4G or So what's next?

Kristian Sylwander, Johan Rahnboy

Abstract--Currently 2G and 3G are widely used around the world. One problem with these technologies is that the data rates are rather limited. To increase the speed, different new technologies are under development among others WiMAX and LTE that might be the next generation wireless communication called 4G. These new technologies use functions like VoIP, Ipv6 and OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing). Unlike 3G that is both circuit and packet switched the next generation will be fully packet switched. This gives a lot of new opportunities but also some problems that has to be taken care of before it can reach commercial use worldwide.

demands on todays WLANs. This paper also briefly presents new access schemes that are needed to be able to transfer data at very high transmission rates. Finally WiMAX and LTE are two 4G technologies that are on its way and there future survival and advantages will be analyzed.

2. BACKGROUND In the early 1980s the first generation wireless mobile communication was introduced and completed around ten years later. This was an analogue system that provided voice transmission using frequencies around 900 MHz and had a speed of 2.4 kbps [1]. The second generation wireless mobile communication was introduced in the late 1980s and finished in the late 1990s. This was based on a low band digital data signalling and the most popular technology in this generation is known as GSM (Global System of Mobile communications, originally from Groupe Spciale Mobile). The 2G uses a combination of TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access), FDMA (Frequency Division Multiple Access) and SDMA (Space Division Multiple Access). Most of the GSM networks today operate in the 900 MHz and 1800 MHz band. The problem with 2G was that is was mainly planned for voice transmissions with the speed of 64 kbps which wasnt enough for data transmissions that became more and more popular. The third generation of wireless systems was developed in the late 1990s and introduced a new technology called CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access). The main features of 3G are better voice quality because of new codecs and higher and more flexible data rates. 3G operates at approximately 2 GHz band and has a speed up to 2 Mbps for stationary users [2].

1. INTRODUCTION The term 4G refers to the next generation wireless communication system. Exactly how the next generation will look like is hard to predict. There is no formal definition for standards in 4G, more objectives that the developers are working towards: - Higher transmission rate - Higher capacity - Higher frequencies - Next-generation Internet support - Lower system costs One thing that is certain is that 4G will be IP-based and fully packet switched like it is on the Internet. Different 4G technologies are already on its way and hopefully it will be in commercial use worldwide in a few years. In this paper we will briefly discuss the background of previous mobile generations. The evolution from 3G to 4G and the user requirements for 4G, for instance what the next generation must be able to handle will be discussed. Later in the article the architecture for 4G, how it may look like is presented. In 4G it should be possible to switch between different networks and therefore a new technology for transferring calls is needed. This technology is called VoIP and sets new

3. EVOLUTION FROM 3G TO 4G The difference between 3G and 4G is that 3Gs objective was to develop a new technology and a new protocol while 4G are integrating already existing technologies. The evolution of the next generation wireless technology is both to move beyond the problems and limitations of 3G and to achieve a higher data rate, reduce the cost and enhance the QoS (Quality of Service). Unlike the third generation that is both circuit and packet switched the forthcoming generation will only be based on packet switching. The next generation will also operate in a higher frequency band. In figure 1 the evolution between 3G to 4G can be seen. There is a big difference in the data rates and other major improvements of the next generation that will be discussed later in this article [3].

main directions for improving media communication quality. These are 3D audio communications, 3D visual communications and biological information communication, as shown in Figure 2 [4]. After analyzing these main directions a result (showed in Table 1) intended that the future user will need from 1 Mbit/s up to 100Mbit/s [5]. To be able to achieve data rates that are tens of times faster than the data rates of today we will need a completely new transmission system.

