4G: The Future Mobile Technology
Mohsin Jamil l , Shahan Parwaiz Shaikh 2, Mohsin Shahzad 3, Qasim Awais4
lNational University of Science & Technology,Pakistan, 2Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
3University of Sheffield, United KingdomAWah Engineering College, Pakistan.
mj2p07@soton.ac.uk, shahan@pmail.ntu.edu.sg, qasimawais@gmail.com, mohsin1416@yahoo.com
Abstract: With the rapid growth of user demands, and
the limitations of third generation (3G) mobile
communication systems, it is expected that fourth
generation (4G) mobile systems are likely to reach the
consumer market in another 4-5 years. 4G systems are
expected to become a platform capable of providing
increased bandwidth, higher data rates, and greater
interoperability across communication protocols, and user
friendly, innovative, and secure applications. This system
will primarily focus on seamlessly integrating the existing
systems like GSM, wireless LAN, and Bluetooth. This
paper describes modulation scheme, different technologies,
and network architectures that support 4G mobile systems.
Challenges and some applications will also be presented. At
last recommendations will be followed by conclusion.
I. INTRODUCTION
First generation (1 G) mobile systems, introduce in early
1980's, initiated commercial mobile voice services. 1G mobile
system offered voice and low speed data transmission and was
operated in circuit switched mode. These 1G network systems
use Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) schemes and
operate in the 450 and 800MHz frequency bands. The major
problems of 1G mobile system were internetworking between
different networks and the quality was far from the standard
offered by wire line telephony. These shortcomings were
overcome with the advent of the Second Generation (2G)
mobile systems. By using digital technology instead of analog
one, 2G systems such as Global System for Mobile
Communications (GSM) increased the number of supported
users within a cell and enhanced voice quality significantly. In
its original form, the GSM in the 900, 1800 and 1900MHz
frequency bands uses a Time Division Code Multiple Access
(TDMA) schemes for circuit mode transmission of digitized
speech and digital data at up to 9.6kb/s. Since its
commercialization in 1990's, GSM has been currently
upgraded, by the introduction of High Speech Circuit Switched
Data (HSCSD), General Packet Radio Services (GPRS), and
Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), Enhanced
Circuit Switched Data (ECSD) and Enhanced GPRS (EGPRS).
20's success story prompted the development of 2.50 and
(30) mobile systems. Universal Mobile Telecommunications
System (UMTS) standards were also developed to yield higher
voice capacity and higher-speed data using a wideband carrier
(5.2 MHz). The introduction of UMTS, based on Wideband
Code Division Multiple Access (WCOMA) technology is a
further step towards the increasing demand of high data rates.
Authorized licensed use limited to: The National Institute of Engineering. Downloaded on February 24,2010 at 04:07:03 EST from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
In the 30, circuit mode speech and data as well as packet mode
data transmission are possible with UMTS. Furthermore,
higher data rates were designed to provide new innovative
services, like mobile videophone, video streaming, and voice
over IP. Moreover, wider coverage was promised with the help
of macro, micro, and pico cells. 30 technology supports 144
Kbps data rate, with high speed movement (vehicles), 384
Kbps (on campus) & 2 Mbps for stationary (in building).
Even before 30 networks are fully launched and utilized,
various study groups are considering the shape of the next
generation of cellular technology, so called 40. There is no
single global vision for 40 as yet, but the next generation of
network is likely to be all IP-based. In 40 the radio interfaces
will support up to approximately 100 Mbps for high mobility
and up to approximately 1 Obps for low mobility such as
nomadic/local wireless access. 40 networks will also feature
IP interoperability for seamless mobile Internet access. 30 is
based on a wide-area concept applying circuit and packet
switching for transmission with limited access technology,
such as WCOMA, CDMA and TD-SOMA. However, the 40
standard will base on broadband IP-based, entirely applying
packet switching method of transmission with seamlessly
access convergence. 4G mobile system will include all systems
from various networks~ from public to private~ from operator-
driven broadband networks to personal areas: and from cell ular
to ad hoc networks.
Table 1 presents a short history of mobile technologies.
II. LIMITATIONS OF 30/NEED FOR 4G
It has been observed that after every 10 years a new mobile
generation comes up with new capabilities and functionalities.
