“3G TECHNOLOGY”

Mandsaur Institute of Technology

Mandsaur (M.P.)-458001

Abhishek Maheshwari Mehul Verma

B.E. 2nd year EC B.E. 2nd year EC
(vshccmm@yahoo.co.in) (mehul_mailbox@rediffmail.com)

Abstract
In the world of Mobile Communication, mobile systems like Global System for Mobile
Communications/General Packet Radio Service (GSM/GPRS) are immensely successful. The flexibility
associated with cellular telephony has gone from being a luxury to becoming a commodity. The present
2.5G systems like GSM/GPRS are capable of delivering IP services, but current cellular systems are still
mostly used for speech services. Low bandwidth and expensive data services are perceived to be the main
culprits. 3G networks are in higher frequency band (2 GHz and beyond) with larger bandwidth (around 5
MHZ) than 2G and will provide higher speeds up to 2 Mbps in a} fixed or stationary wireless
environment and at 384 Kbps in a mobile environment. 3G is like a broad band for mobile phones, it
offers voice, radio, picture messages, e-mails, the internet and more, all in one portable device and will
open the ability to exploit radio resource management functions to guarantee a certain target QoS (Quality
of Services). 3G technologies are turning phones and other devices into multimedia players referred as
Freedom of Mobile Multimedia Access (FOMA). It uses W-CDMA technology to transfer data over its
networks. 3G supports W-CDMA, DECT, UWC-136, CDMA2000, Wi-Fi, Blue-Tooth etc.. It means
world is at user’s fingertips: anything, anytime, anywhere. But it is a highly ambitious dream and hence it
puts up the technical challenge to upcoming technocrats. The dream of 3G is to unify the world’s mobile
computing devices through the single world-wide radio transmission standards. Compatibility and
interworking between the new 3G wireless systems and the old legacy networks must be achieved in order
to ensure the acceptance of new 3G wireless technology by service providers and end-users. Keeping this
in mind a thorough study of 3G has been carried out. This paper highlights the superiority of 3G over the
existing technologies and its applications.

Keywords: CDMA, FDMA,W-CDMA,IMT-2000,TDMA,ITU.

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Introduction
Third Generation (3G) mobile devices and services will transform wireless communications into on-line,
real-time connectivity. 3G wireless technology will allow an individual to have immediate access to
location-specific services that offer information on demand. The first generation of mobile phones
consisted of the analog models that emerged in the early 1980s. The second generation of digital mobile
phones appeared about ten years later along with the first digital mobile networks. During the second
generation, the mobile telecommunications industry experienced exponential growth both in terms of
subscribers as well as new types of value-added services. Mobile phones are rapidly becoming the
preferred means of personal communication, creating the world's largest consumer electronics industry.
The rapid and efficient deployment of new wireless data and Internet services has emerged as a critical
priority for communications equipment manufacturers. Network components that enable wireless data
services are fundamental to the next-generation network infrastructure. Wireless data services are
expected to see the same explosive growth in demand that Internet services and wireless voice services
have seen in recent years. This paper presents an overview of current technology trends in the wireless
technology market, a historical overview of the evolving wireless technologies and an examination of
how the communications industry plans to implement 3G wireless technology standards to address the
growing demand for wireless multimedia services. 3G wireless technology represents the convergence of
various 2G wireless telecommunications systems into a single global system that includes both terrestrial
and satellite components. One of the most important aspects of 3G wireless technology is its ability to
unify existing cellular standards, such as CDMA, GSM, and TDMA, under one umbrella. The spectrum
between 400 MHz and 3 GHz is technically suitable for the 3 rd generation. The following three air
interface modes accomplish this result: wideband CDMA, CDMA2000 and the Universal Wireless
Communication (UWC-136) interfaces. Wideband CDMA (W-CDMA) is compatible with the current 2G
GSM networks prevalent in Europe and parts of Asia. W-CDMA will require bandwidth of between
5Mhz and 10 Mhz, making it a suitable platform for higher capacity applications. It can be overlaid onto
existing GSM, TDMA (IS-36) and IS95 networks. Subscribers are likely to access 3G wireless services
initially via dual band terminal devices. W-CDMA networks will be used for high-capacity applications
and 2G digital wireless systems will be used for voice calls. The second radio interface is CDMA2000
which is backward compatible with the second generation CDMA IS-95 standard predominantly used in
US. The third radio interface, Universal Wireless Communications – UWC-136, also called IS-136HS,
was proposed by the TIA and designed to comply with ANSI-136, the North American TDMA standard.

