Evolution of Mobile Phones

IntroductionMobile phone is an electronic device

for mobile telecommunications over a cellular network

In addition to mobile telephony, mobiles also support

• Text messaging• Emails• Bluetooth• Cameras• MMS and GPRS etc.

InventionMartin Cooper a Motorola researcher invented the first mobile phone in 1973.And in 1983 the first mobile phone DynaTAC 8000x was commercially available.

GenerationsDevelopment of Mobile technology took place in four generations.

• 1st Generation (1G)• 2nd Generation (2G)• 3rd Generation (3G)• 4th Generation (4G)

1st Generation (1G)

The first commercial cellular network was launched in Japan by NTT (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone) in 1979.

It used digital signaling to connect the radio towers to the restof the telephone system the voice itself during a call modulatedto higher frequency, typically 150 MHz and up.

1G speeds vary between that of a 28k modem(28kbit/s) and56k modem(56kbit/s), meaning actual download speeds of2.9KBytes/s to 5.6KBytes/s.

2nd Generation (2G)

2G cellular telecom networks were commercially launched on theGSM standard in Finland by Radiolinja in 1991.

2G introduced GPRS which provided data services for mobile,starting with SMS text messages, MMS multimedia messagesand WAP (Wireless Application Protocol ) for internet access.

GPRS could provide data rates from 56 Kbit/s up to 115 Kbit/s.

3rd Generation (3G)

The first pre-commercial 3G network was launched by NTT DoCoMoin Japan in 1998. The first network to go commercially live was bySK Telecom in South Korea on the CDMA-based technology in 2002.

3G networks are able to reach speeds from 14Mbits/s to 50Mbits/s.

3G came with new standards such as CDMA 2000, UMTS, EDGE etc.with faster data transfer rates it introduced services such as highspeed internet access, video calls and mobile TV.

4th Generation (3G)In 2002, the strategic vision for 4G which International TelecommunicationUnion designated as IMT-Advanced was laid out. In April 2006, KT started theworld's first commercial mobile WiMAX service in Seoul, South Korea.

4G uses LTE Advanced and WiMAX-Advanced as its communication standard.Its main aim is to offer high speed broadband services to laptops andsmartphones. Conceivable applications include high-definition mobile TV,video conferencing, gaming services.

4G networks are able to reach speeds from 100Mbits/s to 1Gbits/s.

Cellular Network Standards

There are many network standards in the four generations. Thetwo most widely used cellular networks are

• GSM ( Global System for Mobile communication )

• CDMA ( Code Division Multiple Access )

GSMGlobal System for Mobile communications (GSM) is the mostwidely used standard for cell phones in the world.

This cellular networks uses radio networks that consist of cells.Every cell is a site that has a corresponding network tower,which serves the mobile phones in that cellular area.

GSM networks use SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card, theonboard memory device that identifies a user and stores allof his information on the handheld device.

GSM Architecture

CDMACDMA is the most dominant standard in the USA.

It uses one physical channel and a special code for everydevice in the coverage network. Using this code, the signalof the device is multiplexed, and the same physical channelis used to send the signal.

Instead of using SIM cards like the GSM network standard,in CDMA the account information is programmed into thecellular phone. If one wants to change their cell phone thenthey should contact their service provider and have themreprogram their new cellphone.

CDMA Architecture

Smartphones

A smartphone is a device that lets you make telephone calls like aregular cell phone, but also adds in features which you can onlyfind in a on a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) or a computer.

Smartphone FeaturesBesides voice calls and SMS, smartphones have many other features such as:

• Wireless Internet Access• Email• Media Player• Digital Camera• Video Camera• GPS Navigation System• Video Calls• Create and Edit Documents• QWERTY Keaboard

Conclusion

With the recent developments in mobile phone and the evergrowing use of smartphones.

The mobile phones are replacing media players, digital cameras,devices for internet access.

The mobile phone are getting faster capable of handling big tasksand more feature are being added to it day by day.

With progress like this the smartphone will replace laptops one day.