Evolution to 4G Wireless: Problems, Solutions, and Challenges
Jihad Qaddour and Raffique A.C. Barbour
School of Information Technology
Illinois State University
Email:jqaddou@iistu.edu
Abstract
Today, there is generally held view that the next step for
wireless technology is a natural progression to support
high data rates over a wide area and facilitating roaming
among a variety of systems. 4G Wireless has the
potential to provide these features and many more, which
can significantly change the way we use mobile devices
and lead to a wide variety of new applications. However
such technology doesn't come without its challenges.
Some of these challenge are, radio access methodologies,
mobility management across different networks and the
physical and functional model to be employed.
This paper aims to give an insight into these issues,
outline some of the proposed solutions to these problems
and identify some of the benefits of this technology.
1. Introduction
There are several different interpretations in the industry
of what 4G wireless truly is. The transition to 4G will not
imply a mere change in interface technology as was
required in the transition from GSM to Universal Mobile
Telecommunications System (UMTS) wireless
standards. Rather, 4G promises to integrate different
modes of wireless communications - from indoor
networks, such as wireless LANs and Bluetooth, to
cellular systems, to radio and TV broadcasting, to
satellite communications.
The ideal is a seamless merger, so that users of mobile
devices can roam freely from one standard to another.
4G wireless should provide seamless roaming/handover
and best connected service, effectively combining
multiple radio access interfaces into a single network.
This network will offer users access to different services,
increased coverage and a single bill (as opposed to
several different bills for cellular service, internet etc)
[13].
The purpose of this study is to investigate the
�
reality of 4G and its direction· Assess he feasibili y ° f �
. 3.
integrating different technoIogles mto a smgle
technology, investigate some of challenges facing 4G
technology, outline some solutions, and explore their
commercial potentials and benefits. The rest of the paper
is organized as follows. We begin by providing an several issues to be resolved before 4G can deliver the
insight into current wireless mobile communications.
This is followed by the challenges to the
0-7803-873S-X/OS/$20.00©200S IEEE
technology. We then investigate the VISIOn of and
challenges facing 4G wireless and outline some of the
solutions to those challenges. Lastly we outline some the
applications and benefits for 4G. The paper concludes
with a discussion of the impact of 4G on wireless
technologies and its future applications.
2. Wireless Mobile
Communications
Most of the wireless systems in use today are referred to
as 2.5G, the first phase of 3G serving as an "in-between"
service on route to 3G. A phone with 2.5G and 3G
services can alternate between using the Internet, sending
or receiving text messages, and making phone calls
without losing its connection. The dominant 2.5G
technology is general packet radio service (GPRS),
which is always on and offers users' connection to the
Internet and access to e-mail. GPRS and 3G provide data
rates range from 19.2 to 153.6 Kbps, making it possible
for users to participate in video conferences, receive
streaming video for news and entertainment, and interact
with multimedia Web sites and applications using mobile
handheld devices and portable computers [6].
Expectations for 3G, an ITU specification, run high.
They include increased bandwidth: up to 384 Kbps when
a device is moving at pedestrian speed, 128 Kbps in a
car, and 2 Mbps in fixed applications. In theory, 3G
would work over North American as well as European
and Asian wireless air interfaces. A new air interface,
EDGE (Enhanced Data GSM Environment), has been
developed specifically to meet the bandwidth needs of
3G. (EDGE is a faster version of GSM wireless service.)
To fully appreciate the true nature of the problems posed
by having different standards bodies, one has only to
look at the cellular industry at present, paying specific
attention to 2G to 3G technologies transitions and there
various development paths.
The Challenges for 4G
•
Wireless Networks
While these represent the motivating factors for the
development of 4G Wireless networks there are still
plethora of features promised.
new
A number of spectrum allocation , standardization, and
availability decisions, technology innovations,
component development, signal processing and
switching enhancements and inter-vendor cooperation
must take place before the vision of 4G will materialize.
In short, 4G wireless mobile system requirements are:
• High data rate transmission
• High mobility
• Wide coverage area and seamless roaming
among different systems
• Higher capacity and lower bit cost
• Wireless QoS resource control
To meet these requirements it is quite obvious that new
approaches are required for many of the problems that
must be solved in Wireless systems. Most research on
meeting these requirements have focused on multi­
carrier systems for the radio link, with Orthogonal
Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFOM) being given
the most attention [14].
OFOM can be considered a combination of a modulation
scheme and a multiple access scheme. It segments the
frequency carrier in a manner that permits many users to
share the carrier. This is a departure from the methods
used in TOMA and COMA where segmentation was
done according to time and spreading codes respectively.
In the sections that follow I will outline a few of the
components that can be used to achieve the desired 4G
wireless mobile requirements.
3.2. Multiple Access technique
OFOM can also be considered a multiple access
technique since an individual tone or groups of tones can
be assigned to different users. Users can be assigned a
predefined number of tones when there is information to
be transmitted. Or a user may be assigned a certain
number of tones based on the amount of information to