Figure 2: Three main directions for improving media communication [4]

Figure 1: 3G and 4G Parameters [3]

4. REQUIREMENTS FOR 4G As the expectations on the mobile communication system grows beyond the limitations of the 3G mobile system new demands for the upcoming 4G is a fact. First of all the data rates has to become much higher as a result of the improvement in media communication quality. Most noted by the customers are the size and resolution of LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) screens, the number of pixels in built-in cameras and the possibility to view high-quality video streams directly in the mobile phone. As stated by Toshio Miki et al. there are three

Table 1: Requirements for future networks [4]

When the data rates are increased this much it would be necessary to lower the cost for data transmission to make it affordable for the customer. For the 4G system this means that a broadband channel and a lower bit cost is required. But how can this be done when we probably will use a higher frequency band to achieve higher data rates which will reduce the radius of the cell and hence more base stations are needed which is costly. A possible solution is to expand the cell with more

effective radio transmission and improved modulation/demodulation. Another important topic will concern the delay of the 4G system. When the data rates are increased it would be necessary to lower the delay to a time of 50 ms to achieve a highly real-time communication [4]. Future mobile communication should be able to handle a variety of services in addition to the ordinary telephone services. Services like e-mail, music, video streaming, Internet browsing, camera, GPS, text processors, diary, calendar etc should all work in harmony with each other and be easy to use. Below some scenarios for the radio access infrastructure is shown. The explanations of the abbreviation in figures 3-6 is shown in figure 7. Scenario 1: Outdoor Its a requirement that the upcoming mobile communication system can handle speeds over 100 km/h for moving mobile phones, preferably up to about 300 km/h to make it possible for good communication in fast trains. Another important aspect is that the cell radius should be about 500 meters in urban areas and several kilometres for suburban areas and as stated above the use of higher frequencies means that technologies for radio transmission has to be improved to keep the radius of a cell at the given value. According to research the delay in urban environment is 0.5 to 2 s [6]. Hence the 4G mobile communication system has to cope with this delay resulting in a speed of 20Mbit/s uplink and 100Mbit/s downlink channel for a moving device. A stationary device should be able to handle speed of about 100Mbit/s uplink and 1Gbit/s downlink [6]. Figure 3 shows this scenario. Scenario 2: Indoor - Inside buildings, houses and malls it is necessary to have base stations which mobile devices can communicate with. There has to be two types of base stations. First an isolated cell which is suitable for small houses and second a multi-cell for malls and larger buildings. When the mobile devices are used inside a building the speed parameter has nearly no effect on the communication (only pedestrian speed as people walks through the buildings) hence the transfer rates will be approximately the same as for stationary devices around 100Mbit/s uplink and 1Gbit/s downlink. The cell radius should be around 30-100 meters depending on which situation (different sizes on buildings) [6]. This scenario is illustrated in figure 4.

Figure 3: Scenario 1: Mobile Access (outdoor) [6]

Figure 4: Scenario 2, Mobile Access (indoor) [6]

Figure 5: Scenario 3, Moving devices [6]

Scenario 3: Moving Cell - It should also be possible for users that are travelling at higher speeds like in trains, busses and cars to be connected to the network. This can be done with the moving cell which allows this kind of radio communication. These cells make it possible to connect a moving user to a fixed network. This is illustrated in figure 5. Scenario 4: Ad-hoc Communication One way to eliminate dead spots and areas where the transmission power is low is the Ad-hoc network (see figure 6). In an ad-hoc network terminals can both communicate with each other (setup own small network without any connection with a base station) and communicate with the fixed network using the base stations. Concerning speed it should be sufficient that the Ad-hoc network supports the speed of a stationary mode stated above. The distance that should be supported between devices should be around 10 to 100 meters. One big advantage with the Ad-hoc network is that it can still work in case of a disaster when the fixed network is out of service.