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A unique international standard was targeted but unfortunately not successful. Two main proposed system
for 3G have been described by ITU (International Telecomm Union) :

FIGURE: Road to 3G

 UMTS is composed of two different but related modes:

- CDMA direct spread: wide band CDMA also called Frequency Division Duplex (FDD).
- CDMA-TDD (Time Division Duplex)
 CDMA 2000: CDMA multi-carrier, which is the evolution of CDMA one.
 EDGE: Derived from GSM.
The entire telecommunication industry, including both industry and national and regional standards
setting bodies gave a concerned effort to avoid the fragmentation that had thus far characterized the
mobile market. This approval meant that for the first time, full interoperability and interworking of mobile
systems could be achieved. IMT-2000 is the result of collaboration of many entities inside the ITU (ITU-
R and ITU-T) and outside the ITU (3GPP, 3GPP2 and so on). The 3G standard was created by ITU and is
called IMT-2000. Its main aim is to provide global roaming.

Architecture of 3G network
3G wireless networks consist of a Radio Access Network (RAN) and a core network. The core
network consists of a packet-switched domain, which includes 3G SGSNs and GGSNs, which provide the
same functionality that they provide in a GPRS system, and a circuit-switched domain, which includes 3G
MSC for switching of voice calls. Charging for services and access is done through the Charging Gateway
Function (CGF), which is also part of the core network. RAN functionality is independent from the core
network functionality. The access network provides a core network technology independent access for

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mobile terminals to different types of core networks and network services. Either core network domain
can access any appropriate RAN service; e.g. it should be possible to access a “speech” radio access
bearer from the packetswitched domain. The Radio Access Network consists of new network elements,
known as Node B and Radio Network Controllers (RNCs). Node B is comparable to the Base Transceiver
Station in 2G wireless networks. RNC replaces the Base Station Controller. It provides the radio resource
management, handover control and support for the connections to circuit-switched and packet-switched
domains. The interconnection of the network elements in RAN and between RAN and core network is
over Iub, Iur and Iu interfaces based on ATM as a layer 2 switching technology. Data services run from
the terminal device over IP, which in turn uses ATM as a reliable transport with QoS. Voice is embedded
into ATM from the edge of the network (Node B) and is transported over ATM out of the RNC. The Iu
interface is split into 2 parts: circuit switched and packet-switched. The Iu interface is based on ATM with
voice traffic embedded on virtual circuits using AAL2 technology and IP-over-ATM for data traffic using
AAL5 technology. These traffic types are switched independently to either 3G SGSN for data or 3G MSC
for voice.

Figure shows the 3G wireless network architecture.

IMT-2000
IMT-2000 aims to exploit the potential synergy between the digital mobile telecommunication
technologies being developed as part of the dramatic growth of personal telecommunications, and those
rapidly evolving for fixed wireless access.