As the roll out took around 10 years for 2G, a similar period
will apply to 30 which has started deploying since 2001 and
by the year 2010 it will be the time to deploy 40 [1] networks
and with this assumption the work on 40 has been started since
year 2000. However 3G systems have some limitations which
are stated as:
• 30 can support multimedia internet type services at high
data rates up to 384kb/s for moving up to 2Mb/s in limited
coverage area. [1]
• In 30, extension to higher data rate is difficult with
COMA due to excessive interference between the services
and users.
• To ensure connection ubiquity together with high
bandwidth and mobility, the network architecture must be
heterogeneous rather than homogeneous.
 TABLE I • Because of single global standard, the roaming between
SHORT HISTORY OF MOBILE TECHNOLOGIES
the different networks will be possible. Many services can
Technology IG 2G 3G 4G
be access by the users from the same mobile terminal
Design Began 1970 1980 1990 2000 • The 3G mobile network is based on primarily a wide-area
Implementation 1981 1991 2001 2010 concept. In 4G system, utilizing both wireless LAN and
Services Analog Digital Higher Higher cellular design the users will be connected to a high-speed
voice voice. capacity, capacity,
network anywhere, anytime.
short data rates Completely
message up to IP- oriented. • In near future, there will be a great demand for high data
2Mbps multimedia. rates and bandwidth. The 4G technology, would offer
data to high-bandwidth services with the transmission speeds of
hundreds
of megabits more than 20 Mbps within the reach of LAN "hotspots",
which are installed everywhere in offices, homes, malls
Standards AMPS, TDMA, WCDMA. Single and airport lounges. The 2G networks for voice and low
TACS. COMA, CDMA2000 standard
speed coverage can be used by the users if they are away
NMT. GSM
etc. from these hotspots.
• The 4G mobile networks systems will be cheaper than 3G.
Data Rate NA 14.4 2 Mbps >200 Mbps This is because they can be built on the existing networks
kbps
FDMA COMA
and there will be no need for the operators to completely
Multiplexing TDMA. OFDM
COMA change their equipments nor will they be required extra
Core Network PSTN PSTN Packet Internet spectrum.
network • The problem of handling increasing numbers of users and
diversity of services can be solved by the 4G system as it
Legend:
AMPS = Advanced mobile phone service was based on IP layer technology.
CDMA = Code division multiple access
FDMA = Frequency division multiple access
GSM = Global system for mobile communication III. FEATURES OF 4G
NMT = Nordic mobile telephone
OFDM = Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing A. User Friendliness and User Personalization
PSTN = Pubic switched telephone network The combination of user friendliness and user
TACS = Total access communications
personalization appears to be the winning concept when we try
TDMA = Time division multiple
WCDMA = Wideband CDMA to encourage people to move towards a new technology, which
is a time taking process and involves a great deal of effort from
• It is difficult to provide full range of multi-rate services the operator's side. In user friendliness the interaction between
with different QoS and performance requirements due to the applications and users can be minimized and simplifies. In
the constraints imposed on the core network by the air user personalization, the users can configure the mobile
interface standard, e.g. 3G is not a fully integrated system. terminal and chose services according to their preferences.
• The bandwidth available in the 3G mobile systems will be B. Terminal Heterogeneity and Network Heterogeneity
saturated and there are limitations on the combination of 4G provides not only higher data rates but also a clear and
frequency and time division duplex modes. valuable advantage in people's everyday life, with the
• Multi-modes appliances have to implement software combination of terminal heterogeneity and network
configurable hardware architectures. heterogeneity. Terminal heterogeneity refers to the different
• Limitation of spectrum and its allocation. types of terminals in terms of display size, energy
• Difficult to roam across distinct service environment in consumption, portability/weight, complexity, etc. Network
different frequency bands. heterogeneity is related to the increasing heterogeneity of
wireless networks due to the large number of access
When the 3G was launched, it was assumed that it would technologies available (e.g., UMTS, WiMAX, Wi-Fi, and
become popular among the users but this didn't happen. Bluetooth).
Network operators were forced to reduce their expectations.
