T E C H N O L O G Y

R E P O R T

LOUIS E. FRENZEL | Communications/Test Editor

lfrenzel@penton.com

3G Takes
Charge But
4G Looms
Large
3G finally percolates the cell-phone arena
with UMTS, cdma2000, and TD-SCDMA, but
companies gear up for 4G products.

ure, almost everyone is inextricably tied to a cell

phone these days. But how much do we know
about these phones? What technology drives
them? And what can we expect in the future?
Once you get past the alphabet soup of
acronyms, the landscape gets intriguing.

3G IS HERE Most people own 2.5G phones, which still get

the job done (see Perspective From The Past, p. 49). Voice
calls remain their primary application, but data services like
instant messaging, SMS, and e-mail are growing in popularity.
Current data rates can easily handle these functions.
Apples iPhone uses EDGE. So do some of the BlackBerry
phones. Others employ cdma2000 EV-DO. And while Internet
access has been around for years using 2G and 2.5G, it never
caught on in the cell-phone arena mainly due to browser, screen,
and keyboard limitations. However, thats changing.

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1. Sierra Wireless AirCard 595 3G modem represents the most

common implementation of 3G today. USB versions of such
modems also are common.

The main justification for 3G is mobile Internet access and

faster e-mail. Multimedia transmissions from digital cameras,
video, and audio also drive the networks to 3G. Video and audio
downloads will continue to grow, as will gaming and locationbased services thanks to improved GPS navigation (see Surging Markets Drive New Wireless Technologies, p. 50).
One marked change in these phones is the presence of Wi-Fi,
much like Apples iPhone. EDGE is fine for phone calls and slowspeed data. But if you need higher speeds, go to Wi-Fi. Since
hotspots are everywhere these days, they are a good alternative
to 3G data services. And as screens expand and browsers
improve, Internet access gets more practical.
AT&T, Sprint Nextel, and Verizon already offer 3G data services. TMobile doesnt, but it does take the dual-mode phone route with
built-in Wi-Fi. T-Mobile has a huge hotspot network, so this strategy
works well. The companys Hotspot@Home service is an affordable
option available right now.
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Most 3G services are tied to the Card bus or USB modems for
The cdma2000 standard began as a 2.5G standard,
laptops (Fig. 1). These high-performance 3G modems give lapyet its continuously spilling into 3Gs domain as a result of vartop road warriors fast Internet access, even in the absence of a
ious upgrades. The 1xRTT version supported data rates to 144
decent Wi-Fi hotspot. Most carriers offer 3G phones, but the
kbits/s, while the first EV-DO versions (Rev. 0) crossed into 3G
number of choices is small.
territory with a maximum downlink speed of 2.45 Mbits/s
There are three 3G technologies: UMTS, cdma2000, and TDunder ideal conditions. Later versions known as Rev. A and
SCDMA (Fig. 2). The European Telecommunications Standards
Rev. B have leaped well ahead of UMTS in some ways.
Institute (ETSI) defined the orginal 3G back in 2000, but now the
China developed Time Division-Synchronous Code Division
Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) manages the stanMultiple Access (TD-SCDMA) to fulfill its 3G needs. Instead of the
dard. It became an ITU standard, with first implementations in
spectrum-eating FDD methods that use paired chunks of specEurope and Japan, in 2001.
trum with UMTS and cdma2000, its time-synchronized time-division duplex (TDD) modem only employs a single 1.6-MHz band. It
The Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS)
also demonstrated a 384-kbit/s data rate using Analog Devices
also is known as International Mobile Telecommunications
2000 (IMT-2000). Defined as the upgrade path for GSM, its sys- Othello chip set, lagging behind the other 3G technologies, but
future advances are expected.
tem-compatible with GSM. However, theres a different radio
technology. Specifically, UMTS 3G uses wide4G
3G
band CDMA (WCDMA) with direct-sequence
spread-spectrum (DSSS) in 5-MHz channels
UMTS
with frequency-division duplexing (FDD).
HSDPA
HSUPA
HSPA+
LTE
WDCMA
With such an arrangement, its possible to
5G?
get downlink data rates up to 2 Mbits/s when
EV-DO
EV-DO
EV-DO
fixed, up to 384 kbits/s while moving slowly,
UMB
cdma2000
Rev. 0
Rev. A
Rev. B
and up to 144 kbits/s when moving rapidly. In
the U.S., the UMTS 3G spectrum sits in the
806- to 890-MHz band, with potential for the
4G?
TD-SCDMA (China)
1.710- to 1.755-GHz and 2.1-GHz bands. In
Europe, 3G uses 1900 to 2025 MHz and 2110
to 2200 MHz.
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
Built by Qualcomm, cdma2000 with EV-DO
is a fully recognized 3G standard. The 3GPP2
2. Cell-phone technologies have evolved at a steady pace over the last two decades. That pace is
is the organization, like 3GPP, that develops
sure to continue as each technology morphs into something new, while support for previously
the cdma2000 standard.
implemented technologies remains strong.