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IMT-2000 offers the capability of providing value-added services and applications on the basis of a single
standard. The system envisages a platform for distributing converged fixed, mobile, voice, data, internet
and multimedia services. One of its key visions is to provide seamless global roaming, enabling users to
move across borders while using the same number and handset. IMT-2000 also aims to provide seamless
delivery of services, over a number of media (satellite, fixed, etc..). It is expected that IMT-2000 will
provide higher transmission rates: a minimum speed of 2 Mbit/s for stationary or walking users, and 348
Kbit/s in a moving vehicle. Second-generation systems only provide speeds ranging from Kbit/s and 28.8
Kbit/s. in addition, IMT-2000 has the following key characteristics:
1. Flexibility
With the large number of mergers and consolidations occurring in the mobile industry, and the move
into foreign markets, operators wanted to avoid having to support a wide range of different interfaces
and technologies. This would surely have hindered the growth of 3G worldwide. The IMT-2000
standard addresses this problem, by providing a wide range of services and applications. The IMT-2000
standard accommodates five possible radio interfaces based on three different access technologies
(FDMA,TDMA and CDMA) shown in fig. below.

FDMA: Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) is the most common analog system. It is a
technique whereby spectrum is divided up into frequencies and then assigned to users. With FDMA, only
one subscriber at any given time is assigned to a channel. FDMA has been used for first generation analog
systems.
TDMA: Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) improves spectrum capacity by splitting each
frequency into time slots. TDMA allows each user to access the entire radio frequency channel for the

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 short period of a call. TDMA is the dominant technology for the second generation mobile cellular
networks.

CDMA: Code Division Multiple Access is based on “spread” spectrum technology. Since it is suitable for
encrypted transmissions, it has long been used for military purpose. CDMA increases spectrum capacity
by allowing all users to occupy all channels at the same time. Transmissions are spread over the whole
radio band, and each voice or data call are assigned a unique code to differentiate from the other calls
carried over the same spectrum. CDMA allows for a “soft hand-off”, which means that terminals can
communicate with several base stations at the same time. The dominant radio interface for third-
generation mobile, or IMT-2000, will be a wideband version of CDMA with three modes (IMT-DS, IMT-
MC and IMT-TC) as shown in fig. below.
2. Affordability
There was agreement among industry that 3G systems had to be affordable, in order to encourage their
adoption by consumers and operators.
3. Compatibility with existing systems
IMT-2000 services have to be compatible with existing systems. 2G systems, such as the GSM standard
(prevalent in Europe and parts of Asia and Africa) will continue to exist for some time and compatibility
with these systems must be assured through effective and seamless migration paths.
4. Modular Design
The vision for IMT-2000 systems is that they must be easily expandable in order to
allow for growth in users, converge areas, and new services, with minimum initial investment.

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Comparison of 2G and 3G Mobile Networks
As mentioned above, although there are many similarities between 2G and 3G wireless networks (and
many of the 2G and 3G components are shared or connected through interworking functions), there are
also many differences between the two technologies. Table 1 compares the differences between the core
network, the radio portion and other areas of the two networks.

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Features of 3G
CDMA2000
CDMA2000 has two phases: phase one is 1XRTT (144 Kbps) (also known as 1X), and this can be
upgraded to phase two, 3XRTT (2Mbps) (also known as 3X). The next evolutionary step is to the two
CDMA2000 1X EV (“EV” = “Evolution”) standards. CDMA2000 1X EV-DO (“Data Only”) will use
separate frequencies for data and voice. The following step is to CDMA2000 1X EV-DV (“Data and
Voice”), which will integrate voice and data on the same frequency band.
TD-CDMA/TD-SCDMA
The UMTS standard also contains another radio transmission standard which is rarely mentioned: TD-
CDMA (a.k.a. TDD UTRA because it is the TDD component of UTRA). TD-CDMA was developed by
Siemens. While W-CDMA is an FDD technology (requiring paired spectrum), TD-CDMA is a TDD
technology and thus can use unpaired spectrum TDD is well-suited to the transmission of internet data.
DECT
DECT is considered WLL when a public network operator provides wireless service directly to the user
via this technology. DECT is capable of carrying higher levels of traffic, provides better voice quality,
and can transmit data at higher rates.
W-CDMA
W-CDMA is a CDMA channel that is four times wider than the current channels that are used in 2G
networks.