5. ARCHITECTURE OF NEXT GENERATION NETWORKS Exactly how the mobile communications will look like in the future is hard to predict however its known that Next Generation Networking (NGN) will be fully packet switched like it is on the Internet. There are some main features that may mark the future networks. Smart antennas - In the next generation networks wireless mobiles will use several smart antennas to benefit from multipath propogation and can use Beamforming to follow a single wireless mobile [7]. Beamforming is a technique used for directional signal transmission or reception [8]. Core network - The core network becomes more and more based on IP (Internet Protocol) [2]. For the future generations the core network will use IPv6 (a new internet protocol version that has a much larger address space) and maybe the next generation will be all-IP based which has many advantages. "IP tolerates a variety of radio protocols. It lets you design a core network that gives you complete flexibility as to what the access network is," says Sun Microsystems Laboratories engineers James Kempf. "You could be a core network provider that supports many different access technologies, 802.11, WCDMA, Bluetooth, HyperLAN, and some that we haven't even invented yet, such as some new CDMA protocols. The core [IP] network can evolve independently from the access network. That's the key for using all IP," says Kempf [9]. Ad-hoc technologies - In the future different communication layers will support ad-hoc mode. For an example can this technology extend the battery life time by transmitting to devices nearby instead of transmitting directly to the base station which cost a lot of energy [2]. Figure 8 shows an example over an IP-based fourth generation mobile communication network. A user will be able to connect to different technologies through an IP-based core network. There are still many problems with this network for example that only a few systems for an example that only a few systems support IPv6 which is probably a requirement.

Figure 6: Scenario 4 Ad-hoc network [6]

Figure 7: Explanation of abbreviations in figures 4-7 [6]

Figure 8: Example IP-based fourth generation mobile communication network [2]

6. MOBILE VOIP The benefits with voice over IP (VoIP) are among operators and customers quite large. If this technology can be implemented in the 4G system it will be a huge advantage if its not already a prerequisite. This will mean that a customer can setup a call with another phone anywhere in the world where an internet network exists. In other words the call will be routed as packets and use the same network as other regular data packets, same architecture which benefits from lower prices and easier administration. The problem at hand lies in the implementation of Mobile VoIP. An efficient way to converge this technology with WiFi and WLAN networks is necessary. Figure 9 illustrates the VoWLAN architecture. Voice transmission over IP puts some new demands on WLANs that data transmissions doesnt. Keep in mind that WLAN was originally designed for data-only transmission. The dream would be to begin a call at home, continue the call in the car and finish it at work switching between several different WiFi, WLANs and phone networks on the way. Sadly we are not quite there yet. Tony Rybczynski, director of strategic enterprise technology at Brampton, Ontario-based Nortel Networks Ltd claims that its of most importance when companies starting to plan their WiFi networks to keep voice usage in mind [10]. One big difference between voice usage and data-only transmission is that the coverage has to be ubiquitous (anytime, anywhere) for voice usage to ensure that no calls will drop. One huge debate concerning VoIP regards which Standard to be used. Today its generally between WLAN 802.11b/g

and 802.11a. By using the 802.11g you will get the advantage of greater range and legacy support because 802.11g networks have the capability to handle 802.11b users. When using voice over IP you must have a coverage that is ubiquitous as stated above, which in theory means to add several more access points (AP) to the network. However each new AP is a source for interference which in addition with other metal objects in a room, such as refrigerator, can block and reflect signals causing multi-path interference. Devices such as a microwave oven that operates at the same frequency as the WLAN will also contribute to the interference. Its said that the frequencies of WLAN 802.11b has more devices that could interfere with the network [10]. One way that 802.11 use to mitigate interference is to allow different access points to use several channels that dont interfere with each other. 802.11g/b both uses three channels and 802.11a uses 12 channels hence the 802.11a standard would be a good choice for a high quality system. More channels means that an AP can minimize interference. Another advantage of 802.11a is that it operates in a less crowded frequency spectrum. In short you can say that 802.11g/b offers a better range or coverage area than 802.11a, however 802.11a is a more reliable scheme or has better capacity than 802.11g/b. "WiFi spectrum is scarce, so why choose one standard and its corresponding spectrum swath over the other when you can deploy both? If wired networking has taught us anything, it's that you can never have enough bandwidth says Scott Lindsay, VP of Marketing for Engim, a manufacturer of multi-channel WLAN chipsets [11]. This company believes in a future where access points can handle many different standards like 802.11g/b and 802.11a at the same time. He also claims that a multi-channel design has several benefits like consolidation of roaming, Qos (quality of service) and security.

