Mobile Technology
Mobile technology is a form of technology that is mostly used in cellular communication and other related aspects. It uses a form of platform where by many transmitters have the ability to send data at the same time on a single channel. This platform is called Code-division multiple access (CDMA). This platform allows many users to make use of single frequencies because it restricts the likelihood of interference of frequencies from two or more sources. This channel has evolved over the years. The mobile technology is rapidly evolving; over the years, its uses are becoming diverse and is gradually replacing some similar sources in the market that are also used for communication e.g. post office and land lines. The mobile technology has improved from a simple device used for phone call and messaging into a multi-tasking device used for GPS navigation, internet browsing, gaming, instant messaging tool etc. Professionals argue with the trend that the future of computer technology is rest on wireless networking and mobile computing. Mobile technology through tablet and portable computers are becoming more and more popular.
Mobile Technology |
Mobile technology was a
mystery two decades ago but now, it has become something of necessity to
both the rural and the urban areas. The mobile technology started as a
remarkable achievement in the world of technology but now, it is
transforming into user comfort technology due to its present diverse
functionality. When the mobile was first introduced, it used to be basically
for SMS, Calls and games. But it has presently transformed into a digital
world and has made life and business much easier; marketers now have the
ability to sell their products with ease through mobiles technology. The
mobile has made it possible for users to transfer files and other files
through Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. The mobile is also equipped with internet
connectivity, making it easy for the user to gain information and also to
download files from the internet. Video call conferencing is another
achievement that has come to reality through mobile technology. Business men
and clients now have the channel to communicate even without seeing in
person. With the use of mobile technology, it is now easy to catch up with
every form of entertainment from the comfort of your home. It has also made
it possible for one to easily locate places on the globe using the Global
positioning system (GPS). Especially in the business world, the importance
of mobile technology cannot be overemphasized; bankers depend solely on
mobile technology on managing finances and stocks. Many business firms uses
the mobile technology to increase their earnings through providing customers
easiness to patronize their product through apps and websites. For example,
the Cinema may create an app for ticket booking; railway travel tickets can
be purchased from the internet without having to queue up to purchase it.
The evolvement of mobile technology has made our life easier and also saves
us time and resources.
Mobile Digital |
The diversity of mobile technology is due to the fact that that many mobile
operating systems are available for smart phones all of which have their own
unique characteristics. Some of these operating systems are: the Android,
blackberry, web os, ios, symbian windows and bada mobile some of which will
be briefly discussed: The android is an operating system that is developed
by google. The operating system is designed basically for the touch screen
mobile devices and it is based on a simple manipulation. It uses simple
touch gestures that relates to the real world situation. The Android is the
first and only open source operating system; that means it has the ability
to be ported to any cell phone. The blackberry is an operating system
developed by the Blackberry limited. The operating system was developed
mainly for Blackberry smart phones. This system is most specialized for
multitasking and also aids the use of some specific inputs for the supports
of some of its smart phones such as the trackwheel, trackball, trackball,
trackpad and touchscreen. The IOS is a mobile operating system that is made
and developed by Apple. The system was developed for the use of the Apple
hardware only such as Iphone, Ipad and Ipod Touch.
Mobile Operating System |
Architecture-of-Mobile-OS |
Health and safety
The Independent Expert Group on Mobile Phones (IEGMP) in the Stewart
Report (Stewart 2000) recommended further research be carried out into
possible effects of mobile phone use on health. The National Radiation
Protection Board’s (NRPB) independent Advisory Group on Non-Ionising Radiation (AGNIR: Chairman, Professor Anthony Swerdlow) subsequently
examined recent (ie post-Stewart) experimental and epidemiological
evidence for adverse health effects caused by exposure to radiofrequency
(RF) transmissions, including those associated with mobile telephone
handsets and base stations.
NRPB |
AGNIR has concluded (AGNIR 2003) that there is no biological evidence for
mutation or tumour causation by RF exposure, and epidemiological studies
overall do not support causal associations between exposures to RF and the
risk of cancer, in particular from mobile phone use. AGNIR found a number
of studies that suggested possible effects on brain function at RF
exposure levels comparable with those from mobile phone handset use.
However, AGNIR regarded the overall evidence as inconclusive.
AGNIR did not state that mobile phones have been proven to be entirely
risk free. It identified the limitations of the published research and
concluded that: ‘In aggregate the research published since the Stewart
report (Stewart, 2000) does not give cause for concern.
The weight of evidence now available does not suggest that there are
adverse health effects from exposures to RF fields below guideline levels,
but the published research on RF exposures and health has limitations, and
mobile phones have only been in widespread use for a relatively short
time. The possibility therefore remains open that there could be health
effects from exposure to RF fields below guideline levels; hence continued
research is needed.’
For more information see
NRPB.
