General:
What does the acronym UMTS stand for?
What is UMTS?
What are the different types of 3G networks?
What are the different types of 3G core networks?
What is the difference between cdma2000 and UMTS?
What are 1G, 2G, 2.5G, 3G and 4G?
What have been the major milestones in UMTS development and
specification?
What are all the different international organisations doing?
How is UMTS different from current second generation networks?
Why is WCDMA called "Wideband"?
Are GSM/GPRS networks compatible with UMTS networks?
Is there a transition period between UMTS and the present system?
My GSM operator did not get a 3G license. What is going on?
What is the 3G status in the USA?
What is the 3G status in the China?
What is the "Beauty Contest" when 3G licenses are issued? ... and Why?
Which network vendors can build a turn-key 3G network?
Who much does 3G network cost to build?
I am doing a 3G report about XXX, where can I get even more info?
Tell me about UMTS / 3G electromagnetic radiation safety.
I want to buy a 3G / UMTS book. Which one should I buy?
Technical:
Where can I find additional reliable 3G information about ... ?
Where can I find details of UMTS call set up procedure?
Tell me about and 3G interoperability.
Will the future 3G handsets be compatible with 2G systems and PCs?
How many Base Stations are needed for an UMTS network?
How to calculate a WCDMA link budget?
What are the UMTS frequencies and channel spacing?
What are the UMTS air interface logical channels?
What are the UMTS data rates of the services?
How does UMTS paging work?
Which modulation scheme is being used in UMTS?
Where can I find information about MAC and RLC protocols?
How is data compression done in UMTS?
Is there any interface from UMTS core network to other mobile
networks?
Services:
What will be a 3G Killer Application?
What are the UMTS Mobile Multimedia services?
Can UMTS mobile location be tracked?
When are the UMTS networks in service?
Will 2G / 2.5G phones be able to use all UMTS' applications?
Which level of UMTS standard will the network be launched in 2002?
What is UMTS?
Some 2.5G systems (GSM GPRS, IS- 95B and CDMA2000 1X (?)) will
be able to deliver 3G services, so it will be difficult for users to see the
difference.
Some harmonisation has been done between systems (like chip rate and
pilot issues)
What is the "Beauty Contest" when 3G licenses are issued? ... and
Why?
Beauty Contest means that the government asks all applicants to provide
a plan how to build a network and manage their future 3G business. A
plan typically includes things like: How many new jobs are created,
what kind of services will be available and when, how much domestic
products are used, how will less developed areas (rural areas) benefit
from this, what kind of financial plan is in place to guarantee the success
and avoid bankrupts etc. So government wants to decide what is best for
the country, not who is willing to pay most. (In USA and Australia some
highest bidding operators have gone bankrupt and government has to
pay unemployment etc payments and it is also embarrassing for the
government).
Infrastructure cost are only small part of total network related cost and
operators also have license fees, financing fees, cost of running the
organisation, sales and marketing costs etc. [More]
I am doing a 3G report about XXX, where can I get even more info?
Local city councils might also have their own additional guidelines,
check those.
Governments usually do not state exact values what is safe and what is
not safe, for legal reasons. EU countries normally issue "guidelines" that
are bit tougher than EU standards. In USA FDA has a clear statement:
"Thus, the available science does not allow us to conclude that mobile
phones are absolutely safe, or that they are unsafe. However, the
available scientific evidence does not [emphasis FDA's] demonstrate any
adverse health effects associated with the use of mobile phones." See:
FDA Mobile Phones page
According to recent news articles there have been over 700 studies
related to EMR without a final conclusion, so don't hold your breath to
get a final answer in a near future. People always forget that mobile
antennas radiate about 40W power, but TV and radio towers use
kilowatts of power and even a hair drier generates a nice EMR field
from 1000W like a kitchen microwave oven.
WCDMA transmitter spread the 20-40W power over 5MHz, while GSM
40W transmitter uses 200kHz band, but GSM BTS need more radios to
serve an area. Both systems use similar types of antennas, so EMR
levels are similar. Both BTSs normally use power control to minimize
the used power.