be sent. All channel assignments are controlled by the
MAC layer.
When combined with frequency hopping, OF OM creates
a spread spectrum system realizing many of the benefits
of frequency diversity and interference averaging seen in
COMA.
In a frequency hopping spread spectrum system, each
user's set of tones is changed after each time period
(usually corresponding to a modulation symbol). By
switching frequencies after each symbol time, the losses
due to frequency selective fading are minimized.
Although frequency hopping and CDMA are different
forms of spread spectrum, they achieve comparable
performance in a multi-path fading environment and
provide similar interference-averaging benefits.
OFOM therefore, is able to achieve the best attributes of
TOMA and COMA. Users are orthogonal to one another,
and an OF OM system is able to avoid the limitations
such as the need for TOMA frequency planning and
equalization, and multiple access interference.
3.3. Physical and Functional
model:
Given the emphasis in 4G on providing seamless
multimedia services, most research into an applicable
infrastructure appears centered on the use of TCP/IP,
which will lead to an architecture that lends itself to
access from mixed platforms, an objective of 4G mobile.
One of the advantages of IP is, it is capable of working
on several different networks and is therefore network
independent. This makes it ideal for 4G as this will mean
an infrastructure that is independent of the underlying
radio technology being used [15].
Using an IP architecture will also serve as an
improvement over the protocol used in 3G, SS7. SS7 had
several limitations. It utilized a significant amount of
bandwidth, this because of redundancy, used to ensure
system reliability. SS7 networks use large amounts of
bandwidth even when they aren't actively transmitting
information; this is seen in its frequency reservation and
call setup schemes.
Using IP architecture is not without issue. There is the
concern of the applicable IP version and whether the
version chosen can support the services required in 4G
mobile. In regard to the latter, and quite rightly so,
especially given the IPv4 scheme is almost exhausted,
there is little choice but to look at IPv6 as a basis for an
IP based architecture for 4G mobile. The focus here will
be on the mobility management issues, which are likely
to be the most challenging.
3.4. Mobility Management
For 4G Wireless networks to become a reality a
tremendous amount of mobility management issues must
be overcome [ 15].
Considering the number and variety of networks
technologies to be supported in 4G it is apparent that
users may connect to the network using multiple
technologies and all at the same time. With so many
technologies in use simultaneously, the handover
mechanism a 4G implementation should employ
becomes an issue. Any such mechanism must be capable
of determining when handovers between heterogeneous
networks should be carried out and identifying the
network it is handing off to. Of-course in an environment
where the emphasis is on providing multimedia services,
consideration must be given to the bandwidth
requirements of a user's application(in use at the time of
handover) in any handover algorithm.
Other mobility issues are the design of mobility enabled
IP architectures supporting security, accounting, quality
of service and fast seamless vertical hand-over (where
vertical hand-over refers to the hand-over occurring
between heterogeneous networks).
IPv6 the next generation of IP protocol provides some
support for multimedia services and mobility
management. The features of mobility management in
Ipv6 are:
• 128-bit address space provides a sufficiently
large number of addresses
• High quality support for real-time audio and
video transmission, short/bursty connections of
web applications, peer-to-peer applications, etc.
• Faster packet delivery, decreased cost
processing - no header checksum at each relay,
fragmentation only at endpoints.
• Smooth handoff when the mobile host travels secondly, when the mobile detects another network
from one subnet to another, causing a change in attachment point capable of providing better resources
its Care-of Address.
Though many of these features are very well suited for
4G networks, enhancements will be necessary, especially
to address signaling, scalability and hand-over latency.
This is especially significant when we consider that 4G
aims at providing mobility support to potentially billions
of mobile devices, within the stringent performance
bounds associated with real time multimedia traffic.
The four primary areas for enhancement in IPv6 are
paging support, scalability, heterogeneous access
technologies and support for vertical handoffs.
3.4.1. Paging support
any level in the network hierarchy of routers. A MAP
will not be required on every subnet and will limit the
amount of mobile IP signaling that is done outside the
local domain. MAPs solve the following problems:
I) The mobile sends updates to the local MAP rather
than the HA and CNs
2) Only one update message needs to be transmitted by
the mobile before traffic from the HA and all CNs is re­
routed to its new location.
3.4.3. Heterogeneous Access
There are two scenarios that would initiate hand-off
of
between heterogeneous networks. The first, when the
signal from a mobile's current attachment point becomes
weak and falls below a predetermined level and
for its current application.
The decision to initiate a handoff can be based on signal
strength, network bandwidth or policies which the user
might have stored in his profile based on which
switching between networks of different access
technologies may occur. An example of this is a user
who has a profile for the streaming of video. This may
have set as its default network WLAN and when
listening to highly compressed audio, have the network
set to GPRS [ 13].
The next question to be answered concerns the
notification of the HA/CH when a mobile has moved.
When such a move occurs, the mobile performs a
location update to it's HA. This then sends the IP