Despite the work is going on the higher-speed 3G mobile C. Other possible features ofthe 4G systems are
networks, the main reasons for the leap towards 4G are: • Support interactive multimedia, voice, video, wireless
• As compare to 3G, 4G will provide rich multimedia internet and other broadband services.
contents. The downloading speed of 4G system will • High speed, high capacity and low cost per bit.
exceeds 100 Mbps, which is about 260 times greater than • Global roaming and inter-working between different
3G wireless networks. access technologies; both horizontal (intra-system) and
vertical (intersystem) handover.
• Better scheduling and call admission control techniques.

Authorized licensed use limited to: The National Institute of Engineering. Downloaded on February 24,2010 at 04:07:03 EST from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
 • A common platform to complement other services transform (FFT) [3] to prevent interference between the closely
connection through a common, flexible, seamless, IP- spaced sub-carriers, allowing an improved spectral efficiency.
based core network. OFDM achieves multiple access capability usually by using
• Enabling person to person, person to machine, and CDMA or TDMA. Since each carrier in an OFDM signal has a
machine to machine communications. very narrow bandwidth (i.e. few kHz), the resulting symbol
• Can handle pre-existing 30 systems along with other rate is low. Due to the orthogonal nature of the modulation,
wireless technologies. these multiple sub-carriers overlap in the frequency domain,
Following table 2 shows some physical parameters of 40 but do not cause Inter-Carrier Interference (ICI). In OFDM, the
technology. guard band is reduced by the orthogonal packing of the sub-
carriers, improving the spectral efficiency (figure 1).
TABLE 2
POSSIBLE 4G PARAMETERS
8andw~
Parameters 4G

Key Requirement Data and voice converged over IP

Network Architecture Wireless LAN and WAN

IP All IP (lPv6)

Frequency Band Higher frequency bands 2 - 8 GHz

5 - 20 MHz (might even go to 100
Bandwidth
MHz or higher)
Up to 20 Mbps (might even reach 100
Data Rate
Mbps or more)
Multi-carrier CDMA (MC-CDMA)or
Access Technology Fn: Fost fourier transform
OFDM(TDMA)
Forward Error Correction
Concatenated codes
(FEC) Following are the parameters ofOFDM in 40 [5]
Switching Design Basis Packet

Mobile Top Speeds 200 km/hr TABLE 3

OFDM PARAMETERS IN 4G
Deployment 2007-2010
User data rate 2.56 - 8.96 Mbps
Smarter Antennas, software multi-
Component Design Modulation QPSK,16QAM
band and wideband radios
Coding rate 1/2 - 7/8
Service type Multimedia Machine to Machine Data subcarriers 512 (average) (128, 256,384 optional)
Pilot subcarriers 128 (average) (32, 64, 96 optional)
Symbol duration 200/ls
IV. TECHNOLOGIES FOR 4G
Guard interval 40/ls
A mix of concepts and technologies involves in the making Subcarrier spacing 6.25 kHz
of 40 mobile communications. Some originate from 30, and 3 dB bandwidth 4 MHz ( 1, 2, 3 MHz optional)
are called evolutionary (e.g., evolutions of WCDMA and Channel Spacing 5 MHz (1.25 MHz optional)
cdma2000). Other is revolutionary which involves new Carrier frequency --2GHz
approaches to wireless mobile. Following are some of the FFT size 1024
technologies considered for 40.
A. Orthogonalfrequency division multiplexing (OFDM)[J-2) B. Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO)
When a high speed mobile is transmitting its signals in high SmartlMultiple antennas [1][4] can significantly increase
frequency band, it is affected severely from frequency selective systems capacity and have intelligent functions as suppressions
fading. OFDM is being developed to reduce this frequency of interference signals, auto-tracking of desired signals, and
selective fading. OFDM is a combination of modulation and digital beam-forming with adaptive space-time processing
multiplexing. OFDM is a multi-carrier transmission technique, algorithms. One smart-antenna system which shows promise in
which uses the similar technique as that of Frequency Division 40 systems is MIMO (Multi-Input Multi-Output) [1][6], as
Multiplexing (FDM). Multiple messages can be sent in moving shown in figure 2, particularly since the antenna systems at
a single radio channel in OFDM using principles of FDM. both transmitter and receiver are usually a limiting factor when
OFDM uses the spectrum more efficiently by making all the attempting to support increased data rates.
sub-carriers orthogonal to one another, using fast fourier

Authorized licensed use limited to: The National Institute of Engineering. Downloaded on February 24,2010 at 04:07:03 EST from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
 The idea behind MIMO is that the signals at transmit (TX)
antennas end and at receive (RX) antennas end are "combined"
so that both the quality (Bit Error Rate or BER) and the data
rate (bits/sec) of the communication can be improved. From
this the both the network's quality of service and the operator's
revenues can be increased.
