Cellular Telecommunications Glossary [G - J]

- a glossary of terms used with cell phone or cellular telecommunications technology

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

GMSK - Gaussian Minimum Shift Keying. The form of phase shift keying used for GSM cell phone transmissions. It is a form of minimum shift keying (MSK) that is passed through a filter with a Gaussian curve to reduce its bandwidth.

GPRS - General Packet Radio Service. An evolution of GSM system that uses packet data to provide a more efficient use of the available data capacity and thereby enables maximum data speeds of up to 115 kbps to be achieved.

GPS - Global Positioning System. A satellite based system for providing accurate position information. It uses the US DoD Navstar satellites system consisting of a constellation of 24 active satellites that transmit signals that enable receivers on earth to determine the position on the earth.

GSM - Global System for Mobile telecommunications. A digital TDMA (2G) system developed in Europe and now widely used around the world.

Handoff – A term used in the USA to describe the process of transferring a mobile from one cell to another while it is in the middle of a call.

Handover – A term used in Europe to describe the process of transferring a mobile from one cell to another while it is in the middle of a call.

Hard Handover - A term normally associated with CDMA networks for a form of handover where the mobile has to change channels, i.e. frequency to complete the handover.

HLR - Home Location Register. A central database of permanent subscriber information for a mobile network. It is located on the “home” network for the particular user.

HSDPA - High Speed Downlink Packet Access. An enhancement to the W-CDMA standard which enables faster data rates (up to 14 Mbps) to be achieved on the downlink from the Node B to the handset.

HSUPA - High Speed Uplink Packet Access. An enhancement to the W-CDMA standard which enables faster data rates to be achieved on the uplink from handset to the Node B.

IMEI - International Mobile Equipment Identity. A serial number contained within a mobile that is used by the network to check its status, i.e. whether it is has been stolen.

IMSI - International Mobile Subscriber Identity. The number contained within the SIM card and used on the GSM system to identify a subscriber. It relates the subscriber to the phone number.

IMT-2000 - International Mobile Telecommunications standard 2000 that defines the third generation mobile phone technology.

IS-95 - The specification for the first cellular system to use CDMA techniques. Known under the brand name cdmaOne there were two releases of the standard, namely IS-95A and IS-95B. The second of B version is able to accommodate data at rates up to 115 kbps whereas the A version can only accommodate speeds of 14.4 kbps.

IS-2000 - The standard for the CDMA2000 3G cellular telecommunications system written by the TIA.

ITU - The International Telecommunications Union. It is an international organization that is run under the auspices of the United Nations. Within the organisation governments and the private sector can work together to coordinate the operation of telecommunication networks and services and advance the development of communications technology. The ITU created the recommendations that defined the Third Generation (3G) mobile phone technology.