Paging is not a feature inherent in IPv6, therefore, to datagrams to the mobiles new location using mobile-IP

maintain connectivity with the network a mobile needs to mechanisms.

provide location updates whenever it changes its In keeping with the goals for the features and services to
attachment point to the network. These updates should be provided in 4G most terminals will have to be
occur if the mobile is active or dormant. designed with multiple physical or software interfaces.

One problem related to location updates is the constant This will allow users to switch between different access
signaling that it generates, this leads to significant mobile technologies seamlessly, even with overlapping areas of
terminal battery drain. It therefore requires the coverage and different cell site sizes.

development of a paging scheme which relies less on

location updates.
3.4.4. Support for Vertical Handoffs
The IPv6 specification does not support vertical
3.4.2. Scalability handoffs. To provide this, however, it's quite layer,

To maintain ongoing connections between mobiles and which facilitates switching between the various access

connection points, a mobile node in IPv6 architecture, technologies [13]. In such a case a mobile may either

sends Binding Updates (BUs) to its Home agent ( HA) have several interfaces or a single multi-mode interface

and Correspondent Nodes (CNs). This is done each time that is capable of operating in different modes at

the mobile node moves. The authentication of bindings different times.

increases the round trip delay significantly. This has the As is seen in present day LAN technologies, the protocol
effect of disrupting active connections every time a stacks for the different access technologies will be stored

handoff is performed. in the mobile device. The service in the network layer

One approach to reducing this amount of signaling is the will be able to choose the appropriate radio access

use of local anchor points. The proposed node, referred network based on network speed, quality of service, and

to as a Mobile Anchor Point or MAP can be located at cost of usage. The protocol stack can then be initialized
and the interface used to properly encapsulate the IP datagrams being passed down.
possible to have a service running at the network layer, in the mobile device. The service in the network layer
which facilitates switching between the various access will be able to choose the appropriate radio access
technologies [13]. In such a case a mobile may either network based on network speed, quality of service, and
have several interfaces or a single multi-mode interface cost of usage. The protocol stack can then be initialized
that is capable of operating in different modes at and the interface used to properly encapsulate the IP
different times. datagrams being passed down.
As is seen in present day LAN technologies, the protocol
stacks for the different access technologies will be stored
can lead to umealistic expectations where consumers
expect a service that is always available,
4. Conclusion always on and can be had anywhere communications
4G wireless technology is showing tremendous promise [ 13]. This can lead to public disappointment with 4G
and as mentioned earlier, has the capacity
to services and the possible failure of very good
revolutionize our world as we know it. It does, however, technology.
have limitations. Cost is another limitation as implementing any new
4G will in many cases, be extending existing wireless technology is often very expensive. These high costs can
technologies. This plus the fact that most areas are not only be controlled with proper planning and execution.
completely covered by existing wireless technologies Given continued progress we can quite possible see 4G
(2G etc.) means 4G will be limited in its operating area. systems deployed in another two years, making it
In short, the coverage limitation of today's networks will possible for the general public to achieve amazing
carry over into 4G. functionality on there handheld devices, with roaming
Although a lot is expected of 4G, care must be taken to capabilities that are close to being global if not entirely
ensure the public isn't left with the perception of 4G global.
being wireless technology with LAN capabilities. This
[ 10] Motorola Inc, "Making the Leap to 4G Wireless"
www.eetkorea.com/AR TI CLES/2002JAN/
2002JANI6_RFD_NTEK_TA.PDF

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