Revolution of 2G Networks until 4G Networks in Cell Phone

Revolution of 2G Networks until 4G Networks in Cell Phone
Ahmad Aizat Bin Faudzi
International Islamic University Malaysia
Abstract
A study was conducted to evaluate the implementation of the networks technology throughout Malaysia. Specifically, this study examined the development of 2G networks until the advent of 4G networks. The study employed a quantitative research methodolgy involving the use of questionnaire and it was randomly distributed among twenty students of Kuliyyah of Engineering. The results indicate that most of the students satisfied with the service provider they choose. They are expecting to gain valuable experience and knowledge by taking part in this research.

Table of Content
Abstract …………………………………………………………………………………… 2
Content …………………………………………………………………………………… 3
Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………...... 4
Literature Review ………………………………………………………………………..... 6
Method …………………………………………………………………………………….. 7
Results / Discussions …………………………………………………………………….... 8
Conclusion …………………………………………………………………………………. 12
References ………………………………………………………………………………….. 14
Appendices …………………………………………………………………………………. 15

Introduction
The advent of modern technology in the early 90’s had lead to the revolution of 2G networks. This network contributes greatly to the world as it allows people to send text messages and picture messages as well as to access the internet through their mobile phones. As consequence, the ability of people to communicate has become wider and easier as this technology assists them to communicate without any deterrence in terms of territorial boundary, expensive cost or time. The development of 2G networks has taken place continuously as a lot of research activities have been conducted in order to meet the increasing need of the society to have better communication network. Hence, 3G networks that allow people to interact with each other through video call were introduced in 2003. Subsequently, High – Speed Packet Access (HSPA) came into picture to provide better internet speed. The most recent development of this network is the emergence of 4G networks, the most speedy of network generation. Nonetheless some issues arise in the course of achieving this technology. Firstly, the implementation of this technology through out the world requires high cost equipment to deploy. This is because to initiate this network it requires new cell tower to be constructed. As a result, extensive labour force and cost is needed to complete the construction of these networks. Besides that, most of the countries reused the 2G networks frequency so that they may implement it for the 4G networks. This alternative is applied in some countries in order to avoid from the need to construct cell tower for 4G networks that requires high cost. Consequently, interruption to the networks line will be caused and the outcome is interference to the service provided to the mobile phone users. Despite the fact that 4G networks are used as an effective medium to connect the people around the world, this technology is still limited as it cannot provides connection to the people who are living in the rural area. The major purpose of this research is to study the gradual development of the 2G networks until the introduction of 4G networks. There are various stages involved in developing these networks. Challenging task such as to build support of various advanced antenna techniques need the collaboration of experts in this field. On top of that, this research aims to investigate the compatibility of smartphones with 4G networks. At present, the 3G networks support most of smartphones. Hence it is uncertain whether 4G networks are able to work effectively with smartphones. In achieving the major objectives of this research, several questions arise such as what are the factors behind the emergence of various different networks system. Additionally, does the advantages of applying these range of networks into daily routine outweigh its adverse effects? If the answer is positive then how do these networks benefit to society at large?
In this digital era, the integration of technology has become so advanced. The burgeoning of the smartphones market has encouraged the cellular service providers to develop better service. As stated by Vriendt (2002),
This evolution started in the early 90’s with the replacement of the analog mobile network by the digital one, and is continuing today with the deployment of the third generation (3G). From circuit – driven networks we now enter the packet world through intermediate overlay networks, followed in years to come by all-IP networks. (p. 104)

Literature review
Communication has become increasingly efficient with the new applications of the fourth generation (4G) networks. According to Chan (2006), 4G cellular networks offers flexible features and design that may overcome the major technical deficiencies which are commonly found in 2G and 3G networks. It is important to note that security is the main challenge in networks revolution because it is very easy to hack someone personal information through the networks. Based on a study done by Mishra & More (2012), it is important to incorporate the most advanced security features that are currently used in networks system. Networks performance is not only depending on the speed and reliability of the network. The security should be on par with other features so that it the protection of mobile user’s privacy is guaranteed.

