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EVOLUTION OF 4G: A STUDY

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 International Journal of Innovative Research in Computer Science & Engineering (IJIRCSE)
www.ioirp.com ISSN: 2394-6364, Volume – 1, Issue – 3. February 2015

EVOLUTION OF 4G: A STUDY

APANA BHAT, 2 VISHWANATH GOJANUR
Dunst Technologies, Bangalore, India
2
Department of Telecommunication Engineering, BNMIT, Bangalore, India.
bhataparnak@gmail.com, 2 vishwanathgojanur@gmail.com

Abstract— The modern communication system is aimed to reach the real world one environment from virtual world via connecting
resources of one with another through social network system. The communication process is aggravated various infrastructural
development to reach in this current level such as 3G and 4G communication system. The 4G system provides mobile ultra-broadband,
internet access with very high speed data rate. This research paper presents an overview of 4G technology trends in the wireless
technology market, a comparative overview of 4G v/s previous generation technologies it's architecture and its applications.

Keywords— 4G, 5G, 3G, UTMS, CDMA, Network Architecture, Qos, GPRS, evolution

I. INTRODUCTION
The next generation of wireless communications systems, commonly known as fourth-generation (4G) network, is envisaged to
encompass a multitude of cellular and wireless networking technologies which include Wireless Personal Area Network
(WPAN), Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) and third generation (3G) cellular network. These wireless networking
technologies are seamlessly interconnected by the Internet Protocol (IP) backbone network. In essence, 4G aims to transform
communications architectures from traditional vertical stove piped to horizontal integrated systems. [1].Traditionally, the service
provision in 2G networks ,e.g. GSM, has been mainly based on voice services, closed business model support and limited
operator differentiation due to a narrow set of offered services. Actually, mobile service provision is facing important
advancements towards more flexible business models, with novel and dynamic Internet-like services, with the introduction of new
2.5G/3G generations of mobile communication systems, like GPRS, UMTS and CDMA. Unfortunately, these 2.5/3G networks
entail limitations to fulfill requirements imposed by current mobile users specially with the “anytime, anywhere with anybody”
type of communication; among these requirements we can mention: terminal working effectively 'anytime, anywhere', service and
interface personalization, ubiquitous communications ,information and access, control of reconfiguration, cost, services, QoS and
available networks, value added multimedia services, access and download speed, mobility, security, location awareness, billing
and interoperability [3,4].

Need for 4G
1. 3G performance may not be sufficient to meet needs of future high-performance applications like multi-media, full-
motion video, wireless teleconferencing. We need a network technology that extends 3G capacity by an order of
magnitude.
2. There are multiple standards for 3G making it difficult to roam and interoperate across networks. We need global
mobility and service portability.
3. 3G is based on primarily a wide-area concept. We need hybrid networks that utilize both wireless LAN (hot spot)
concept and cell or base-station wide area network design.
4. We need wider bandwidth
5. Researchers have come up with spectrally more efficient modulation schemes that cannot be retrofitted into 3G
infrastructure
6. We need all digital packet networks that utilize IP in its fullest form with converged voice and data capability [2].

II. EVOLUTION TILL 4G

1G: - First generation refers to the analog “brick phones” and “bag phones” as they were first introduced for mobile cellular
technology. Cell phones began with 1G and signify first generation wireless analog technology standards that originated in the
1980s. 1G was replaced by 2G wireless digital standards.

2G:-2G signifies second generation wireless digital technology. Fully digital 2G networks have replaced analog 1G, which
originated in the 1980s.

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 International Journal of Innovative Research in Computer Science & Engineering (IJIRCSE)
www.ioirp.com ISSN: 2394-6364, Volume – 1, Issue – 3. February 2015

2G networks first commercially began on the Global System for Mobil Communications, or GSM, standard. 2G on GSM
standards was first used in commercial practice in 1991 by Radiolinja, a Finnish GSM operator that was founded on September
19, 1988. Radiolinja is now part of Elisa, which was known in the 1990s as the Helsinki Telephone Company. In addition to the
GSM protocol, 2G also utilizes various other digital protocols, including CDMA, TDMA, iDEN and PDC. GSM is based on
TDMA.