Figure 9: VoWLAN illustration [22]

Today WLANs uses best-effort for QoS and are designed to handle bursty and unpredictable data. This is maybe approved for data application when little delay doesnt cause to much problem. However if voice would be transmitted in this fashion even the smallest delay will degrade the call quality or even drop the call completely. Engim suggests that putting the data and voice on separate channels would be the right thing to do while Meru (another vendor like Engim) will put WLAN traffic in a time-sensitive way in an attempt to improve QoS which is a requirement if Mobile VoIP should work satisfying [11]. What about roaming? Apparently two types of roaming are present, switching between the mobile network and a WLAN or intra-WLAN (switching between APs within a WLAN). One of the largest drawbacks today and the one problem causing lot of headaches among the developers is power consumption. Especially Wi-fi systems suffer from this fact and concern the second type of roaming, intra-WLAN. Switching between APs in a WLAN requires a lot from the mobile device. First of all the device has to scan the network and then determine which AP that is suitable for the switch. These steps uses huge amount of power. "The big problem with WLAN roaming today is that it's not intelligent. Infrastructure needs to move away from burdening clients to assisting them. If your network can scan channels and available APs for the clients, telling them where to go rather than forcing them to waste power scanning the network themselves, you'll see much better performance on the client side says Lindsay [11]. In short intra-WLAN roaming needs to be improved and all power consumption functions regarding switching APs has to be removed from the mobile devices and implemented instead in the core network. Dual-mode phones - With voice over IP (VoIP) as a future technology, phones that combines ordinary mobile communication system with WiFi systems are needed. These phones are called dual-mode phones and use more than one technology to send and receive voice and data transmissions. The research firm ABI Research predicts that by the year 2009 over 50 million dual-mode phones or smartphones are in circulation around the globe [12]. One major factor which works against the introduction of these phones are the carriers themself. Due to the fact that making calls from a WiFi network is a lot cheaper than a regular phone call using the traditional mobile network makes the carrier companies wonder how they can make any money on these phones [12]. However the large German telecommunication company T-mobile is one of them that acts against the stream. They recently

introduced mobile phones that can use wireless Internet connections both at home and in some of the companies WiFi hotspots. This is considered as a bold move because as stated above there is no money for the company to gain here. Recently TapRoot Systems announced software that makes it possible to use WiFi-equipped Windows Mobile phones as walking hotspot (WHS). This means that other devices can use these hotspots to connect to Internet services. At present time the WHS allows up to five 802.11b-equipped users (se figure 10) [13]. WHS works just like an ordinary router which means that these networks can be entirely ad hoc (a small network between some devises including one or more WHS can be setup without any special infrastructure needed). Depending on the number of connected devices to a WHS and the load they are putting on the network performance can vary quite a lot. Keep in mind that the bandwidth of the WHS is limited.

Figure 10: WalkingHotSpot connects up to five devices via a WindowsMobile phone [13]

This is probably a step in the right direction if the dream of a completely ad hoc mobile system should be realised. Then its a requirement that these dual-phones or smartphones has to be properly implemented. Like Phil Solis, Senior WiFi Analyst at ABI Research says Many enterprises now have established WiFi networks and integrating voice-over-WiFi functionality is a natural progression. As WiFi networks proliferate, it only makes sense to give users the ability to switch from the cellular carrier's network to the enterprise WiFi network." [12]

7. POSSIBLE ACCESS SCHEMES FOR NEXT

GENERATIONS

For future generations of wireless communications new access schemes are needed to be introduced to handle the high expectations that are set for the next generation. Two access schemes that are gaining more importance are OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access) and MC-CDMA (Multi-Carrier Code Division Multiple Access). OFDMA - This access scheme is a multi user version of OFDM modulation scheme. By assigning subsets of subcarriers to each user multiple access can be achieved (see figure 11). Different number of subcarriers can be assigned to each user to guarantee QoS. Some advantages with this technology is that it handles multipath propagation without using training sequences or equalizers and it also enables orthogonality in the uplink by synchronizing users in time and frequency [14].