Method
A survey has been conducted among students from Kuliyyah of Engineering at International Islamic University Malaysia pertaining to the development of revolution from 2G to 4G networks in Malaysia. The students were given a set of questionnaire which contained 11 questions. They were given 10 minutes to complete the questionnaire distributed, most of the respondents completed the questionnaire less than 5 minutes. Basically, the questions were drafted in the form of close ended type of questions as this type of questions did not required the students to provide further justification for their answers. The questions were divided into 3 parts namely Part A, Part B and Part C. The focus of Part A is to collect the personal details of the students such as their genders, year of study, department and service provider preferred. Meanwhile Part B was included in the survey to collect the information of mobile networks were used, data plan connection and awareness of 4G networks in Malaysia. Whereas in Part C comprised an element to know the coverage of 4G networks, service quality reception, mis-routed calls and the speed of data. The survey had been conducted in Kuliyyah of Engineering. As a matter of fact, engineering students were chosen as the respondents for this survey because they study in details about the development of various technology. The data collected from this survey given were being reviewed, categorized and the were being discussed.

Results and Discussion
General information of respondents. As a result of the research that has been done, 11 of the students are male respondents and nine are females. 4 of them are from material, manufacturing and computer engineering department respectively. Meanwhile, 5 are from communication engineering department, 2 candidates are from mechatronics department and 1 from biotech department. 30% of them are third year students and the rest 60% are final year students. They are all local students who participated in this questionnaire. Figure 1 clearly shows that majority of the students who took part the survey used Celcom (60%). The second preferred service provider is Maxis with (20%) followed by Digi (15%) and the least was U-Mobile (5%).

Next, in Part B, the questionnaire collected the details comprises cellular phone types that the respondents used. From the study, 70% of the respondents used prepaid and 30% of them used postpaid plan. 90% of them aware of the 4G networks and 10% didn’t noticed the existence of the 4G networks.

Figure 2 displays the preference of networks coverage choose by the students for their cell phones. Majority of the students preferred to use 3G networks (12 students). Only 6 of the students still used EDGE line and 2 of them gets the 4G network surprisingly.
Lastly, Part C consists of item on general service of networks carrier that the respondents used and challenges associated with their networks. There are four common types of questionnaires related to the service provider.

Figure 3 demonstrates that the 4G coverage are still poor in Gombak area of all networks. Secondly, the service quality reception are range from satisfactory to excellent. For the mis-routed calls, most of the respondents have most likely encounter the problems in all networks. Finally, the speed data network response shows that most of the respondents are satisfied with the data speed of mobile internet in the campus. Based on the statistical analysis, the results indicates that 12 out of 20 respondents sign up with Celcom as their preferred service provider. This is because Celcom has the best rate plan for students which is affordable to students, instead of other service providers.
The statistical analysis also describes that the coverage of 4G networks are poor in the students area because 4G networks were just launched in Malaysia and most of the service provider are still in the course of building new cell tower and to re-cycle back the 2G networks frequency so that it can be used as 4G networks frequency. The process might takes up to 6 months at least upgrading the whole networks. This is supported by Chan & Lo (2006), in implementing 4G systems, there are a number of technical challenges in order to ensure high efficiency and coverage with guaranteed quality. One of the challenges is the implementation of 4G systems in rural area.
From the figure, it cannot be argue that all the respondents are satisfied with the service of each network carrier that they choosed. Service quality is essential and important for a telecommunication service provider company. Wider coverage and stable networks automatically connect people from cities to rural area hence, ensure maintaining loyal and attract more customer. This was similar to the finding of another research conducted by De Vriendt & Laine (2002). According to this finding, telecommunication service provider company has been adopting different technology in order to meet the need of current society. From circuit –driven networks we now enter the packet world through intermediate overlay networks, followed in years to come by all-IP networks.
In general, data network represents of bandwidth which is capacity if the connection. The greater the capacity the more likely that better performance will result. Bandwidth is amount of data that passes through the network connection over time. Statistical shows that most of respondents satisfy with the speed of data. It shows that high-speed service such as 3G and HSPDA are covered in the area and shows that signal strength are strong in International Islamic University Malaysia.
On top of that, the statistical analysis also displays the types of mobile networks that students used are likely 3G connection. In other words, most of the students used cellular that supports 3G connection to load information much faster than 2G networks. Getting information is one of the best features of 3G technology. They can also watch the latest news and headlines, getting data like the weather, sports and economic details instantly. Students may acquire the latest scores such as in an ongoing baseball match and other favourite sports. The 3G cellular phones with the advanced features can highlight popular sports and news. The improved quality of services and speed of 3G phones can allow you to watch music videos and movie clips with crisp and clear photos, compared to 2G technology phones.