2.5G: - 2.5G wireless technology is a stepping stone that bridged 2G to 3G wireless technology and is sometimes used to describe
those evolved technologies that were first considered as being 2G. While 2G and 3G have been officially defined as wireless
standards by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), 2.5G has not been defined and was created only for the purposes
of marketing.

3G:-3G is the third generation of wireless technologies. This comes with enhancements over previous wireless technologies, as
high-speed transmission, advanced multimedia access and. 3G is mostly used with mobile phones and handsets as a means to
connect the phone to the Internet or other IP networks in order to make voice and video calls, download and upload data and to
surf the net. 3G is the successor of 2G and 1G standards. The 3G networks handle the majority of all data transfers for cellular
service providers.

3.5G:-Similar to the 2.5G acronym, the reference to 3.5G is not an officially recognized standard by the ITU. It is an interim or
evolutionary step to the next generation of cellular technology that will be known as IMT-Advanced according to definitions by
the ITU. IMT-Advanced will comprise the fourth generation of cell phone technology. The acronym 3.5G is also known as
“beyond 3G.”The technologies within the GSM family that are considered as beyond 3G include HSPA+ and LTE. These 3.5G
technologies are often called pre-4G as well [5].

III. 4G ARCHITECTURE
There is there possible architecture of 4G; multimode device overlay network and common access protocol. Multimode devices
architecture uses a single physical terminal with multiple interfaces to access services on different wireless networks. It may
improve call completion and expand effective coverage area. It also provide reliable wireless coverage in case of network, link ,or
switch failure .the user ,device or network can initiate handoff between network the device itself incorporated most of additional
complexity without requiring wireless network notification or employing inter working devices. Each network can deploy a
database that keeps track of user location, device capabilities, and network condition and user preferences. In overlay network, a
user accesses an overlay network consisting of several universal access points. These UAPs in turn select wireless network based
on availability of QOS specifications, and user defined choices. A UAP performs protocol and frequency translation content
adaptation and QOS negotiation renegotiation on behalf of users .the overlay network, rather than the user or device, performs
handoffs as the user moves from one UAP to another. A UAP stores user network and devices information capabilities and
preferences. Common access protocol becomes viable if wireless network can support one or two standard access protocols .one
possible situation which will require inter working between different network ,uses wireless asynchronous transfer mode .to
implement wireless ATM every wireless network must allow transmission of ATM cells with additional header or wireless ATM
cells requiring changes in the wireless network.[8]

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 International Journal of Innovative Research in Computer Science & Engineering (IJIRCSE)
www.ioirp.com ISSN: 2394-6364, Volume – 1, Issue – 3. February 2015

IV. 4G SPECIFICATION & COMPARISON WITH 3G

1. Networks: - Worldwide roll-out of 3G networks are delayed in some countries by the enormous Costs of additional spectrum
licensing fees. In many parts of the world 3G networks do not use the same radio frequencies as 2G, requiring mobile
operators to build entirely new networks and license entirely new frequencies. So that a number of spectrum allocation
decisions, spectrum standardization decisions, spectrum availability decisions, technology innovations, component
development, signal Processing and switching enhancements and inter-vendor cooperation have to take place before the
vision of 4G will materialize.

2. Service and Billing:-Managing user accounts and billing them has become much more complicated with 4G networks. This
is mainly due to heterogeneity of 4G networks and the frequent interaction of service providers. The research community
addressed this concern and proposed several frameworks to handle the customers’ billing and user account information [8, 9].

3. Quality of Service:-With respect to network quality, many telecommunications providers are promising that there will be
enhanced connectivity, and the quality of data that is transmitted across the network will be of the highest possible quality, as
in the case of Ericsson’s 4G Network for TeliaSonera [7]. The company promises that “The new 4G network will do for
broadband what mobile telephony did for voice. With real-time performance, and about 10 times higher data rates compared
to today's mobile broadband networks, consumers can always be connected, even on the move” [7]. As a result, it is
important for providers to develop an effective approach to the 4G Network that will enhance quality, provide effective
security measures, and will ensure that all users are provided with extensive alternatives for downloading video, music, and
picture files without delays.