Fig. 2. MIMO wireless system. The transmitter and receiver are equipped with
multiple antenna elements.
There are two different perspectives for MIMO systems.
First, from the pure diversity point of view, one can enhance
the fading statistics of the received signal by the virtue of
multiple available replicas being affected by the independent
fading channels. The reliability of the communication link can
be improved, the outage probability can be decreased, and the
effects of multi-path fading can be reduced by sending the
same signal through parallel and independent fading channels
[6]. The second approach is referred as spatial multiplexing
[6]. In this approach the spectral efficiency can be increased by
transmitting different information streams on parallel spatial
channels associated with the transmit antennas. The receiver
terminal should be equipped with at least same number of
receive antennas as the number of parallel channels generated
by the transmitter in order to separate the individual streams.
As the mobile terminals are getting smaller and smaller in size
it is difficult to incorporate multiple antennas on them. For
solving this issue, a new approach called cooperative MIMO
relaying (CMIMOR) or virtual antenna array (VAA)
technology has been proposed. This approach appears to be
valid for implementing a MIMO system in mobile terminals.
c. Software defined radio (SDR)
Due to the constant evolution of mobile communication
systems (2G, 3G, and 4G), the wireless industry is facing
problems in global roaming to provide different services to the
mobile subscribers. SDR technology promises to solve these
problems by implementing the radio functionality as software
modules running on a generic hardware platform. Further,
different standards can be presented in the radio system
through the implementation of multiple software modules.
Through SDR the user's terminal can be operated in multi-
mode fashion, adapting themselves to various network wireless
interfaces [7]. The main purpose of SDR is to make a user
terminal operate in different kinds of wireless networks,
overcoming power, cost, size, and compatibility limitations.
SDR consists of three major functional blocks as shown in
the figure 3, namely front end (RF section), the IF section and
the base-band section. The RF section (also called RF front-
end) is responsible for transmitting and receiving the radio
Authorized licensed use limited to: The National Institute of Engineering. Downloaded on February 24,2010 at 04:07:03 EST from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
frequency (RF) signal from the antenna. The conversion from
analog to digital (on receiving path) and from digital to analog
(on the transmitting path) is performed by using the ADCIDAC
at the IF section. The base-band operations such as connection
setup, equalization, frequency hopping, timing recovery, and
correlation are performed at the base-band section.
---H---
Antenna
Rx
RF Baseband
Front-end Processing
Fig. 3. Block Diagram ofa Generic Software Defined Radio
The development of multi-band, multi-standard, multi-mode
radio systems using SDR technology is fostered by the
availability of smart antennas, wideband RF front-end,
wideband ADCIDAC technologies and ever increasing
processing capacity of DSPs and general-purpose
microprocessors. The main advantages of SDR are:
• Flexibility and reconfigurability: which allows dynamic
configuration of the system by selecting the appropriate
software module to run.
• Interoperability: Using the SDR system, it is possible to
integrate other associated software functions into the
system more easily.
• Connectivity: by uploading another software module, we
can enable the mobile terminals for using different
protocols and standards.
SDR has some drawbacks like, it is impossible to have just
one antenna and one low noise amplifier to serve the wide
range of frequency bands. It can be done by using multiple
analog parts to work in different frequency bands but by doing
this the complexity and physical size of the terminal will be
increased. The other problem is that the available ADCs are
not fast enough. Finally, we have to use parallel DSP in order
to allow real-time execution of software implemented radio
interface functions.
V. APPLICATIONS AND SERVICES
Generally, four categories of services or applications are
being developed for use in the 4G wireless communications.
They are as follows:
A. Localized/Personalized Information Services
Information such as general news, location guides, mobile
commerce, and travel services will be provided by the
Localized/personalized information services and applications.
