Cellular Telecommunications and Cell Phone Technology
There are many mobile or cell phone systems that are in use
all over the world and there is a considerable amount of equipment ranging from
the cell phones themselves to cellular base stations, antennas and the network
infrastructure. In addition to the basic equipment there is new cell phone
technology to provide the many new services that are now available, enabling
cell phone users to enjoy many new applications from games, and ringtone
downloads to picture and video downloads. With technologies ranging from GSM,
GPRS, EDGE to UMTS or W-CDMA and cdmaOne (IS-95) to CDMA2000 1X, EV-DO and EV-DV
and mobile TV technologies such as MediaFLO, DMB, and DVB-H, there are plenty of
technologies in use.
There is plenty of terminology associated with cellular telecommunications
and cell phone technology. Our terminology glossary explains the most commonly
used terms associated with cellular telecommunications / cell phone technology:
The technology behind cellular systems and cell phones has
developed from the first generation (1G) systems to the second geenration (2G)
systems and then to the third generation (3G) systems. At each stage the
performance improved and further facilities were available, from SMS messaging
to video downloads.
Major Mobile Phone Systems (a tabular overview)
Mobile phone or cell phone history
Cellular telecommunications basics.
There are a number of basic concepts behind cellular telecommunications systems.
These include the idea of cells themselves as well as how the networks are set
up, what is in a mobile phone and how some of the transmission technologies such
as CDMA, TDMA and the like operate.
The basic concepts of a cellular telecommunications system
The multiple access schemes used by mobile phones
The duplex schemes used by mobile phone networks FDD and TDD
The operation and electronics within a mobile phone
The basics of a cellular network
The way in which a mobile phone registers onto a network
Handover or handoff, the way in which cellular calls are transferred from one
cell to another
For articles on CDMA, MIMO, OFDM, etc, see our new RF Technology and Design
section.
Cellular testing
With vast numbers of phones and cellular systems deployed and new ones beong
launched all the time, it is essential that new equipment is thoroughly tested
ebfore it is launched ontoth e market. Additionally ones systems are deployed it
is essential to esnure that they are operating to their best.
Cellular conformance testing overview
Conformance testing for GSM and UMTS
cdma interoperability test
Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM).
GSM is the system that was developed in Europe and is now the most popular
system in use around the globe.
The development of the Global System for Mobile communications GSM
GSM technical overview (6 pages)
General Packet Radio Service, GPRS, tutorial (5 pages)
Enhanced Data for GSM Evolution (EDGE)
UMA unlicensed mobile access and GAN generic access network
UMA / GAN conformance testing
CDMA System including cdmaOne (IS-95) and CDMA2000 (IS-2000)
The CDMA family of technologies including cdmaOne (IS-95) to CDMA 2000 were the
first technologies to use CDMA technology.
What is CDMA cdmaOne / CDMA2000? A Guide to the CDMA system and its
evolution.
IS-95 (cdmaOne)
CDMA2000 1xEV-DO
CDMA Band Classes and Frequency Allocations
UMB Ultra-Mobile Broadband the 3.99G evolution for cdam2000
Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) / Wideband CDMA (W-CDMA)
UMTS / W-CDMA Tutorial (5 pages)
High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA)
High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA) The companion to HSDPA.
UMTS TDD The scheme being used for mobile broadband.
3G LTE Long Term Evolution an overview of the developments being
undertaken for the next generation cellualr systems The scheme being used for
mobile broadband.
Miscellaneous sytems and features
Pacific or Personal Digital Cellular (PDC)
i-mode for e-mails and internet surfing
TD-SCDMA the 3G system being developed in China
Location services:
Assisted GPS
Mobile video:
Mobile video broadcasting video to phones using T-DMB and DVB-H
DVB-H Digital Video Broadcasting Handheld
DMB Digital Multimedia Broadcasting
Private Mobile Radio PMR
Private or Professional Mobile Radio (PMR), or Public Access Mobile Radio (PAMR)
is used in many countries around the world, and new technology is being
developed to ensure it keeps up with today's needs. It is widely used by the
emergency services, and this is particularly true of the new Tetra system that
is being widely deployed.
An overview of private mobile radio (PMR) the various standards that are
available to use.
An overview of the basic "local" PMR system
Trunking using the MPT1327 system
An Overview of TETRA private mobile radio (PMR)