Perspective From The Past

The first generation (1G) of cell phones
appeared in the mid-1980s. Known as the
Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS) in
the U.S., these phones used FM in 30-kHz
bands and a frequency-division-duplexing
scheme in the 800- to 900-MHz range. The
system worked well, but subscriber demand
overwhelmed the capacity of the spectrum
and technology.
To get the kind of growth they wanted, carriers went digital, developing several second-generation (2G) systems. In the U.S.,
the IS-54/IS-136 time-division multipleaccess (TDMA) standard managed three
calls per 30-kHz channel using heavy voice
compression. Europe developed the Global
System for Mobile (GSM) access, which
managed eight calls per 270-kHz channel
using a TDMA scheme as well.
Meanwhile, Qualcomm developed the IS-95
standard. It employed a sophisticated code-

division multiple-access (CDMA) approach

also known as spread-spectrum. With directsequence spread-spectrum (DSSS), the system could accommodate up to 64 subscribers
per 1/25-MHz channel.
Carriers eventually phased out the IS-136
standard in favor of GSM and its greater subscriber capacity. At the same time, Motorola
and Nextel developed another TDMA 2G
method known as iDEN.
Once 2G phones achieved digital capability, data capability was the next step. Subscribers wanted e-mail and Internet access,
prompting improvements. Developed for
GSM phones, the General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) provided packet data capability
up to about 115 kbits/s; typical throughput
ranged from 40 to 70 kbits/s.
The Enhanced Data Rate for GSM Evolution (EDGE) further enhanced GSM phones.
It used 8PSK (phase-shift keying) to provide

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more bits per symbol and data rates up to

384 kbits/s. (The average ranged from 100
to 200 kbits/s.) Sometimes, GPRS is called
a 2.5G technology, while EDGE is called a
2.5G or 2.75G technology.
Generally known as cdmaOne, the IS95A/B CDMA standards were upgraded with
packet data capability. They eventually morphed into cdma2000, Qualcomms 2.5G
technology. Also known as 1xRTT (Radio
Transmission Technology) and EV-DO (Evolution-Data Optimized), it boosted data rates
to a maximum of 144 kbits/s with 30 to 70
kbits/s typical.
Today, the two main cell-phone technologies in use are GSM/GPRS/EDGE and
cdma2000. AT&T and T-Mobile use GSM,
while Verizon and Sprint Nextel employ
cdma2000. Sprint Nextel still supports the
iDEN system.
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T E C H N O L O G Y

While the rest of the world is well on

its way to expanding UMTS and
cdma2000, China seems content with
its own standard. With hundreds of millions of potential customers, it will be a
success and could exceed the other 3G
standards in overall volume. China also
expects to build some conventional 3G
systems to support the crowd at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
3.5G EXPANDS THE OPTIONS
Yes, 3G already is getting upgrades, sometimes known as IMT-2000 Enhanced. The
first, High Speed Downlink Packet Access
(HSDPA), is an extension to the prevailing
UMTS WCDMA systems. Different modulation options provide peak downlink speeds
up to 14.4 Mbits/s. It also uses adaptive
coding and modulation.

R E P O R T

HSDPA has 12 different categories.