The NRPB have published a further report (NRPB, 2004) and a literature
review (Sienkiewicz and Kowalczuk, 2004) which brings together the findings
of 26 reports on mobile phones and health prepared by other national and
medical bodies including an Expert Panel of the Royal Society of Canada
(Royal Society of Canada 1999), the Department of Health in France (Zmirou
et al. 2001) and the Health Council of the Netherlands (NCN, 2002) as well
as the British Medical Association’s (BMA) interim report (BMA 2001). NRPB
found that the conclusions of these studies are very similar to those of
the Stewart and AGNIR reports in relation to possible health effects from
exposure to RF from both mobile phones and base stations. The Health
Council of the Netherlands (HCN) differed a little from the others in that
this was the only report that did not consider it necessary to recommend a
precautionary approach of limiting mobile telephone use by children. HCN
concluded that ‘there is no reason to recommend that children should
restrict the use of mobile telephones as much as possible’. In contrast
the original Stewart Report (Stewart, 2000) stated that ‘if there are
currently unrecognised adverse health effects from the use of mobile
phones, children may be more vulnerable,’ and recommended that ‘the
widespread use of mobile phones by children for non-essential calls should
be discouraged.’ A Technology Selection Roadmap, describing available and
in-the-pipeline technologies and our assessment of their potential
relevance and utility, was developed early in the project and was updated
to take into account new technologies as they emerged and to reflect our
experiences. The process of drawing up the roadmap assisted
decision-making about which hardware and software to use. When internet
browsers became available on some devices we decided that these should
form a major strand of our technology platform strategy. We believed that
the delivery of learning materials within a browser would give us a great
deal of platform independence, enabling our materials to be easily ported
between different existing and predicted devices. In practice, we found
that, because of the immature nature of standards development and
implementation in the mobile phone/PDA arena, browser delivery has
resulted in much less platform independence than anticipated. As a result,
additional development work had to be dedicated to ensuring that learning
materials designed for one phone or PDA worked on others. Also, rather
than developing one generic version of learning materials that can be used
on all platforms, we developed some materials, or versions of materials,
specifically to take advantage of the strengths of particular platform
types. In phase 2 of the project (2003–04) we focused primarily on two
platform types: phybrid PDA/phone devices running the Pocket PC operating
system phybrid phone/PDA devices running the Symbian operating system. The
PDA/phone hybrids are typically a corporate rather than personal device
and are increasingly being employed for business communication, data
access and mobile training. They are also the kind of device that
companies and institutions have started to purchase as a more convenient,
though less powerful, alternative to a laptop computer. The Symbian
phone/PDAs, although currently rather expensive for many mobile phone
owners, are perceived as a phone rather than a PDA and therefore are more
immediately attractive to the project’s target age group. We know
from a survey we carried out in phase 1 of our project that our target
age group tend to consider PDAs to be business machines and not relevant
to themselves (results from a survey conducted with 746 young people in
seven UK cities and towns). We have also developed some learning materials
for Java-enabled mobile phones (most phones launched in the last couple of
years support Java) and some SMS (text messaging) materials that can be
used on any mobile phone.
Evolution of wireless technologies 1G to 5G in mobile communication
Mobile wireless communication system has gone through several evolution stages in the past few decades after the introduction of the first generation mobile network in early 1980s. Due to huge demand for more connections worldwide, mobile communication standards advanced rapidly to support more users. Let’s take a look on the evolution stages of wireless technologies for mobile communication.
The Evolution of Cell Phone Design |
History of wireless technology
Marconi, an Italian inventor, transmitted Morse code signals using radio waves wirelessly to a distance of 3.2 KMs in 1895. It was the first wireless transmission in the history of science. Since then, engineers and scientists were working on an efficient way to communicate using RF waves.
Telephone became popular during the mid of 19th century. Due to wired connection and restricted mobility, engineers started developing a device which doesn’t requires wired connection and transmit voice using radio waves.
Invention of first mobile phone – The evolution begins
Martin Cooper, an engineer at Motorola during 1970s working on a handheld device capable of two way communication wirelessly, invented the first generation mobile phone. It was initially developed to use in a car, the first prototype was tested in 1974. This invention is considered as a turning point in wireless communication which led to an evolution of many technologies and standards in future.1G – First generation mobile communication system
The first generation of mobile network was deployed in Japan by Nippon Telephone and Telegraph company (NTT) in Tokyo during 1979. In the beginning of 1980s, it gained popularity in the US, Finland, UK and Europe. This system used analogue signals and it had many disadvantages due to technology limitations.
1G MOBILE SYSTEM |
Most popular 1G system during 1980s
- Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS)
- Nordic Mobile Phone System (NMTS)
- Total Access Communication System (TACS)
- European Total Access Communication System (ETACS)
Key features (technology) of 1G system
- Frequency 800 MHz and 900 MHz
- Bandwidth: 10 MHz (666 duplex channels with bandwidth of 30 KHz)
- Technology: Analogue switching
- Modulation: Frequency Modulation (FM)
- Mode of service: voice only
- Access technique: Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA)
Disadvantages of 1G system
- Poor voice quality due to interference
- Poor battery life
- Large sized mobile phones (not convenient to carry)
- Less security (calls could be decoded using an FM demodulator)
- Limited number of users and cell coverage
- Roaming was not possible between similar systems
2G – Second generation communication system GSM
Second generation of mobile communication system introduced a new digital technology for wireless transmission also known as Global System for Mobile communication (GSM). GSM technology became the base standard for further development in wireless standards later. This standard was capable of supporting up to 14.4 to 64kbps (maximum) data rate which is sufficient for SMS and email services.
Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) system developed by Qualcomm also introduced and implemented in the mid 1990s. CDMA has more features than GSM in terms of spectral efficiency, number of users and data rate.
Key features of 2G system
- Digital system (switching)
- SMS services is possible
- Roaming is possible
- Enhanced security
- Encrypted voice transmission
- First internet at lower data rate
- Disadvantages of 2G system
- Low data rate
- Limited mobility
- Less features on mobile devices
- Limited number of users and hardware capability
2G MOBILE (NOKIA 3310) |
2.5G and 2.75G system
In order to support higher data rate, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) was introduced and successfully deployed. GPRS was capable of data rate up to 171kbps (maximum).
EDGE – Enhanced Data GSM Evolution also developed to improve data rate for GSM networks. EDGE was capable to support up to 473.6kbps (maximum).
Another popular technology CDMA2000 was also introduced to support higher data rate for CDMA networks. This technology has the ability to provide up to 384 kbps data rate (maximum).
3G – Third generation communication system
Third generation mobile communication started with the introduction of UMTS – Universal Mobile Terrestrial / Telecommunication Systems. UMTS has the data rate of 384kbps and it support video calling for the first time on mobile devices.
After the introduction of 3G mobile communication system, smart phones became popular across the globe. Specific applications were developed for smartphones which handles multimedia chat, email, video calling, games, social media and healthcare.
3G MOBILE SYSTEM |
Key features of 3G system
- Higher data rate
- Video calling
- Enhanced security, more number of users and coverage
- Mobile app support
- Multimedia message support
- Location tracking and maps
- Better web browsing
- TV streaming
- High quality 3D games
3.5G to 3.75 Systems
In order to enhance data rate in existing 3G networks, another two technology improvements are introduced to network. HSDPA – High Speed Downlink Packet access and HSUPA – High Speed Uplink Packet Access, developed and deployed to the 3G networks. 3.5G network can support up to 2mbps data rate.
3.75 system is an improved version of 3G network with HSPA+ High Speed Packet Access plus. Later this system will evolve into more powerful 3.9G system known as LTE (Long Term Evolution).
Disadvantages of 3G systems
- Expensive spectrum licenses
- Costly infrastructure, equipments and implementation
- Higher bandwidth requirements to support higher data rate
- Costly mobile devices
- Compatibility with older generation 2G system and frequency bands
4G – Fourth generation communication system
4G systems are enhanced version of 3G networks developed by IEEE, offers higher data rate and capable to handle more advanced multimedia services. LTE and LTE advanced wireless technology used in 4th generation systems. Furthermore, it has compatibility with previous version thus easier deployment and upgrade of LTE and LTE advanced networks are possible.
Simultaneous transmission of voice and data is possible with LTE system which significantly improve data rate. All services including voice services can be transmitted over IP packets. Complex modulation schemes and carrier aggregation is used to multiply uplink / downlink capacity.
Wireless transmission technologies like WiMax are introduced in 4G system to enhance data rate and network performance.
4G MOBILE SYSTEM |
Key features of 4G system
- Much higher data rate up to 1Gbps
- Enhanced security and mobility
- Reduced latency for mission critical applications
- High definition video streaming and gaming
- Voice over LTE network VoLTE (use IP packets for voice)
Disadvantages of 4G system
- Expensive hardware and infrastructure
- Costly spectrum (most countries, frequency bands are is too expensive)
- High end mobile devices compatible with 4G technology required, which is costly
- Wide deployment and upgrade is time consuming
5G – Fifth generation communication system
5G will be using advanced technologies to deliver ultra fast internet and multimedia experience for customers. Current LTE advanced networks will transform into supercharged 5G networks in future. In order to achieve higher data rate, 5G technology will use millimeter waves and unlicensed spectrum for data transmission.
Complex modulation technique has been developed to support massive data rate for Internet of Things.
Find more about what is 5G NR (New Radio) and how 5G NR works
Cloud based network architecture will extend the functionalities and analytical capabilities for industries, autonomous driving, healthcare and security applications.
5G REALME X50PRO |
Key features of 5G technology
- Ultra-fast mobile internet up to 10Gbps
- Low latency in milliseconds (significant for mission critical applications)
- Total cost deduction for data
- Higher security and reliable network
- Uses technologies like small cells, beam forming to improve efficiency
- Forward compatibility network offers further enhancements in future
- Cloud based infrastructure offers power efficiency, easy maintenance and upgrade of hardware
1G TO 5G |
Comparison of 1G to 5G technology
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Comparison of 1G to 5G technology
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