4. Speed: Theoretical speed of 4g has been suggested that data rates up to 100 Mbps for high mobility and1Gbps for low
mobility should be the target value. Hand Off: The improved 4G network standards will allow for smooth hand off from one
coverage area to another without interruption to any ongoing data transfers. This will result in smooth streaming data for the
user.

5. Faster response time: One benefit of 4G technology is faster response time or lower latency. 4G technology reduces latency
to 1/100th Specifications

6. Routing efficiency: the routing paths between the communication nodes to the mobile nodes should be optimized to exclude
redundant transfer or bypass path.

7. Bandwidth: Higher offered bandwidth ensures lower call dropping and call blocking probabilities. Hence bandwidth
handling should be an integral part of the handoff technique.

8. Power Consumption: In 4G networks, we need to find ways to improve energy efficiency. During handoff, frequent
interface activation can cause considerable battery drainage. The issue of power saving also arises in network discovery
because unnecessary interface activation can increase power consumption. It is also important to incorporate power
consumption factor during handoff decision of a second (about 10ms).

Specifications 3G 4G
Frequency Band 1.8 – 2.5 GHz 2 – 8 GHz
Bandwidth 5-20 MHz 5-20 MHz
Data rate Up to 2Mbps 20 Mbps or more
Access Wideband CDMA Multi-carrier – CDMA or
OFDM(TDMA)
FEC Turbo-codes Concatenated codes
Switching Circuit/Packet Packet
Data Throughput Up to 3.1mbps 3to5mbps but potential
estimated at a range of 10
to300 mbps.

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 International Journal of Innovative Research in Computer Science & Engineering (IJIRCSE)
www.ioirp.com ISSN: 2394-6364, Volume – 1, Issue – 3. February 2015
Peak Upload Rate: 50 Mbit/s 50 Mbit/s
Peak Download Rate 100Mbit/s 1Gbit/s
Switching Technique packet switching/circuit switch packet switching, message
switching
Network Architecture Wide Area Cell Based Integration of wireless LAN
and Wide area.
Services And Applications: CDMA 2000, UMTS,EDGE etc Wimax2 and LTE-Advance
Forward error correction 3G uses Turbo codes for error correction Concatenated codes are used
(FEC) for error correctionsin4G.
Frequency Band: 1.8 – 2.5GHz 2 – 8GHz

Table 1: Comparison between 3G and 4G.

V. CHALLENGES
The main challenge that 4G networks are facing is integrating non-IP-based and IP-based devices. It is known that devices that
are not IP address based are generally used for services such as VoIP. On the other hand, devices that are IP address based are
used for data delivery. 4G networks will serve both types of devices. Consequently, integrating the mechanisms of providing
services to both non-IP-based as well as IP-based devices is one of key challenges 4G networks have to address [11, 12].

1. Large number of operators: A large number of network operators are expected to co-exist and collaborate in the 4G -
Networks. In such circumstances, mobile users who are responsible for handover decision will require increased levels of
control over how services can be secured in handover. This will be complicated by versatile trust relationships between
network operators.
2. Security: The level of security provided in different networks is different. More interconnectivity and inter-working will
make the vulnerability even greater. Monitoring, detecting, analyzing and preventing worms and viruses on wired networks is
very difficult but the same tasks on wired, wireless, and mobile networks combined would be even more difficult and
challenging[A].
VI. APPLICATION
1. Tele-Medicine: 4G will support remote health monitoring of patients. A user need not go to the hospital instead a user can get
videoconference assistance for a doctor at anytime and anywhere.
2. Tele-geo processing applications: This is a combination of GIS (Geographical Information System) and GPS (Global
Positioning System) in which a user can get the location by querying.
3. Crisis management: Natural disasters can cause breakdown in communication systems. In today’s world it might take days or
weeks to restore the system. But in 4G it is expected to restore such crisis issues in a few hours.
4. Education: For people who are interested in lifelong education, 4G provides a good opportunity. People anywhere in the
world can continue their education through online in a cost effective manner [14].

VII. MIGRATION TO 4G MOBILE SYSTEM

With the rapid development of wireless communication networks, it is expected that the 4th generation mobile systems will be
launched within decades.