EMR Resources:
WHO
WHO fact sheet
EMR Network
Report
FDA Mobile Phones page
FAQ
Another FAQ
FCC Guidelines
ARRL resources
CWTI resources
Example download site from Australia
Google Search
See our book selection page. But before you buy, you should study a bit
3G / UMTS. Read our technology section. Then download 3GPP
specifications content page and select the first specifications of each
series like XX.001, XX.002 or XX.Y01, for example:
23.002 Network Architecture
25.401 UTRAN Overall Description
45.001 Physical Layer on the Radio Path (General Description)
Once you know the basics well enough, you can buy the book that has
the right technical level for you. You will also notice how some of the
books have copied most of the content from the 3GPP specks. If you
read a book from our list, please send us a 20-50 word
opinion/description of it, and will add that to the books page. If you find
a 3G related book that is not on the list, email: info@umtsworld.com.
Where can I find additional reliable 3G information about ... ?
The Second best thing is to search Google, but then again the Internet is
full of misinformation.
Top of Form
Google Search LW:88;L:http://w w umtsw orld.com
Other place to look technical data is IEEE 802.11 Group and search for
"3G" etc.
You can find documents like:
http://grouper.ieee.org/groups/802/11/Minutes/Cons_Minutes_Mar-
2002.pdf
and search for 3G in that document and you see the current status.
WLAN Resources:
80211 Planet
First, get the latest 3GPP specifications 25-211, 25-304 and 25-331
Note:
PI = Paging Indicator (value calculated by higher layers)
Pq = Paging Indicator (indicator set by physical layer)
Earlier FAQ Answer gives you some help how to download those
ftp://ftp.3gpp.org/specs/latest/Rel-4/26_series/26233-400.zip
ftp://ftp.3gpp.org/specs/latest/Rel-4/26_series/26234-400.zip
UMTS specifications do not have any special interface planned for other
mobile networks, but all telephone networks can be connected to UMTS
core network with standard S7 (or other) signalling system using E1s or
T1s. Than enables voice calls to be made to all other telephone
networks. If other networks support additional services like "call
forwarding", "calling line identity", fax, slow-speed data ect, technically
that is possible to implement this between networks.
All telephone networks are designed to work with each other and UMTS
networks will use standard interfaces towards all other networks. S7 and
IP (internet protocol) will be the most commonly used interfaces
standard, but all UMTS vendors can offer tens of different country-
specific interface protocols if required.
Most people have their own view what the 3G Killer Application(s) will
be. Some say that there will not be a single application, but a palette of
services. Most likely there will not be only a single application that
becomes very popular and at the same time makes a lot of money to the
operator. Email, voice(!), messaging, music/video streaming are popular
bets for money making applications. If you look any reports about 3G
services, m-commerce and location based services are predicted to
become very popular. Maybe the pricing will decide what will be a
popular service.
Old phrase is "The easiest way to predict the future is to invent it" will
apply here. Operators and application providers have an opportunity to
create their own killer applications.
Fun: WWW, video, post card, snapshots, text, picture and multimedia
messaging, datacast, personalisation applications (ring tone, screen
saver, desk top), jukebox, virtual companion / pet ...
Work: Rich call with image and data stream, IP telephony, B2B
ordering and logistics, information exchange, personal information
manager, dairy, scheduler, note pad, 2-way video conferencing,
directory services, travel assistance, work group, telepresence, FTP,
instant voicemail, colour fax ...
Media: Push newspaper and magazines, advertising, classified ...
Shopping: E-commerce, e-cash, e-wallet, credit card, telebanking,
automatic transaction, auction, micro-billing shopping ...
Entertainment: News, stock market, sports, games, lottery, gambling,
music, video, concerts, adult content ...
Education: Online libraries, search engines, remote attendance, field
research ...
Peace of Mind: Remote surveillance, location tracking, emergency
use ...
Health: Telemedicine, remote diagnose and heath monitoring ...
Automation: Home automation, traffic telematics, machine-machine
communication (telemetry) ...
Travel: location sensitive information and guidance, e-tour, location
awareness, time tables, e-ticketing ...
Add-on: TV, radio, PC, access to remote computer, MP3 player,
camera, video camera, watch, pager, GPS, remote control unit ...
Japan and Korea has 3G services running and in December 2001 two
UMTS networks have been launched, but UMTS mobiles will arrive
3Q/2002. Quite a few UMTS networks will be launched in early 2003 in
Europe.
GSM (or other 2G) phones will not be able to use all features, because of
data speed, build in memory and applications, display technology etc.
Application providers and operators are very unlikely to try to
implement complex feature to GSM, money is going to UMTS services.
GPRS phone users will be able to use most of the UMTS services;
probably only location based and very high rate data services cannot be
implemented. But all this it depends on if operators want to implement
those. All basic services like voice and messaging will flow between all
systems.