Spectrum Issues
Although spectrum (roughly 155 MHz in the core band around 2 GHz) for 3G has been allocated
specifically in Europe and many other parts of the world, the US has not yet finalized a 3G spectrum plan.
While the FCC has announced it will free up spectrum located in the 700 MHz band for 3G, further
allocations will be required to accommodate a range of competitive 3G service providers in different parts
of the country. However, because of 3G’s ability to be implemented across any number of bands,
operators and the FCC are working toward a solution. As yet, the FCC has not completed all spectrum
considerations, and the question of whether to provide new allocations remains open. Importantly,
infrastructure providers are currently working to create solutions that will deliver the same functionality
as 3G without requiring the extra spectrum.

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Implementation of 3G
The time line for 3G implementation and the associated applications that can be supported at each stage is
shown in fig. Below.

Devices to be Replaced for Implementation of 3G

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Advantages of 3G
Although 3G has not been implemented, but there are more technical and economical advantages to the
technology that seem ideal as an entry point to competitive residential services. Vendors are already
developing radio transmission systems for 3G that correct some of the weaknesses of other wireless local
loop technology. Fixed wireless systems based on 3G technology are designed without line-of-sight
limitations or requirements. Another related advantage of 3G service is spectrum reuse. A 3G network,
though requiring a wider “spread” of bandwidth than conventional 2G technologies, uses spectrum more
efficiently. A 3G fixed system allows for one-to-one spectrum reuse; which means that multiple base
stations and multiple sectors within a base station can operate on the same frequency. This contrast with
cellular networks, which must be carefully designed today so that adjacent cells do not operate on the
same frequency. Since this issue does not arise with 3G, network planning is much simpler. In the case of
wideband CDMA, cell splitting and sectorization are also both enhanced by W-CDMA’s ability to cope
with the resulting signal overlap and interference. This helps improve signal penetration and increases the
level of noise immunity. 3G provides flexibility, allowing you to do more on the move. It can help in
Instant communication. One can make and receive phone calls, fax transmissions, and quickly send and
receive e-mails, including large attachments, wherever you are. One can make high speed internet
connections for web browsing and fast downloading of data files or software from websites, or even
image or music files. 3G can be used for video calling and conferencing as well as picture messaging.
Many 3G devices also provide navigational features and access to maps and can receive television
transmissions with sports events or news coverage streamed directly to your handset. 3G handsets can
also function as personal organizers, with electronic diaries, contact lists, and automatic reminders. Most
3G networks are likely to offer global roaming i.e. the ability to access these services from anywhere the
world.

Conclusion
A careful evaluation of our study reveals the fact that the dream of 3G is to unify the world’s mobile
computing devices through a single, worldwide radio transmission standard and global roaming. 3G
“standard” called IMT-2000 is emerging very fast represents several incompatible standards lumped
together under one banner with the hope that phones using these different standards will be able to move
seamlessly between all networks. With its comparatively low power consumption and robust techniques
for dealing with interference, 3G fixed wireless technology remains a very attractive competitive carrier

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option. Thus the convergence of the above features has made 3G a incompatible technology in the quickly
changing telecom scenario. But still there is a lot of scope for the advancement of this technology as per
the demand of time that will lead to the 4G technology and further to 5G.

Acknowledgement
We would like to thank Dr.K.M.Shrivastava (Phd.,M.Tech. IIT Madras,B.E. MACT Bhopal), Director
MIT Mandsaur, Miss Sheela Krishnaswami(M.E. research, M.E., B.E. hons. EC), HOD Deptt. Of E&Tc,
Mr. Mahesh Porwal(B.E. MIT Mandsaur) and Mr. Ashish Joshi (B.E. IET DAVV Indore), Lect. E&Tc
for their valuable guidance, suggestions and efforts in the preparation of this paper.

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