE is the mainstream 4G technology.

7.1 LTE
7.1.1 What it is

LTE stands for Long Term Evolution (of mobile

networks). It can make efficient use of the available
bandwidth to increase data rates whilst also
minimising latency.

LTE was initially launched in 2009, and since then,

there have been various updates in the form of LTE-
Advanced and LTE-Advanced Pro. The following
peak downloads speeds can be achieved by LTE. The
average speeds are considerably lower, which can
be checked out in this post.

• LTE: up to 300 Mbps in the downlink

• LTE-Advanced: up to 1Gbps in the downlink
• LTE Advanced Pro: up to 3 Gbps in the
downlink

30
7.1.2 How it works

LTE can be enabled in a number of different ways

through various combinations of channel bandwidth
and modulation techniques. When a 20 MHz channel
is used with 64 QAM (Quadrature amplitude
modulation), LTE networks can offer speeds of up to
300 Mbps in the downlink and 75 Mbps in the uplink.

Due to the nature of the radio interface, the

theoretical bit rates are not usually achievable unless
the user is in a test lab environment and is the only
user on the network.

Unlike GSM and UMTS networks, LTE uses separate

multiple-access technologies for the uplink and the
downlink. It uses Orthogonal Frequency Division
Multiple Access (OFDMA) for the downlink and Single
Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA)
for the uplink. More about OFDMA in this dedicated
post.

LTE can also be used as a mobile broadband service

which is an alternative to fixed-line broadband.
Mobile broadband usually requires a USB dongle or a
wireless router to connect to the laptop.

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32
8 5G – FIFTH GENERATION

8.1 NR

5G stands for the fifth generation of mobile networks,

and it is enabled by a technology called New Radio,
abbreviated as NR. 5G currently exists in two forms (i)
non-standalone 5G and (ii) standalone 5G. Non-
standalone 5G employs a combination of 5G radio
network and 4G core network (EPC – Evolved Packet
Core). Standalone 5G is an end-to-end 5G network.
More about standalone and non-standalone 5G in
this dedicated post if you are interested.

5G is fundamentally different from the earlier cellular

technologies like LTE, UMTS, CDMA2000 etc. It is
designed so that it can fulfil many use cases of various
kinds through a single network. The key use case
classes for 5G are Enhanced Mobile Broadband
(eMBB), Ultra-Reliable Low Latency Communication
(uRLLC) and Massive Machine Type Communication
(mMTC). Mobile broadband is only one part of 5G,
while mMTC and uRLLC cover IoT and other industrial
use cases.

In ideal conditions, 5G can offer over 10 Gbps with a

latency of as low as one millisecond. The latency can
get even lower when higher frequency bands are
used. The lower latency of 5G networks makes them
ideal for providing communications for self-driving

33
cars, manufacturing, virtual reality (VR) and other IoT
(Internet of Things) services. 5G can operate in various
frequency bands, including high, medium and low
bands. The more futuristic use cases that require low
latency can benefit from higher frequency bands.
You may check out our dedicated section for all the
5G articles and this post for average 5G speeds in the
UK.

34
9 ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Hey, I am Adnan, and I have been working in the

telecom industry for nearly two decades. I started my
career in 2003 when GSM (2G) and UMTS (3G) were
the most dominant cellular technologies in Europe. I
am lucky enough to have worked for some of the
industry's largest mobile operators and vendors. The
last 13 years of my professional life have been in
global product management of telecom products
and services, including mobile video, unified comms,
broadband, mobile tariffs, and radio/RF network
testing tools. I like to explain things in plain English to
help people understand cellular concepts without
worrying about the buzzwords. In a large corporate, it
is common to use complex terminologies and
abbreviations because everyone assumes that the
person they are speaking to knows what they are
talking about. Unfortunately, that assumption leads to
confusion which is why I started putting together a
few e-books, just like the one you are reading right
now. I started this blog https://commsbrief.com/ a
few years ago, where I regularly add new posts on all
things mobile communications.

35
36
10 LEARNING MATERIAL & TEMPLATES
INTRODUCTION TO MOBILE
COMMUNICATIONS – PRO SERIES

Are you new to the telco industry and need some help
preparing for a big meeting? Don't worry; these slides will
give you a guided tour of the industry in a simplified way to
help you learn the basics whilst also building an
understanding of the challenges faced by mobile
operators and vendors today.

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37
 MOBILE NETWORKS MADE EASY

An overview of 2G, 3G and 4G mobile networks for new

and prospective telecom professionals who would like to
understand the mobile networks a bit better.

RRP: $8.49. Buy now for $4.99 (Including sales tax)

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38
 PRODUCT & PORTFOLIO ROADMAPS

Are you a new product manager or a student trying to

figure out how product mangers in the telecom industry
create roadmaps? Rather than reading a hefty 'how-to'
guide, have a look at these templates with real-life
examples so you know exactly how to get the job done.

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39
 PRODUCT ONE PAGER

As a product manager you own the product and that

ownership requires you to represent your product to other
stakeholders like sales, finance, technology etc. This One-
Pager allows you to capture the key aspects of your
product on a single slide. That way, you can present your
product to senior management with confidence and dive
into the details of each area as needed.

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40
USEFUL LINKS

• 2G & 3G Networks
• 4G Networks
• 5G Networks
• Cellular Devices
• High-Speed Internet
• Mobile Core
• Mobile Internet
• Mobile Radio
• Mobile Wireless
• Telecom Business
• Telecom Concepts
• Telecom People

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