Evolution of Mobile Phone Network to the Third Generation

Abstract

This article presents the evolution of mobile phone network, starting from first generation mobile phone networks (1G), which is based on analogue technology. The main purpose of 1G technology is for voice traffic only. After that, second generation mobile phone networks (2G) has been developed to provide better voice quality and support more concurrent users. 2G technology can not only support voice services but also ringtone, mobile graphic, SMS services, and low-speed Internet access. In order to support multimedia and high-speed data transmission, third generation mobile phone networks (3G) has been developed to meet these requirements. The last section of this article presents the trend in the technology development. The objectives of the future technology development are 1) to deliver modern broadband services to high mobility users, 2) to maximize spectral efficiency.