Figure 11: OFDMA Technique [23]

but choose WiMAX, because it believes it could build an ecosystem of equipment makers around the technology, which is based on the IEEE 802.16e Standard[16]. While the third generation technology has a specific worldwide standard associated, the fourth generation doesnt have a specific standard more than that it should be IP-based and use packet switching. WiMAX however has a specific technical standard based on IEEE 802.16e. This standard will probably be one type of a 4G technology in the future but this doesnt necessary mean that all 4G technologies will be based on WiMAX. Because of mobile WiMAX probably will be one of the first 4G technologies on the market this article will do a brief presentation on WiMAX based on IEEE 802.16e. WiMAX stands for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access. The IEEE 802.16e standard added support for mobility use so it is often referred as Mobile WiMAX. WiMAX uses an algorithm in the MAC layer where every unit that is connected to the AP (Access Point) has a scheduled slot time. This slot time doesnt always have to be the same size but its always reserved for the specific device. This makes it easier to get a better connection and a better range with WiMAX than in WiFi (Wireless Fidelity) where every device is competing for the AP in a random way. Therefore services like mobile VoIP that demands a constant QoS works better with WiMAX than WiFi. In the physical layer IEEE 802.16e uses a scalable OFDMA scheme that was briefly presented earlier. Under perfect circumstances WiMAX could have a range up to 110 km or handle speeds up to 70 Mbit/s (for very short ranges).

MC-CDMA - The access scheme, which stands for Multi-Carrier Code Division Multiple Access, supports many users at the same time in the system. Each user symbol is spread over the frequency domain. This means that each one is carried over multiple parallel subcarriers but its phase shifted with different code values. The receiver can separate the users different signals with the different code values [14, 15].

8. 4G TECHNOLOGIES A. WiMAX At 2006 Sprint which is one of the largest mobile operators in the United States decided that they will use WIMAX for their next generation wireless network. Sprint told that they considered other 4G technologies
Figure 12: Speed and Mobility for different technologies [24]

In figure 12 a plot is shown with the speed and mobility for different technologies. As you can see WiMAX operates in a pretty large interval both with good mobility and speed while WiFi has a very high speed but a low mobility. Some thinks that WiMAX and WiFi are competing standards but instead these can complement each other. WiMAX can offer a more stable but slower connection in a big area while WiFi gives a higher speed within a smaller area. The WiMAX technology is also more expensive then WiFi which doesnt make WiMAX a good alternative in smaller offices or at home. One certain thing is that WiMAX could handle an IPbased technology so it will be a good alternative for the next generation technology [17, 18]. B. LTE LTE stands for Long Term Evolution and its a project to improve the now existing 3G technology UMTS. LTE is not a standard but will result in 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) release 8. The goals for the LTE project are to improve the efficiency and services, lower the cost and better integration with other open standards. In release 8 the architecture of UMTS has developed into E-UTRAN (Evolved UTRAN) and EPC (Evolved Packet Core). The E-UTRAN consist of eNBs (evolved Node Bs) which are interconnected to each other by a X2 interface and every eNB is connected to EPC by the S1 interface (see figure 13). As an access scheme EUTRAN uses OFDM for downlink and SC-FDMA (Single-Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access) for uplink.

EPC (also called SAE System Architecture Evolution) is an evolution from the GPRS Core Network with some differences. It has for an example a simplified architecture, an all IP Network and support for lower latency and higher throughput [19,20]. C. WiMAX or LTE for 4G? Both WiMAX and LTE are two major technologies that could offer a speed up to almost 100 Mbit/s and could take the wireless mobile communication into the next generation. Its hard to predict which will prevail in the future because they are in two different stages of development. WiMAX is recognized over the entire world as the first to be brought to the market while LTE is some years after but have many advantages. For instance that LTE will be able to evolve from the existing infrastructure in UMTS. The UMTS infrastructure is today used by 80 per cent of mobile subscribers around the world. WiMAX however will require building a new infrastructure. There is also a big spectrum issue for WiMAX in Europe. In the US Sprint that is launching WiMAX holds 2.5 GHz spectrum that gives a great coverage. In Europe however this spectrum is occupied by analogue TV and GSM mobile signals and therefore European WiMAX has to be limited to 3.5 GHz spectrum which doesnt give the same result. Not before the analogue broadcasts have been switched off in Europe and the 2.5 GHz becomes available, WiMAX can give good results in Europe. But because of LTE is a few years behind the analogue broadcasts may stop in Europe at the same time that LTE arrives which opens up for both technologies. Maybe the mobile phones in the future will be compatible with both WiMAX and LTE [21].

