3G Handset and Network Design

Introduction

This book is written for hardware and software engineers presently involved or wanting to be involved in 3G handset or 3G network design. Over the next 20 chapters, we study handset hardware, handset software, network hardware, and network software.

A Brief Overview of the Technology

Each successive generation of cellular technology has been based on a new enabling technology. By new, we often mean the availability of an existing technology at low cost, or, for handset designers, the availability of a technology sufficiently power-efficient to be used in a portable device. For example:

First generation (1G). AMPS/ETACS handsets in the 1980s required low-cost microcontrollers to manage the allocation of multiple RF (radio frequency) channels (833 × 30 kHz channels for AMPS, 1000 × 25 kHz channels for ETACS) and low-cost RF components that could provide acceptable performance at 800/900 MHz.

Second generation (2G). GSM, TDMA, and CDMA handsets in the 1990s required low-cost digital signal processors (DSPs) for voice codecs and related baseband processing tasks, and low-cost RF components that could provide acceptable performance at 800/900 MHz, 1800 MHz, and 1900 MHz.

Third generation (3G). W-CDMA and CDMA2000 handsets require—in addition to low-cost microcontrollers and DSPs—low-cost, low power budget CMOS or CCD image sensors; low-cost, low power budget image and video encoders; low-cost, low power budget memory; low-cost RF components that can provide acceptable performance ...