Some use quadrature phase-shift keying
(QPSK), and others use 16QAM (quadrature amplitude modulation). Data rates
run from 1.2 to 3.6 to 7.3 to 10.2 to 14.4
Mbits/s. Actual speeds are far slower but
still exceed 1 Mbit/s, which is certainly
higher than typical standard UMTS 3G.
The companion High Speed Uplink
Packet Access (HSUPA) standard provides higher uplink rates to a maximum
of 5.76 Mbits/s using QPSK. Combined,
these standards are called High Speed
Packet Access (HSPA). Enhanced versions (HSPA+) have already been defined
but have yet to be implemented. Some
UMTS 3G sites offer these 3.5G services
with higher data rates, for a price.
In the cdma2000 camp, the Rev. A
and Rev. B versions of EV-DO offer much

higher data rates, too. Rev. A uses the

standard 1.25-MHz channel, but its separate from the voice channel. With
QPSK, it can achieve a peak download
data rate of 3.1 Mbits/s and a peak
uplink rate of 1.8 Mbits/s.
Rev. B technology uses two or three
1.25-MHz channels and QAM16 or
QAM64 modulation. Its download rate
can soar to 9.3 Mbits/s and the uplink to
5.4 Mbits/s. By aggregating channels up
to 20 MHz wide and using 64QAM, a maximum rate of 75 Mbits/s is possible with
27 Mbits/s on the uplink. Most Rev. B
adoptions wont be that aggressive, but
will certainly give users greater speed.
Many HSDPA and Rev. A sites are
working. The cdma2000 movement
seems to be slightly ahead of the UMTS
WCDMA/HSDPA movement in total sub-

Surging Markets Drive New Wireless Technologies

The exponential growth of wireless devices and services
shows no signs of abating. In particular, demand for data-intensive services will continue their dramatic rise as carriers invest
in enabling networks to handle more data. As a result, its driving the evolution to EV-DO Rev. A, EV-DO Rev. B, and UMB (Ultra
Mobile Broadband) for cdma2000 carriers and to HSDPA, HSUPA, and HSPA+ for UMTS carriers.
The demand is also catapulting new technologies into the
mix, such as multimode WWAN and WLAN handsets and cellular broadband coverage. The latter can, for example, create
a home hotspot for all electronic components in the home
TV, speakers, computers, DVD players, music storage, car
stereos, and so on.
If such a hotspot were connected via an IEEE 802.11n WLAN
solution, as powered by Qualcomms AGN400 chip set, data
could be sent and received at 315 Mbits/smore than three
times faster than 100-Mbit/s wired Ethernet solutions.
This setup could truly set us free of wires, not only for everyday
entertainment, but also for business needs. Using this technology and a pocket-sized computing device, the business person
could pocket and dock-it in hubs at home and the officeand
even stay in touch at Wi-Fi and other access points.
These rapid technological changes may be having a more
profound effect than first anticipated. Theyre changing everyday human behavior by creating a new mobile lifestyle. Powerful, efficient, anytime-anywhere communications for voice and
data are redefining how we communicate as consumers and
business people.
Central to this lifestyle change is a more sharply defined difference between portability and mobility. Laptops may be
portable, but users increasingly prefer true mobility, untethered
by wires, power cords, or rigid battery constraints. They wish to
stay connected while walking, driving, taking the train, or just
day-to-day living.
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AVAILABLE PRODUCTS
Qualcomms Snapdragon represents one example of a platform
thats helping to drive the mobile lifestyle. It enlarges the scope of
mobile broadband by offering the power of a laptop in a pocketsized device. Snapdragon chip sets expand functionality, from
gaming handhelds and portable entertainment devices to pocket
computers, by delivering ubiquitous mobile broadband access.
All mobile broadband technologies (cdma2000 1xEV-DO,
HSDPA/HSUPA), as well as mobile TV, Bluetooth, GPS, and
WLAN, are covered. The fully scalable 1-GHz Snapdragon Scorpion microprocessor surpasses 2100 DMIPS and offers 128-bit
SIMD (single-instruction multiple data).
For highly advanced multimedia capabilities, Snapdragon
offers high-resolution support from VGA to XGA for cutting-edge
video and graphics display. Theres also considerable power
savings and it can extend battery life.
The market for one of these multimedia capabilitiesmobile
TVis poised to grow significantly. At the recent CTIA show, Qualcomm conducted the first live over-the-air UMB demonstration,
showing simultaneous high-definition video streaming, video
conferencing, VoIP, and Web browsing applications.
The convergence of the wireless, computing, consumer electronics, and entertainment industries is changing the wireless
landscape in both mature and developing markets. Wireless
technology, in fact, is turning on its head the common notion
that developing markets only acquire technologies when
theyre older and cheaper.
Some developing countries even bypass wired connections and
go directly to wireless, achieving huge savings in the process. Today,
developing markets no longer wait for mature markets to get the latest wireless technology first. They now get it at the same time.
TERRY YEN is the vice president of marketing at Qualcomm CDMA
Technologies.
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scribers, basestations, and products, but