Through this service roaming on other systems can be
performed for the user with single profile.
~ Communications Services
Communications services include short messaging service
(SMS), e-mail, video conferencing, fax, and bulletin boards.
Although some of these services are available in today's
wireless systems, these services will be greatly enhanced in
future generations. Speed and reliability are the most notable
enhancements planned for these services.
~ Organizational Services
Organizational services include personal digital assistant
(POA) capabilities, currency exchange based on user location,
and other personal management applications (e.g., calendars,
call management, and address books).
~ Entertainment Services
Entertainment services may include streaming audio,
streaming video, chat, photo trading, and gaming. In the Asian
wireless market, where preliminary iterations of 3G are being
deployed, entertainment services are generating substantial
revenue.
Other main application of 4G is Tele-geoprocessing. It is a
combination of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and
Global Positioning Systems (GPS), working in concert over a
high-capacity wireless mobile system. Tele-geoprocessing
over 4G networks will make it possible for the public safety
community to have wireless operational functionality and
specialized applications for everyday operations, as well as for
crisis management.
Virtual navigation is also an important application. A remote
database contains the graphical representation of streets,
buildings, and physical characteristics of a large metropolitan
area. Blocks of this database are transmitted in rapid sequence
to a vehicle, where a rendering program permits the occupants
to visualize the environment ahead. They may also "virtually"
see the internal layout of buildings to plan an emergency
rescue, or to plan to engage hostile elements hidden in the
building.
VI. CHALLENGES FOR THE 4G MOBILE SYSTEMS
4G systems means to integrate different networks, different
terminals and different services together seamlessly. The 4G
mobile networks are all-IP based network with heterogeneous
connectivity. It allows the users to use the wide range of
applications provided by the different providers through the
integrated terminals, any time and anywhere. To migrate from
current systems to the 4G systems, there would be numerous
numbers of challenges we have to face. Below are some of the
Authorized licensed use limited to: The National Institute of Engineering. Downloaded on February 24,2010 at 04:07:03 EST from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
challenges that researchers and developers of 4G are likely to
face.
A. Multiple 4G definitions
Since the work has just begun on 4G mobile networks, there
is no well accepted or unique definition of 4G presented.
Despite of huge research and years of discussion, there is no
worldwide consensus on the definition of 4G. However some
R&D companies, operators, and organizations are starting to
identify some common characteristics. There is a need for
global 4G standard from users to service providers, to
manufactures.
B. Multimode user devices
As there will be wide range of applications provided by
multiple wireless networks, a terminal will be needed which
can adapt to different wireless networks by reconfiguring itself.
This will be done by a multimode terminal which eliminates
the need to use multiple terminals (or multiple hardware
components in a terminal). Multimode terminals can be
implemented using software defined radio approach. Figure 4
illustrates the block diagram of an ideal software radio. It
consists of two parts namely analog and digital. Analog part of
the receiver have an antenna, a bandpass filter (BPF), and a
low noise amplifier (LNA). The signal received in the digital
part is first digitized by the analog/digital converter (ADC)
after the analog processing. After ADC the DSP will process
the digitized signal in accordance with the wireless
environment.
Analog Digital
Baseband
nsp
ADC
Fig. 4. An ideal software defined radio
C. Wireless System Selection
Using 4G mobile, the user can select any available wireless
networks for the required application. Because the using of a
suitable network for a specific service as every network has
unique features, hence the right selection of network can
ensure the QoS required by each session. However, the
challenge is to correctly select the network for each
communication session since network availability changes
from time to time. One of the solutions to this challenge is that
while making the network selection, the network resources and
minimum QoS requirements should be considered [8].
D. Terminal Mobility
To get different types of wireless services at any time and
anywhere, is known as terminal mobility. Terminal mobility is
must in 4G infrastructure because the 4G network will be a
heterogeneous network. In terminal mobility, there are two
main issues, location management and handoff management.
In location management the mobile terminal is tracked and
located by the system for possible connection. While on going
communications is maintained by the handoff management
when the terminal roams. In the 4G network systems, it is even
more difficult to solve the handoff problem because two types
of handoff are involved, horizontal handoff and vertical
handoff. Figure 5 illustrates the horizontal and vertical handoff.