9. CONCLUSION There are a few 4G technologies that are here in a near future but its still many years before we will see these in a commercial use worldwide. Exactly how the system architecture or which access scheme that will be used isnt fully decided for all upcoming technologies. However the developers are working hard to overcome the last problem with their technologies and be able to offer transmission rates that is far beyond todays standards. Which 4G technology that will exist in the future is hard to predict, probably it will be a combination of many. But even when we so proudly are standing there with our next generation mobile communication system we will still face one of the

Figure 13: E-UTRAN architecture [19]

toughest challenges. To weave the new system into our old ones. As of today the largest mobile communication system used is still GSM and GPRS both part of the second generation systems. The transfer to 4G has to be calm and well-planned.

[14] - K. Fazel and S. Kaiser, Multi-Carrier and Spread Spectrum Systems, John Wiley & Sons, 2003 [15] N. Yee, J.P.M.G. Linnartz and G. Fettweis, "MultiCarrier CDMA in indoor wireless Radio Networks", IEEE Personal Indoor and Mobile Radio Communications (PIMRC) [16] - http://www.infoworld.com/article/06/08/09/ HNsprintwimax_1.html. Last date visited: 2008-05-07 [17] - http://www.wimax.com/. Last date visited: 200805-06 [18] - www.wimaxforum.com. Last date visited: 200805-06 [19] - http://www.3gpp.org/Highlights/LTE/LTE.htm Last date visited: 2008-05-07 [20] - http://cp.literature.agilent.com/litweb/pdf/ 5989-7898EN.pdf Last date visited: 2008-05-07 [21] - http://www.eurocomms.com/features/112044/ WIMAX_AND_LTE_-_Either_or_both%3F.html Last date visited: 2008-05-07 [22] - http://www.alcateloffice.ru/catalog/ mobility_wifi.php. Last date visited: 2008-05-12 [23] - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image: OFDMA_subcarriers.png. Last date visited: 2008-05-12 [24] - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Wimax.svg Last date visited: 2008-05-12

10. REFERENCES [1] - http://www.daniweb.com/forums/thread35959 .html. Last date visited: 2008-05-07 [2] - Mobile Communications, Second Edition by Jochen Schillen, 2003 [3] - http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/imt-2000/documents/ Algiers2006/Additional%20contributions/Algiers_Prese ntation_AddContrib_STabbane.pdf. Last date visited: 2008-05-06 [4] - Toshio Miki, Tomoyuki ohya, Hitoshi Yoshino and Narumi Umeda, The Overview of the 4th generation Mobile Communication System, NTT DoCoMo Inc., Wireless Labs. [5] - http://www.tca.or.jp/japan/database/daisu/yymm/ 0505matu.html. Last date visited: 2008-05-07 [6] - http://www.mitf.org/public_e/archives/ 4G_req_v110E.pdf. Last date visited: 2008-05-07 [7] - http://www.wel.atr.jp/~sun/ SmartAntennas.html. Last date visited: 2008-05-07 [8] - http://www.spectrumsignal.com/publications/ beamform_primer.pdf. Last date visited: 2008-05-05 [9] - http://research.sun.com/features/4g_wireless/ Last date visited: 2008-05-07 [10] - http://searchmobilecomputing.techtarget.com/ news/article/0,289142,sid40_gci1015512,00.html . Last date visited: 2008-05-04 [11] - http://www.wi-fiplanet.com/columns /article.php/3506426. Last date visited: 2008-05-07 [12] - http://www.wi-fiplanet.com/news/ article.php/1481_3344071_3 Last date visited: 2008-05-07 [13] - http://www.windowsfordevices.com/news/ NS2242469962.html. Last date visited: 2008-05-08