subject: What Is 4g? [print this page] Recently there was news in limelight about the Indian Telecom Minister A. Raja who was found the main primary suspect of the 2G Spectrum scam which hit the country, whereby he was found guilty of distributing the 2G spectrum to certain firms at throwaway prices, thus leading to huge losses for the government of India. Initially many people couldnt make any heads or tails about the scam in the country, but soon they all got well acquainted with the idea of spectrum & how it works. Leaving apart this discussion let me tell you something about 4 G spectrums which are considered as the future of spectrum technology.4G stands for fourth generation of wireless standards (a set of rules which govern the functioning of a system). By belief a 4G system will provide an end-to-end IP solution where voice, data and streamed multimedia can be served to users on an "Anytime, Anywhere" basis at higher data rates than previous generations. There cant be any fixed definition about what 4G is but one thing is sure that it is big. Providing 100 Mbit/s and 1 Gbit/s, respectively, in outdoor and indoor environments is what this system is capable of offering. Other advantages include high security, offering any kind of services anytime, anywhere, affordable cost and one time billing. Before 4G different wireless standards which exists are UMB in 3GPP2 , IEEE 802.20, WiMAX, Flash-OFDM and 3GPP Long Term Evolution of UMTS.
Ultra Wideband technology, or UWB, is an advanced transmission technology that can be used in the implementation of a 4G network. This would form the basic skeletal hardware framework where this system will be based in. In present scenario the cellular technologies available are time-division multiple access (TDMA) and code-division multiple access (CDMA). However this might see a change when 4G would be implemented. In the present system up gradation is a big problem which can be achieved with the help of 4G. Though the system will be complex it has to be hidden from the general user. Support interactive multimedia, voice, video, wireless internet and other broadband services. High speed, high capacity and low cost per bit along with global mobility, service portability, and scalable mobile networks are some of the expectation which this technology is supposed to deliver. Also in the offering is seamless switching, variety of services based on Quality of Service (QoS) requirements, better scheduling and call admission control techniques along with improvements in ad hoc networks and multi-hop networks.
A Japanese company has been testing a 4G communication system prototype at 100 Mbit/s while moving, and 1 Gbit/s while stationary. Recently reached 5 Gbit/s moving at 10 km/h, and is planning on releasing the first commercial network in 2010. Also an Irish company has announced that they have received a mobile communications license from Irish Telecoms regulator. This service will be issued the mobile code 088 in Ireland and will be used for the provision of 4G Mobile communications.