Conclusion In conclusion, the major aim is to investigate the revolution of 2G networks until 4G networks in cell phone and the awareness of 4G networks in Malaysia. The result proves that the students have limited awareness on this issue. It is important to note that IIUM students are satisfied with the their preferred service provider in terms of data speed, connection and signal strength.
2G mobile communications has brought about a revolution in ways of living and the revolution is not over, with mobile internet and 4G services being offered in coming years. Through the evolution of technology, new services have been or will be offered to subscribers. Data services have really taken off in the last couple of years with SMS and GPRS packet data services are being launched, providing higher data rates and the always-on capability. UMTS and its evolution will provide even higher data rates, and a more comfortable offering of more demanding services. The evolution from 2G towards 3G will also lead to more convergence and finally comes to 4G LTE which is stands for long term evolution and LTE is designed to provide multimegabit bandwidth, more efficient use of the radio networks, latency reduction, and improved mobility. This combination aims to enhance the subscriber 's interaction with the networks and further accelerates the demand for mobile multimedia services.
Changes in mobile communications have always been evolutionary, and the deployment of LTE will be the same. It will be a transition from 3G to 4G over a period of several years, as is the case still with the transition from 2G to 3G. As a result, mobile operators must look for strategies and solutions that will enhance their existing 3G networks while addressing their 4G deployment requirements without requiring a complete equipment upgrade.
Nevertheless, there are several limitations that occur in this study. Firstly, the number of samples is not large as there were only 20 students. Therefore it is not sufficient to demonstrates the IIUM students’s preception about the development of networks as a whole. Additionally, this study only focuses on IIUM students, which have tertiary level of education, that is can be a factor that can affect the perception about this issue.

References

Bank, D. (2001). Wireless infrastructure, cutting through the hype. The What, Why and When of 3G.

Bos, L. & Leroy, S. (2001, Jan – Feb). Towards an all – IP based UMTS system architecture. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Network, 36-45.

Chan, P., Lo, E., Wang, R., Au, E., Lau, V., Cheng, R., Mow, W., Murch, R., & Letaief, K. (2006, December) The Evolution Path of 4G Networks : FDD or TDD. IEEE Communications Magazine.

Mishra, D. & More, S. (2012) 4G Revolution : WIMAX Technology. IEEE

Vriendt, J., Laine, P., Lerouge, P., & Xu, X.(2002, April) Mobile Network Evolution : Revolution on the Move. IEEE Communications Magazine.

Appendices

1) What is your gender?

a) Male b) Female

2) Department:

a) Biotechnology Engineering Electrical and Computer Engineering Manufacturing and Material Engineering Mechatronics Engineering Mechanical Engineering 3) Which network carrier you subscribed?

a) Maxis b) Celcom c) DIGI d) U-Mobile

4) Which kind of mobile network do you use?

a) EDGE b) 3G c) 4G

5) Which type of mobile plan do you used?

a) Postpaid b) Prepaid

6) Do you aware of the 4G network in Malaysia?

a) Yes b) No

Please circle the appropriate number on your opinion about the following:

1=Very Poor
2=Poor
3=Satisfactory
4=Good
5=Excellent

7
4G network coverage
1
2
3
4
5
8
Service quality reception
1
2
3
4
5
9
Mis-routed calls
1
2
3
4
5
10
Speed of data network
1
2
3
4
5

References: Bank, D. (2001). Wireless infrastructure, cutting through the hype. The What, Why and When of 3G. Bos, L. & Leroy, S. (2001, Jan – Feb). Towards an all – IP based UMTS system architecture. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Network, 36-45. Chan, P., Lo, E., Wang, R., Au, E., Lau, V., Cheng, R., Mow, W., Murch, R., & Letaief, K. (2006, December) The Evolution Path of 4G Networks : FDD or TDD. IEEE Communications Magazine. Mishra, D. & More, S. (2012) 4G Revolution : WIMAX Technology. IEEE Vriendt, J., Laine, P., Lerouge, P., & Xu, X.(2002, April) Mobile Network Evolution : Revolution on the Move