Towards 5G

1 Introduction

Shilpa Talwar and Rath Vannithamby

Intel Corporation, USA

1.1 Evolution of Cellular Systems through the Generations

The first large-scale commercial cellular communications systems were deployed in the 1980s and these became known as first-generation (1G) systems. 1G systems were built on narrowband analog technology, and provided a basic voice service. These were replaced by second-generation (2G) cellular telecom networks by the early 1990s. 2G networks marked the start of the digital voice communication era, and provided a secure and reliable communication channel. 2G systems use either time division multiple access (TDMA) or code division multiple access (CDMA) technologies, and provided higher rates. The European Global System for Mobile Communications system is based on TDMA technology while IS-95 (also known as CDMA One) is based on CDMA technology. These 2G digital technologies provide expanded capacity, improved sound quality, better security and unique services such as caller ID, call forwarding, and short messaging. A critical feature was seamless roaming, which let subscribers move across provider boundaries.

The third-generation (3G) – International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 (IMT-2000) – is a set of standards for mobile phones and mobile telecommunications services fulfilling the recommendations of the International Telecommunication Union-Radio (ITU-R). 3G mobile networks became popular due to ability of users to access the Internet over ...