Lately, news regarding the 3G spectrum have been all over the newspapers and news channels. Experts talking about 3G has become the latest fad. Most modern mobile phones boast of a 3G camera, while the government has been talking about ‘selling’ 3G network for ages. In all the melodrama, you probably have understood nothing more than that 3G is going to supposedly change your life dramatically.
I am sure you might have done a Google search on 3G technologies to try and understand what the hype is all about. And I am sure that the search only made you more confused.
Wikipedia would define 3G as the third generation of mobile phone standards and technology, superseding 2.5G. It is based on the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) family of standards under the IMT-2000.
Third Generation! Wow. So there has been a first and second generation too? Yes. But they are not important at the moment. There is only so much I can talk about in a single article
A more thorough search, and you will come across terms like GSM Radio Access Network, CDMA2000, HSUPA, etc. Yeah right! As if that is supposed to make even a lick of sense. After hours of trying to figure out what kind of a critter 3G really is, you might have begun to tear out your hair already. Fret not. This article is aimed at simplifying the technical terms involved with 3G technology. After all, this is Layman Hack!
So let us forget all the technical terms to begin with. Let us also forget all the big words you might have come across online. I will concentrate on explaining the practical use of 3G.
Currently, mobile service providers in India are using 2G spectrum. And no, you don’t have to learn what that is all about. All I want to say is that 3G is the next generation of the spectrum. However, remember that 2G is not going to be replaced by 3G. In fact, 3G uses a completely different spectrum than 2G. But don’t worry about it. It isn’t hazardous to your health in any way.
What does 3G do that is so awesome? What is all the hype about? Well, if you have ever browsed the web on your mobile phone, probably with a GPRS connection, the slow speed of about 40 to 56 KBPS might have done your head in. Now imagine being able to browse the web on the same phone(provided it has enough technology to use 3G) at speeds of up to 2 MBPS! That is what 3G network will do- enable you to exchange data at extremely high speeds.
But wait. Is this all 3G does? Then what is the 3G camera for? Well, that is another great feature of the 3G network. You can now see the person you are talking to, through video conferencing. Since 3G allows the transfer of voice as well as other forms of data simultaneously, you no longer have to talk to just a faceless voice. It is like chatting with a person on your computer with your webcam on.
Speedier downloads and video conferencing are the biggest benefits that you, as a user, will experience. But beneath the surface lie mind-boggling terms like the ones I mentioned before. Honestly, it is not really important for you to get your hands dirty with the information I am going to provide you now, but humour me anyways.
GRAN
Let us tame the first word- GSM Radio Access Network(GRAN). Sounds huge, I know. But it is basically just a system consisting of Base Transceiver Stations and Base Station Controllers. Together, these two are referred to as the Base Station Subsystem(BSS). This is what it looks like:
Not all of them look the same, of course. They come in all shapes and sizes and colours. But this might give you a basic idea.
GRAN manages the link between your mobile phone and your service provider’s core network. After all, there has to be a way to get your voice across to your service provider’s system if you want to have even an outside chance of talking with someone else, isn’t it?
HSUPA
HSUPA means High-Speed Uplink Packet Access. The packets here refer to a packet of data. The packet usually consists of two forms of data: control data(or information) and user data. Control information provides the necessary information your service provider needs to successfully transfer data between two points, such as destination address, error detection, etc. User data is the actually data you would like to transfer, like voice for example.
HSUPA refers to the uplink(think uploading) of the packets of data, at high speeds. Simple as that! Similar to HSUPA is HSDPAm where the D stands for down-link(think downloading)
CDMA2000, W-CDMA, UMTS etc
All these and more represent the kind of telecommunication standards that your service provider uses. They are all different kinds of 3G mobile systems. Since there are tons of such similar terms, anything I saw beyond this will only lead to more confusion, so I will let it slide. This also saves you about 2 hours of reading!