Cellular Telecommunications and Cell Phone Technology

- articles and information on the basics of cellular telecommunications and cell phone technology

There are many mobile or cell phone systems that are in use all over the world and there is a considerable amount of equipment ranging from the cell phones themselves to cellular base stations, antennas and the network infrastructure. In addition to the basic equipment there is new cell phone technology to provide the many new services that are now available, enabling cell phone users to enjoy many new applications from games, and ringtone downloads to picture and video downloads. With technologies ranging from GSM, GPRS, EDGE to UMTS or W-CDMA and cdmaOne (IS-95) to CDMA2000 1X, EV-DO and EV-DV and mobile TV technologies such as MediaFLO, DMB, and DVB-H, there are plenty of technologies in use.

There is plenty of terminology associated with cellular telecommunications and cell phone technology. Our terminology glossary explains the most commonly used terms associated with cellular telecommunications / cell phone technology:

Glossary pages: [ 0 - 9 ] , [ A - C ] , [ D - F ] , [ G - J ] , [ K - N ] , [ O - S ] and [ T - Z ]

The technology behind cellular systems and cell phones has developed from the first generation (1G) systems to the second geenration (2G) systems and then to the third generation (3G) systems. At each stage the performance improved and further facilities were available, from SMS messaging to video downloads.
- Major Mobile Phone Systems (a tabular overview)
- Mobile phone or cell phone history

Cellular telecommunications basics.
There are a number of basic concepts behind cellular telecommunications systems. These include the idea of cells themselves as well as how the networks are set up, what is in a mobile phone and how some of the transmission technologies such as CDMA, TDMA and the like operate.
- The basic concepts of a cellular telecommunications system
- The multiple access schemes used by mobile phones
- The duplex schemes used by mobile phone networks - FDD and TDD
- The operation and electronics within a mobile phone
- The basics of a cellular network
- The way in which a mobile phone registers onto a network
- Handover or handoff, the way in which cellular calls are transferred from one cell to another
For articles on CDMA, MIMO, OFDM, etc, see our new RF Technology and Design section.

Cellular testing
With vast numbers of phones and cellular systems deployed and new ones beong launched all the time, it is essential that new equipment is thoroughly tested ebfore it is launched ontoth e market. Additionally ones systems are deployed it is essential to esnure that they are operating to their best.
- Cellular conformance testing overview
    - Conformance testing for GSM and UMTS
    - cdma interoperability test

Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM).
GSM is the system that was developed in Europe and is now the most popular system in use around the globe.
- The development of the Global System for Mobile communications - GSM
- GSM technical overview (5 pages)
- General Packet Radio Service, GPRS, tutorial (5 pages)
- Enhanced Data for GSM Evolution (EDGE)

- UMA - unlicensed mobile access and GAN generic access network
    - UMA / GAN conformance testing

CDMA System including cdmaOne (IS-95) and CDMA2000 (IS-2000)
The CDMA family of technologies including cdmaOne (IS-95) to CDMA 2000 were the first technologies to use CDMA technology.
- What is CDMA - cdmaOne / CDMA2000? A Guide to the CDMA system and its evolution.
- IS-95 (cdmaOne)
- CDMA2000 1xEV-DO
- CDMA Band Classes and Frequency Allocations
- UMB Ultra-Mobile Broadband the 3.99G evolution for cdma2000

Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) / Wideband CDMA (W-CDMA)
- UMTS / W-CDMA Tutorial (5 pages)
- High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA)
- High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA) The companion to HSDPA.
- UMTS TDD The scheme being used for mobile broadband.
- 3G LTE - Long Term Evolution an overview of the developments being undertaken for the next generation cellualr systems The scheme being used for mobile broadband.

Miscellaneous sytems and features
- Pacific or Personal Digital Cellular (PDC)
- i-mode for e-mails and internet surfing
- TD-SCDMA the 3G system being developed in China

Private Mobile Radio PMR
Private or Professional Mobile Radio (PMR), or Public Access Mobile Radio (PAMR) is used in many countries around the world, and new technology is being developed to ensure it keeps up with today's needs. It is widely used by the emergency services, and this is particularly true of the new Tetra system that is being widely deployed.
An overview of private mobile radio (PMR) - the various standards that are available to use.
Trunking using the MPT1327 system
An Overview of TETRA private mobile radio (PMR)
PMR446 overview