that will continue to change. HSUPA hasnt been widely adopted, and Rev. B
remains on the sidelines. Look for them
in 2008 and beyond.
All told, less than half of all cell phones
use 3G. Its had a slow roll-out, despite the
fact that its been available for years.
Europe and Japan are ahead of the U.S. in
3G adoption. Infrastructure buildout costs
and the availability of spectrum remain as
the major issues of contention, but the
lack of services to justify the extra expense
for carriers and subscribers also is to
blame. Still, were well on the path to
greater usage of 3G in the coming years.
4G TECHNOLOGIES As you can
probably tell from the 3G standards,
these technologies evolve over a multiyear period. Adoption occurs as applications emerge and as carriers upgrade
and offer services. For the time being,
3G technologies will continue to change
and carriers will continue to upgrade.

R E P O R T

Yet as we all know, the future is always

at the forefront of discussion. That said,
the fourth generation is already in development. Like 3G, it will evolve and be
adopted over time. So far, though, 4G
hasnt been formally defined. The ITU
and 3GPP/3GPP2 groups are working on
the definition, which should be published in the near future.
In general, 4G is expected to be an all-IP
(Internet Protocol) network using IPv6. All
applications, including voice, will be built
on top of it. It will offer data rates to 100
Mbits/s in mobile situations, with potentially 1 Gbit/s in a fixed mode. Uplink speed
will approach 50 Mbits/s. The spectrum
needed will depend on the service offered,
but peak rates will require up to 20 MHz.
The 3GPP group has toiled away on a
4G technology called Long Term Evolution
(LTE). Like a super version of 3G, some
call it IMT-2000 Advanced, but most refer
to it as the 4G upgrade from GSM-UMTSHSPA. The system uses orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA)

with up to 2048 carriers and options for

QPSK, 16QAM, and 64QAM.
A key part of the LTE definition is
MIMO, or multiple-input multiple-output.
This spatial-division multiple-access
(SDMA) technique uses two or more
antennas at the transmitter and the
receiver to achieve higher data rates as
well as greater link reliability in the presence of multipath conditions.
The LTE definition is in the final
stages, with testing and evaluation now
taking place. Look for a final ratification
around 2010, and actual implementation in the 2011-2012 time frame.
A version of cdma2000 originally called
Rev. C now is known as Ultra Mobile
Broadband (UMB). The 3GPP2 group is
developing this Qualcomm technology. It
also uses OFDMA and can potentially
deliver 280 Mbits/s downlink and up to
68 Mbits/s uplink in a mobile environment. Channel bandwidths will vary from
5 to 20 MHz, and both FDD and TDD
modes will be available. Up to 4x4 MIMO
and SDMA will be part of the definition.
UMB could show up before LTE, but
instead look for it in 2010 and beyond.
At that point, well wonder what we will
do with all that speed.
COMPETING TECHNOLOGIES
Existing 3G and future 4G technologies
are moving forward at a pace set by the
standards development effort and the
financial wherewithal of potential adopting carriers. As the need grows and carriers identify the services that can pay the
bills to upgrade technologies, well see
adoptions over an extended period.
In the meantime, other technologies
are moving ahead. Some of them even
overlap into the advanced 3G and 4G
space. These include Wi-Fi and dualmode phones, WiMAX, the enigmatic
802.20 standard, and mobile TV.

