Measurement Journal Issue 6

I It has been well over a decade since the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) launched its International Mobile Telephony-2000 (IMT-2000) third-generation (3G) framework for mobile wireless communications. In more recent times there has been much anticipation of the fourth generation (4G) with development of so-called 3.5G, 3.75G and 3.9G standards. However, in this Olympic year, it was perhaps appropriate that China was the venue for a landmark workshop on 4G wireless that took place in Shenzhen following the April meetings of the working groups from the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). The purpose of the workshop was to start planning 3GPP’s response to the ITU’s 4G program, which the ITU has named “IMT-Advanced.” There were around 200 delegates in attendance from all the major wireless industry players. Nearly 60 technical papers were presented espousing corporate views on the provisional 4G requirements and potential 4G solutions. The article “What Next for Mobile Telephony: Examining the trend towards high-data-rate networks” in Issue Three of Agilent Measurement Journal introduced some of the concepts further developed in this article. From here forward, the terms 3G and 4G will be used interchangeably to refer to IMT-2000 and IMT-Advanced. a few key factors: sufﬁcient scale (17 European countries); the focus of basic telephony (text messaging was an unexpected bonus); and value (providing affordable services people wanted to use). The other main 2G system was CDMA, which offered services similar to GSM but in different geographies. In essence, 2G wireless brought the niche 1G to the mass market. Following the phenomenal and unexpected success of 2G there was heightened anticipation of what 3G would bring, but 3G’s contribution to date is a very mixed bag. On a technical level, 3G met the increased single-user data rates mandated by the IMT-2000 requirements, but the uptake of much-hyped 3G services such as video telephony has been poor. One key challenge in moving from telephony to data services has been the complexity and diversity of the possible services, compounded by the difﬁcult issue of pricing. Also, services requiring higher data rates are less available than 2G voice: radio conditions mean that it is normal to experience a 10:1 variation in data rates across a cell, even before loading is considered. This largely explains why 3G in mobile phones has not lived up to expectations. 3G subscriptions are just over 7 percent of 2G subscriptions and many of these are primarily using telephony and basic messaging rather than 3G-speciﬁc data services.1 Real uptake of data services didn’t start until the c.2005 introduction of the so-called 3.5G packet-based data services (HSDPA on UMTS and 1xEV-DO on cdma2000). Dedicated data-only devices with ﬂat-rate tariffs (e.g., USB dongles used with laptops) are showing strong growth in some markets with good performance, at least for early adopters. Whether there is demand backed by network coverage, capacity and sufﬁcient revenue to allow such services to become mainstream is yet to be seen, meaning 3G’s impact is currently much less signiﬁcant than the step from the ﬁrst to the second generation. Given the experience so far with 3G, how should we evaluate the targets being set for 4G? Will 4G make mobile broadband a reality for the masses? This should surely be the hope of the industry and is the reason why it is so important to correctly define the fourth generation. At this stage in the planning process, opportunities still exist to identify those critical elements that will make 4G a success. Putting 4G in context Reviewing previous wireless generations will help put 4G in context. The ﬁrst generation came of age in the 1980s, offering for the ﬁrst time a relatively affordable (though expensive by today’s standards) mobile wireless telephony service. 1G was characterized by a multiplicity of incompatible regional analog standards that kept the market fragmented, expensive and without international roaming. In the early 1990s, GSM, the ﬁrst of the digital second generation, arrived to provide telephony plus text messaging and limited circuit-switched data services. For GSM, everything lined up: technology; demand; supply; pricing; value; and delivery costs. The result remains an enormous international industry that in 15 years grew from nothing to being owned by more than half the people on the planet, revolutionizing the way the world communicates. GSM’s success can be traced back to Agilent Measurement Journal 52

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Measurement Journal Issue 6

Measurement Journal Issue 6 Using a Few Words to Convey a Deeply-Held Spirit Charting a Unique Path to Technology Innovation Contents Announcing First Commercial GC/MS Metabolites Library Assessing Nonlinear Behavior Testing Combines Form and Function Testing Multiplay Networks Higher Sensitivity LC/MS Easing Military Radio Test Stepping Up Calibration Accuracy Increasing Spectrum Analyzer Bandwidth 3GPP Tool Supports TS 36 Standards The Olympic Story Spotlights Agilent's Continuing Contribution to Technology Innovation Ensuring a Level Playing Field in Competitive Sports GPS: Coming of Age Resolving Design Issues in HSPA Mobile Devices Achieving Accurate Results with Oscilloscope-Based Jitter-Analysis Software RF Handheld Testers Guarantee Traffic Stability Under Olympic-Sized Stress Conditions Utilizing LAN-Based Instrumentation to Measure Total Harmonic Distortion in Remote Facilities IMT-Advanced: 4G Wireless Takes Shape in an Olympic Year EPO Doping: A Speed Engine, Turbo-Charged by Chemistry

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