Types of Mobile Cellular Network
There are four Cellular Network bands till now that are 2G, 3G, 4G and
5G.The 5G is the latest network band but it is still upcoming technology in
India. The Airtel is bringing the first 5G Network. In this article only 2G and 3G Networks are listed with
there information.
What is 2G Cellular Network?
2G is the short form of Second-Generation cellular Network. 2G Cellular
Networks were launched on the GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication)
Standard in Finland by Radiolinja in 1991.
The three primary benefits of 2G networks are;
The 2G network of GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) technology have
theoretical transfer speed of 40kbits/s (5kB/s), And with EDGE (Enhanced Data
Rates for GSM Evolution) technology have theoretical transfer speed of 384
Kbits/s (48 kB/s).
- Digitally encrypted phone conversations, at least between the mobile phone and the cellular base station but not necessarily in the rest of the network.
- Radio frequency spectrum were use more efficiently that enables more users per frequency band
- Data sending services for mobile, starting with SMS text message, MMS(Multimedia messages) for sending images and videos
Further enhancement of 2G Network
2.5G (GPRS)
2.5G is used to define 2G system that have carry out a packet-switched
domain to the circuit switched domain. Due to includes of bundling of
timeslots for Circuit switched data services a faster service is not
provided surely.
2.75G (EDGE)
2.5G evolved to 2.75G with an help of 8PSK encoding, but the symbol rate
remained the same at 270.833 samples per seconds and each symbols carries
three bits. The EDGE, EGPRS, IMT-SC is a backward compatible digital smart
phone technology that improves data transfer rates.
2G GSM network operating uses most frequencies which operates at 900MHz to
1800MHz bands, in some country like Canada, USA etc. uses the bands 850MHz and
1900MHz were in operation.
Different Bands of GSM Bands Network
| GSM Bands |
Bands (f) MHz |
Upload (MHz) |
Download (MHz) |
|---|---|---|---|
| GSM 380 | 380 | 380.2 - 389.8 | 390 - 399.8 |
| GSM-410 | 410 | 410.2 – 419.8 | 420.2 – 429.8 |
| GSM-450 | 450 | 450.6 – 457.6 | 460.6 – 467.6 |
| GSM-480 | 480 | 479.0 – 486.0 | 489.0 – 496.0 |
| GSM-710 | 710 | 698.2 – 716.2 | 728.2 – 746.2 |
| GSM-750 | 750 | 777.2 – 792.2 | 747.2 – 762.2 |
| GSM-810 | 810 | 806.2 – 821.2 | 851.2 – 866.2 |
| GSM-850 | 850 | 824.2 – 848.8 | 869.2 – 893.8 |
| GSM-900 | 900 | 870.4 – 915.0 | 915.4 – 960.0 |
| GSM-1800 | 1800 | 1710.2 – 1784.8 | 1805.2 – 1879.8 |
| GSM-1900 | 1900 | 1850.2 – 1909.8 | 1930.2 – 1989.8 |
What is 3G Cellular Network?
3G is the short form of Third Generation of wireless cellular Network. It is a
upgrade form of 2G, 2.5G, GPRS and 2.7G, EDGE networks, with providing faster
data transfer, and better voice quality.3G is an application that works to
transfer voice connectivity, mobile internet access, fixed wireless Internet
access, voice calls and mobile TV. The first 3G network was launched in
mid-2001.
The band standards used in 3G are
- The UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) system was standardized by 3GPP in 2001, and was used in Europe, Japan, China with different radio interface networks.
- The HSPA+ is latest release of UMTS which provide a peak data rates up to 56 Mbit/s in download (downlink) and 22 Mbit/s upload (uplink).
- The W-CDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) is most commonly operated on the 2,100 MHz band. The few others network bands used is 850, 900, and 1900 MHz
- HSPA is a combination of several upgrades to the original W-CDMA standard and offers peak data of 14.4 Mbit/s downward and 5.76 Mbit/s upward.
- The EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates For Global Evolution) is rarely used in 3G system of networks. EGPRS provides the peak data rates of 200kbit/s.
- The Evolved EDGE provides a peak data transfer of 1Mbit/s downstream and 400 Kbit/s upstream.
3G networks supports a services that runs or provide information transfer rate
of at least 144 kbit/s, further 3G developed and released next generation
3.5G, 3.75G that increases mobile broadband speed up to several Mbps.
Different Bands of UMTS Frequency Bands
UMTS-FDD (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System - Frequency Division Duplexing)
| UMTS Bands |
Bands (f) MHz |
Upload (MHz) |
Download (MHz) |
|---|---|---|---|
| UMTS-700 | 700 | 699 – 798 | 729 – 768 |
| UMTS-800 | 800 | 830 – 862 | 875 – 890 |
|
UMTS-850 (CLR) |
850 | 814 – 849 | 859 – 894 |
| UMTS-900 | 900 | 880 – 915 | 925 – 960 |
| UMTS-1500 | 1500 | 1427.9 – 1462.9 | 1475.9 – 1510.9 |
|
UMTS-1700 (AWS-1) |
1700 | 1710 – 1784.9 | 1844.9 – 2170 |
|
UMTS-1800 (DCS) |
1800 | 1710 – 1785 | 1805 – 1880 |
|
UMTS-1900 (PCS) |
1900 | 1850 – 1915 | 1930 – 1995 |
|
UMTS-2100 (IMT) |
2100 | 1920 – 1980 | 2110 – 2170 |
| UMTS-2600 | 2600 | 2500 – 2570 | 2620 – 2690 |
|
UMTS-3500 (CBAND) |
3500 | 3410 – 3490 | 3510 – 3590 |
UMTS-FDD uses W-CDMA for multiple access and frequency division duplex for
duplexing, for transmitting uplink and downlink on different frequencies.
UMTS-TDD uses time-division duplex for transmitting the uplink and downlink to
share the similar spectrum, which allows operator to more accurately divide
available spectrum according to traffic pattern produce.