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Wi-Fi and dual-mode phones: 3G and

4G are being developed specifically for
higher-speed access to the Internet, email, video, and other services requiring fast IP delivery. Some alternative
services already deliver that. Wi-Fi provides great access via hotspots for laptops. In addition, youre going to see
Wi-Fi in more cell phones, despite their
high power consumption.
One good example is Wi-Fi in the
iPhone. Other phones have it, too, with
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more on the way. On top of that, some

of these phones offer VoIP over Wi-Fi
or VoWLAN. Known as dual-mode
phones, these hybrids provide regular
cellular service, but offer voice over
any access point or hotspot. These
phones are growing in popularity and
will certainly turn into one of 3Gs and
4Gs strongest competitors.
WiMAX: IEEEs WiMAX 802.16-2004
wireless broadband access standard
was initially developed to compete with
cable and DSL broadband services to
the home, especially in small towns and
rural areas that are underserved by traditional broadband access services. Its
also used for backhaul for Wi-Fi and other services.
One potential application is Voice
over IP (VoIP) over WiMAX, providing
VoIP to consumers who select WiMAX
as their broadband service. And with
WiMAX potentially landing in many laptops along with Wi-Fi, VoIP becomes
another option via laptop.

R E P O R T

Some parties even believe that a

newer mobile version of WiMAX (IEEE
802.16e) could emerge as a third 4G
technology. It uses OFDMA like LTE and
UMB, plus it accommodates moving
nodes and handoffs. By using VoIP,
802.16e could be competitive. With
Clearwire and Sprint Nextel building
out a nationwide WiMAX network, you
could see this even earlier than either
LTE or UMB.
Potential hurdles include the power
consumption of WiMAX chips for use
in handsets and the widespread availability of service. Initially, mobile
WiMAX may show up as an alternate
to cellular service in a dual-mode cellular-WiMAX phone. But it wont be
real 4G, as it will never hit 4Gs 100Mbit/s target.
802.20: This IEEE standard is still in
the works. It was established in 2002
as a spinoff from the 802.16 (WiMAX)
group802.16 was a fixed broadband
wireless standard, while 802.20 was

to be the mobile version. Its goals then

and today were to establish an IPbased transport service with speeds in
excess of 1 Mbit/s in the bands below
3.5 GHz, with a vehicular mobility
capability up to 250 km/s or about
155 mph with full handoff.
The project got started okay, but two
things happened. First, the 802.16
group decided to do its own mobile version, given its success in building the
fixed version of WiMAX. And, it did establish and ratify that mobile standard in
2005. Second, the 802.20 group got
bogged down with internal politics, company battles, irregularities, and a whole
host of other problems. In 2006, the
IEEE shut the group down and re-established it with new leadership. Its back
on track now, but far from delivering a
finished standard.
When it does become available, will it
be too little too late? Mobile WiMAX
delivers those basic goals now, as do 3G
services. So while 802.20 is back on
track, it doesnt appear to be in this
competitive mix unless it delivers some
feature or benefit that the other services
cant. It may become a niche player in
that case, for example, supplying broadband wireless to high-speed trains.
Mobile TV: Mobile IPTV represents
some indirect competition. Most TV
that will appear on cell phones wont
come via the cell-phone network, but
rather from separate TV stations set up
to serve this market. Handset manufacturers are building a separate TV receiver chip into the phone. AT&T and Verizon have already adopted Qualcomms
MediaFLO here in the U.S., and stations
are being constructed. The DVB-H standard was adopted in Europe, with stations also coming online.
Taking the video away from the carriers
means just one more service that wont
require 3G or 4G speeds. But carriers
arent up in arms over this, given that any
heavy video usage over the network will
overwhelm it and potentially destroy the
reliability of the lucrative voice service.
Should you get a 3G phone now? If you
want the latest speed and features, by all
means, get one. Dont wait for 4G, which is
a long way off. Besides, when the two-year
plan on your 3G phone runs out, it should
be just in time for a new 4G phone.

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