4G mobile systems focus on seamlessly integrating the existing wireless technologies including GSM, wireless LAN, and
Bluetooth. This contrasts with 3G, which merely focuses on developing new standards and hardware. 4G systems will support
comprehensive and personalized services, providing stable system performance and quality service [15]

VIII. FUTURE SCOPE

5G the fifth generation of mobile communication technology or 5G is in a developmental stage. Important characteristic of the
new technology will be the ability of mobile devices to simultaneously send and receive information from cell towers, that things
are not possible with older networks. There is no defined standard for 5G download speeds till date of publication [6].

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 International Journal of Innovative Research in Computer Science & Engineering (IJIRCSE)
www.ioirp.com ISSN: 2394-6364, Volume – 1, Issue – 3. February 2015

IX. CONCLUSION
As the wireless communications technologies evolve dramatically, the recent research focus has shifted to the development of
fourth-generation (4G) mobile systems. Instead of developing a new uniform standard for all wireless communications systems,
4G communication networks strive to seamlessly integrate various existing wireless communication technologies.

References
[1] Roberts, M L et al. Evolution of the Air Interface of Cellular Communications Systems toward 4G Realization. IEEE Communications Surveys and
Tutorials, 8 (1), 2006.
[2] Availabe at:"http://www.mobileinfo.com/3G/4GVision&Technologies.htm"
[3] F. Bader, C. Pinart, C. Christophi, E. Tsiakkouri, I.Ganchev,V. Friderikos, C. Bohoris, L. Correia, L.Ferreira. “User-Centric Analysis of Perceived QoS in
4G IP Mobile/Wireless Networks”. PIMRC'2003, Pp.x.1-x.7, 7-10 September 2003. Beijing, China. ISBN 0-7803-7823-7.
[4] Ivan Armuelles, Tomas Robles, Ivan Ganchev, Mairtin O’droma, Hakima Chaouchi, Matthias Siebert."On Ad Hoc Networks in the 4G Integration Process".
[5] Available at:"http://www.4gamericas.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=page&sectionid=361 ".
[6] Available at: "http://www.ehow.com/info_12053800difference-between-3g-4g-5g-downloading.html#ixzz1tnEQ7zMb".

[7] K. Kumaravel."Comparative Study of 3G and 4G in Mobile Technology",IJCSI International Journal of Computer Science Issues, Vol. 8, Issue 5, No 3,
September 2011 ISSN (Online): 1694-0814.
[8] F. Ghys and A. Vaaraniemi, “Component-based Charging in a Next-generation Multimedia Network,” IEEE Commun. Mag., vol. 41, no. 1, Jan. 2003, pp.
99–102.
[9] S. Higgenbotham, Countdown to 4G: who’s doing what, when, 2008.
[10] J. Fleck, “A Distributed Near Real-time Billing Environment,” Telecommunication. Info. Net. Architecture, 1999, pp. 142–48.
[11] P. Taylor, AT&T to roll out 4G network, 2009.
[12] D. Tipper et al., “Providing Fault Tolerance in Wireless Access Networks,” IEEE Communication. Mag., vol. 40, no. 1, Jan. 2002, pp. 58–64.
[13] Payaswini P, Manjaiah D.H," Challenges and issues in 4G – Networks Mobility Management", International Journal of Computer Trends and Technology
(IJCTT) - volume4 Issue5–May 2013.
[14] Available at:"http://www.academia.edu/3713857/Comparative_study_between_the_generations_of_mobile_communication_2G_3G_and_4G".
[15] Y.S. Rao, Wing-Cheong Yeung, and Anil Kripalani, “Third- Generation (3G) Radio Access Standards”, IEEE 2000

Authors Biography:

Aparna Bhat:-She received her Bachelor in Engineering in Telecommunication from BNMIT Bangalore affiliated to VTU
Belgaum in 2013.Currently she is working as a software engineer at Dunst Technologies Bangalore. She is passionate about
technology and has published over 7 papers in international conferences and journals. She aims to pursue a Master’s and PhD
degree in computer science.

Vishwanath Gojanur:-He received his Bachelor in Engineering in Telecommunication from BNMIT Bangalore affiliated to VTU
Belgaum in 2015.Currently he is working with IBM Bangalore. He has published about 3 papers in international conferences and
journals.

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