The Evolution of Mobile Communication Technology

The Evolution of Mobile Communication Technology

Many things are taken into consideration while defining wireless generation, the techniques they use, service they provide, capacity, power, accessibility etc. Mobile generation is the result of improvement in all these factor. So what made the difference and how they were evolved? 

Firstly, when wireless generation started, it was analog communication. That generation is 1G. They used various analog modulation for data transfer. Now when the communication migrated from analog to digital, the foundation of latest communication were led. Hence came 2G. I will touch only the concept to help you understand basics, so that you can easily understand the foundation.

1G Technology
Usage: Analog technology, only call can be made
Year 1991
Standards AMPS, TACS
Technology Analog
Bandwidth Nil
Data rates Nil

2G  Technology
Usage: only SMS/MMS can send/Receive, no video calls
Year 1991
Standards GSM, GPRS, EDGE
Technology Digital
Bandwidth Narrow Band
Data rates < 80 - 100 Kbit/s
   
3G  Technology
Usage: SMS/MMS,video call, internet access, mobile TV
Year 2001
Standards UMTS / HSPA
Technology digital
Bandwidth Broad Band
Data rates up to 2 Mbit/s

4G  Technology
Usage: SMS/MMS,video calls, internet access, mobile TV, cloud computing, gaming Services
Year 2010
Standards LTE, LTE Advanced
Technology digital
Bandwidth Mobile Broad Band
Data rates xDSL-like experience
1 hr HD movie in 6 minutes

5G  Technology
Usage: SMS/MMS,video calls, internet access, mobile TV, cloud computing, gaming Services
    Mobile TV 3d, Mobile TV HD, instant messaging
Year 2020-2030
Standards : not yet decided
Technology digital
Bandwidth Ubiquitous connectivity
Data rates Fiber-like experience
1 hr HD movie in 6 seconds

source : http://www.quora.com/Mueed-Qaiser