3G - Third Generation Mobile Telephony

  • Third-generation mobile systems combine high-speed access with Internet Protocol (IP)-based services.
  • The generation of wireless technology. Multimedia 3G networks transmit wireless data up to 2 megabits per second, making the integration of voice, data and video possible.
  • 3G is a generic term covering a range of future wireless network technologies, including cdma2000, UMTS, GPRS, WCDMA and EDGE. 3G combines high-speed mobile access with Internet Protocol (IP) based services. This doesn't just mean fast mobile connection to the World Wide Web - by liberating us from slow connections, cumbersome equipment and immovable access points, 3G will enable new ways to communicate, access information, conduct business and learn.

UMTS - Universal Mobile Telecommunication System

  • The name for the third generation mobile telephone standard in Europe, standardized by ETSI
  • Provides data connectivity at up to 2Mbs allowing the transmission of video and enabling b2b applications.

WCDMA - Wideband Code Division Multiple Access

  • The high-speed wideband radio technology provides data transfer rates in a wide range up to 2Mbit/s. WCDMA supports simultaneous use of different services with independent Quality of Service (QoS) such as advanced Mobile Internet and voice services.
  • A technology for wideband digital radio communications of Internet, multimedia, video and other capacity-demanding applications. WCDMA has been selected for the third generation of mobile telephone systems in Europe, Japan and the United States.
  • Voice, images, data, and video are first converted to a narrowband digital radio signal. The signal is assigned a marker (spreading code) to distinguish it from the signal of other users. WCDMA uses variable rate techniques in digital processing and it can achieve multi-rate transmissions.

GPRS - General Packet Radio Service

  • The packet-based technology that enables high-speed (115 kilobit per second) wireless Internet and data communications.
  • GPRS provides ‘always on’ connectivity at speeds up tp 45kbs and the ability to send data using packets rather than circuit switched technology.
  • A packet-linked technology that enables high-speed (115 kilobit per second) wireless Internet and other data communications. GPRS will offer a tenfold increase in data throughput rates, from 9.6kbit/s to 115kbit/s. Using a packet data service, subscribers are always connected and always on line so services will be easy and quick to access.

GSM - Global System for Mobile Communications

  • Digital cellular or PCS standard used throughout the world, and the primary standard in Europe and South East Asia
  • GSM, which was first introduced in 1991, is one of the leading digital cellular systems. It uses narrowband TDMA. Eight simultaneous calls can occupy the same radio frequency. GSM simplifies data
  • transmission to allow laptop and palmtop computers to be connected to GSM phones. It provides integrated voice mail, high-speed data, fax, paging and short message services capabilities, as well as secure communications. It offers the best voice quality of any current digital wireless standard.
  • Originally a European standard for digital mobile telephony, GSM has become the world's most widely used mobile system in use in over 100 countries. GSM networks operate on the 900 MHz and 1800 MHz waveband in Europe, Asia and Australia, and on the MHz 1900 waveband in North America and in parts of Latin America and Africa.

EDGE - Enhanced Data for Global Evolution

  • The technology that gives GSM networks the capacity to handle 3G mobile telephony services. EDGE enables the transmission of large amounts of data at 384 kilobits per second.
  • A technology that gives GSM the capacity to handle services for the third generation of mobile telephony. EDGE was developed to enable the transmission of large amounts of data at a high speed, 384 kilobits per second. EDGE uses the same TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access) frame structure, logic channel and 200kHz carrier bandwidth as today's GSM networks, which allows existing cell plans to remain intact.

WAP - Wireless Application Protocol

  • The protocol that makes it possible to access Internet from a mobile phone or other wireless device.
  • A free, unlicensed protocol for wireless communications that makes it possible to create advanced telecommunications services and to access Internet pages from a mobile telephone. Wireless application protocol is a de facto industry standard supported by a large number of suppliers.
  • WAP supports most wireless network standards including CDMA, GSM, PDC, PHS, TDMA, FLEX, DECT, and Mobitex, as well as operating systems like EPOC. WAP devices understand the WML language (an XML application) that is optimized for small screens and navigation without a keyboard. WAP also supports WMLScript scripting language.
  • The open industry standard for mobile Internet access

Bluetooth Wireless Technology

  • Bluetooth wireless technology is a short-range radio technology. Bluetooth wireless technology makes it possible to transmit signals over short distances between telephones, computers and other devices.
  • Technology specification created for short-range (up to 10 meters) wireless connection using low-cost transceiver chips to ve embedded in mobile PC’s, smart phones and other portable sevices. Provides three voice and data channels via one-to-one connection with built-in encryption and verification.
    Bluetooth wireless technology will simplify both communication and synchronization between devices. The technology will replace many of the proprietary cables we use in the home and office to connect devices together: Telephones, printers, PDA's, desktop and laptop computers, fax machines, keyboards, joysticks - almost any digital device that uses the Bluetooth wireless technology chip will be able to take advantage of the technology.
  • More than just a replacement for cables, Bluetooth wireless technology provides a universal bridge to existing data networks, a peripheral interface, and a mechanism to form small private ad hoc groupings of connected devices away from fixed network infrastructures.
  • Bluetooth radio uses a fast acknowledgement and frequency hopping scheme to make the link robust, even in noisy radio environments.

VoIP - Voice Over Internet Protocol

  • The technology for transmitting ordinary telephone calls over the Internet using packet-linked routes. (Also commonly called IP telephony).
  • A technology for transmitting ordinary telephone calls over the Internet using packet-linked routes. Also called IP telephony.

GPS - Global Positioning system

  • A constellation of satellites communicating with GPS devices in planes, ships, automobiles and, handheld devices to provide instantaneous latitude, longitude, altitude, time and bearing information 24 hours a day.

PCS - Personal Communication System

  • Digital wireless communication systems based on the same principles as cellular systems, but usually operating in a different frequency range and with smaller cell size than cellular systems.

PDA - Personal Digital Assistant

  • A small, hand-held devices that offers functions such as address book, calendar and e-mail-an electronic organizer.

SIM - Subscriber Identity Module

  • A smart card inserted in to GSM phones that contains the user’s telephone account information.

SMS - Short Message Service

  • Electronic messages on a wireless network, such as those used in two-way paging.

WML - Wireless Markup Language

  • An XML language used to specify content and user interface for WAP devices.

EPOC

  • An operating systems used in a variety of mobile phone devices.

MPEG

  • Motion Picture Experts Group; MPEG4 is a technology for compressing voice and video so that the information can be transmitted over normally difficult links such as mobile radio.

SYMBIAN

  • A company created by Psion, Nokia, Ericsson and Motorola in 1998 with the aim of developing and standardizing an operating system which enable mobile phones from different manufacturers to exchange information.


    • The operating system is known as EPOC. Matsushita has subsequently joined Symbian.

TETRA

  • Terrestrial Trunked Radio; a European developed digital private mobile radio technology which is now being extensively deployed worldwide.

WLAN

  • Wireless Local Area Network; a short range radio network normally deployed in traffic hotspots such as airport lounges, hotels and restaurants. WLAN enables suitably equipped users to access the fixed network wirelessly, providing high speed access (up to 11Mbit/s download) to distant servers. The key WLAN technologies are the IEEE802.11 family and ETSI HIPERLAN/2.

DUAL BAND

  • The capability of GSM infrastructure elements and handsets to work across both the 900MHz and 1800MHz bands. The capability to seamlessly handover between the two bands offers operators major capacity gains.