Horizontal handoff is performed when the terminal roaming is
in same wireless systems that is from one cell to another cell,
while vertical handoff is done when the terminal movement is
between two different wireless systems (e.g., from WLAN to
GSM).
UMTS
cowrage
cover.
GSM
I mobile networks implementation by many research groups and
. . . Vertical ~ndoff --+ 'Horizontal handoff
Fig. 5. Vertical handoff and horizontal handoff [7]
VII. RECOMMENDATIONS
4G can be seen as a common, flexible and scalable
converging platform. Equivalently, 4G can be understood as
combination of many networks and access technologies.
Integrating several networks and access technologies, to realize
a pleasant mobile network would be one of the greatest initial
challenges of 4G. Some recommendations that are solved are
as follows.
• 4G definitions: There is no worldwide consensus on the
definition of the 4G, regardless of huge efforts and several
years of discussions. A global definition of 4G is needed
before its standardization starts.
• Seamless interconnectivity: 4G mobile network will be the
network of networks, then how these heterogeneous
networks will work and how they will appear as the single
network.
• User centric approach: The most logical approach to the
4G development appears to be putting the user in the
center of the scene, developing the new technology based
on the user demands and expectations. Failing to provide
the user needs may leads to the failure of 4G.
Authorized licensed use limited to: The National Institute of Engineering. Downloaded on February 24,2010 at 04:07:03 EST from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
• New access architectures: In future mobile networks there
may be a need for the non conventional access
architectures to replace conventional ones in many
circumstances. More studies need to be conducted on these
approaches.
• Spectrum issues: Designing a real wireless system without
the knowledge of frequency bands (spectrum) is very
difficult, in particular for multi-antenna based system such
as MIMO technology.
VIII. CONCLUSION
In this paper the overall vision of the 4G mobile
communication systems was presented. Through discussion it
has been revealed that the future mobile network will provide
very high data rate. We also discussed the technologies that are
the main building blocks of 4G which includes OFDM,
MIMO, and SDR. It is difficult to predict which technology
will emerge in 4G cellular systems. However the multiple
access techniques (OFDM) successfully come across channel
impairments and present a good complex implementation for
supporting the high wireless data rates. Therefore multi-carrier
systems are forecast as being most applicable for the 4G
forums and as such these techniques are continued to mature.
Some of the applications and services which are the key factors
in the success of 4G are also introduced and in the last some of
the challenges of 4G mobile networks are briefly highlighted.
REFERENCES
[1]. Marcus L. Roberts, Michael A. Temple, Robert F. Mills, and Richard A.
Raines, "Evolution of the air interface of cellular communications
systems toward 4G realization", IEEE Communications Surveys &
Tutorials, vol. 8, no. 1,1st Quarter 2006, pp. 2-22.
[2]. Lu, W.W.~ Berezdivin, R.~ "Technologies on Fourth-Generation Mobile
Communications", IEEE Wireless Communication, vol. 9, issue 2, April
2002.
[3]. Nee, R., and R., Prasad, OFDM for wireless multimedia communications,
Artech House.
[4]. Rouffet, S. Kerboeuf, L. Cai, V. Capdevielle, "4G Mobile" Technical
paper Alcatel Telecommunications Review - 2nd Quarter 2005.
[5]. Bruce McNair and Leonard l Cimini, Jr., "OFDM for High Data Rate,
High- Mobility, Wide-Area Wireless Communications", AT&T Labs -
Research.
[6]. Paulraj, A.J.~ Gore, D.A.~ Nabar, R.U.~ Bolcskei, H., "An overview of
MIMO communications - a key to gigabit wireless", Proceedings of the
IEEE, vol. 92, no.2, Feb 2004, pp. 198-218.
[7]. S. Y. Hui and K. H. Yeung, "Challenges in the Migration to 4G Mobile
Systems," IEEE Communication Magazine, vol. 41, no. 12, Dec. 2003,
pp.54-59.
[8]. Stamatiou, K.~ Proakis, lG., "A performance analysis of coded
frequency-hopped OFDMA", IEEE Wireless Communication and
Networking Conference 2005, vol. 2, pp. 1132-1137.