Mobile+Platforms

[[image:http://www.motorola.com/mot/image/7/7474_MotImage.jpg width="135" height="183" align="right"]]Cellphones
Of course, the penultimate mobile platform is the cellphone. Cellphones have been around for a long time, but they have only recently transitioned from analog technology to digital technology. In 1946, Bell Labs created the very first mobile telephone system, using MTS technology (Mobile Telephone System).

0G
The MTS telephones weighed 80 pounds and all calls were operator-assisted. This standard was used up until the 1980s in many parts of North America. It was replaced by IMTS (Improved Mobile Telephone System) which was basically a UHF/VHF radio that connected to the PSTN (Publicly Switched Telephone Network) system. This is referred to as 0G.

[[image:http://keralanext.tolshop.com/v1/product_images/ecg305_large.jpg width="150" height="180" align="left"]]1G, 2G, 3G
After this came AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone System.) AMPS is referred to as 1G and was the premier analog technology up until the late 2000's. AMPS operated on the 800MHz band. In the '90s, cell phone cloning became a huge issue. To clone a phone, all you had to do was tune into the Reverse Channel (the channel the phone transmits data to the tower on), decrypt the ESN/MIN (Electronic Serial Number/Mobile Information Number) pair, and then program those numbers into an easily-programmed phone, and they had an exact copy of someone else's phone, making calls on their account. After that cames GSM and CDMA, the first fully-digital cellphone technologies, along with digitization of the cellphone network came new features such as text messaging, picture messaging, and internet access. These are 2G technologies. 3G technologies are ones that integrate high-speed internet with the cellphone network, meaning access to internet technologies and services like Facebook is easier to convert to the mobile platform. 4G will be the generation where cellphones cease running on specialized radio networks.

[[image:http://www.techykid.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/blackberrystorm.jpg width="200" height="330" align="right"]]4G - The Fuuuuuuuutuuuuuuuuure
4G will be the generation where cellphones become IP-based and run off what is basically a specialized "internet". Cellphones will basically become WiFi devices that run on a different frequency than WiFi. Voice calls will no longer be actual voice calls, but will become a digitized form called a data call, which is kind of similar to VOIP (Voice Over IP) that you can get for your landline. With VOIP, instead of an analog signal (or an analog signal converted to digital then converted back to analog) being sent over the telephone line, you are sending a signal that starts off as digital and remains digital. It is basically a two-way streaming audio session. 4G cellphone networks will run on the same principle. With the arrival of IP-based cellular telephony should come cheaper data rates. As it stands today, it costs about $45/mo or more for an unlimited data plan. The cellular companies say this is because it requires specialized hardware and software to provide a gateway to the internet from the cellular network, (and they're right, they need huge switches that can cost tens of millions of dollars) but the main reason is because they can get away with it because we don't have the competition in Canada like the United States (where an unlimited plan can cost $35 or less). Since the phones are already accessing the IP-based "internet" network, it is easier to provide a gateway to the actual internet. The technology that will be powering the 4G networks is called LTE. Almost all carriers have planned to go with LTE for their 4G network (since nothing else exists yet). LTE will use a MIMO channel access method that will provide a throughput maximum (tested) of 326.4 Mbit/s using 4 antennas. The optimal cell size of an LTE network is 5km, which is very good. 30km has good performance, and 100km has acceptable performance. Sub-200ms latency is achievable using small IP packets. The mobile spectrum available can be sliced into 1.5Mhz slices, which is almost unheard of for a full radio channel. LTE also has the ability to broadcast the DVB-H standard of TV broadcasting, allowing direct TV broadcast to your phone.

Other Mobile Platforms
Recently, other mobile platforms have been developed. The best example of this is the iPod Touch/iPhone. With WiFi access, anything is possible. Applications for the iPod Touch have been developed that accesses Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, IMDB, Hotmail, Gmail, Live Spaces, Blogger, Wikipedia, and a whole slew of other online services.


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