1.4 Cellular Standards

Question 1

Cellular Networks

Answer 1

Mobile devices
-‘cell’ phones

Separate land into ‘cells’
-antenna coverages a cell with certain frequencies

2G networks
-GSM - global system for mobile communications
-CDMA - code division multiple access

Poor data support
-originally used circuit-switching
-minor upgrades for some packet-switching

Question 2

GSM
stands for?

Answer 2

Global System for Mobile Communications
-mobile networking standard

90% of the market
-originally an EU standard
-worldwide coverage

use by AT&T and T-Mobile in the US
-move your SIM card (subscriber identity module) from phone to phone

original GSM standard used multiplexing
-everyone gets a little slice of time

Question 3

CDMA
stands for?

Answer 3

Code Division Multiple Access
-everyone communicates at the same time
-each call uses a different code
-the codes are used to filter each call on the receiving side

Used by Verizon and Sprint (in US)
-handsets are controlled by the network provider
-not much adoption elsewhere in the world

Question 4

3G technology

Answer 4

3rd Generation
-introduced in 1998

upgraded data connectivity over 2G
-improved speed
-serveral megabits per second

bandwidth improvement allowed new functionality
-gps
-mobile television
-video on demand

Question 5

4G and LTE

Answer 5

Long term Evolution (LTE)
-4G technology
-converged standard (GSM and CDMA providers)
-based on GSM and EDGE(enhanced data rates for GSM evolution)
-standard supports download rates of 150 Mbit/s

LTE Advanced (LTE-A)
-standard supports download rates of 300 Mbit/s

Question 6

5G

Answer 6

5th generation cellular network
-worldwide in 2020

significant performance improvements
-higher frequencies
-eventually 10 gigabits per second
-slower speeds from 100-190 Mbit/s

significant IoT impact
-bandwidth becomes less of a constraint
-larger data transfers
-faster monitoring and notification
-additional cloud processing

Question 7

Updates

Answer 7

PRL updates
-preferred roaming list
-CDMA networks (verizon, sprint)

allows your phone to connect to the right tower
-can be updated over the air (OTA)

Question 8

Hotspot

Answer 8

turn your phone into a wifi hotspot
-your own personal wireless router
-extend the cellular data network to all your devices

dependent on phone type and provider
-may require additional charges and data costs