The big success of first (1G) and second-generation (2G) wireless cellular systems can be attributed to the user need for voice communication services, a need that follows the 3A paradigm: Anywhere, Anytime, with Anyone. By dialing a friend or colleague’s mobile phone number, one is able to contact him/her in a variety of geographical locations, thus overcoming the disadvantage of fixed telephony. For more than a decade, the 2G systems presented in the previous chapters (GSM, IS-136, IS-95) have performed very well as far voice communication is concerned. . | Wireless Networks. P. Nicopolitidis M. S. Obaidat G. I. Papadimitriou and A. S. Pomportsis Copyright 2003 John Wiley Sons Ltd. ISBN 0-470-84529-5 5 Third Generation 3G Cellular Systems Introduction The big success of first 1G and second-generation 2G wireless cellular systems can be attributed to the user need for voice communication services a need that follows the 3A paradigm Anywhere Anytime with Anyone. By dialing a friend or colleague s mobile phone number one is able to contact him her in a variety of geographical locations thus overcoming the disadvantage of fixed telephony. For more than a decade the 2G systems presented in the previous chapters GSM IS-136 IS-95 have performed very well as far voice communication is concerned. This has led to 400 million 2G mobile subscribers for the year 2000 with estimates bringing this number up to billion for the year 2010. At the same time the market penetration of 1G systems is following a decreasing path. Figure shows the increasing number of worldwide cellular subscribers. Despite their great success and market acceptance 2G systems are limited in terms of maximum data rate. While this fact is not a limiting factor for the voice quality offered it makes 2G systems practically useless for the increased requirements of future mobile applications. It is expected that the increased popularity of both multimedia applications and Internet services will have a significant impact on the world of mobile networks in a foreseeable time period. According to a survey in the year 2010 about 60 of mobile traffic will concern multimedia applications 1 . People will want to be able to use their mobile platforms for a variety of services ranging from simple voice calls web browsing and reading e-mail to video conferencing real-time and bursty-traffic applications. To realize the inefficiency of 2G systems for such applications consider a simple transfer of a 2 MB presentation. Such a transfer would take approximately 28 .
