Information Technology And Softwares: Mobile Network

GSM Coverage Maps

GSM
What is GSM?GSM (Global System for Mobile communications) is an open, digital cellular technology used for transmitting mobile voice and data services.
What does GSM offer?GSM supports voice calls and data transfer speeds of up to 9.6 kbit/s, together with the transmission of SMS (Short Message Service).
GSM operates in the 900MHz and 1.8GHz bands in Europe and the 1.9GHz and 850MHz bands in the US. The 850MHz band is also used for GSM and 3G in Australia, Canada and many South American countries. By having harmonised spectrum across most of the globe, GSM’s international roaming capability allows users to access the same services when travelling abroad as at home. This gives consumers seamless and same number connectivity in more than 218 countries.
Terrestrial GSM networks now cover more than 80% of the world’s population. GSM satellite roaming has also extended service access to areas where terrestrial coverage is not available.

GPRS

GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) is a very widely deployed wireless data service, available now with most GSM networks.
GPRS offers throughput rates of up to 40 kbit/s, so that users have a similar access speed to a dial-up modem, but with the convenience of being able to connect from almost anywhere.
GPRS customers enjoy advanced, feature-rich data services such as e-mail on the move, multimedia messages and location-based services.

GPRS
EDGE
3G/WCDMA
HSPA
LTE
Services
GSM Roaming
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EDGE
What is EDGE?Further enhancements to GSM networks are provided by Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) technology, which provides up to three times the data capacity of

EDGE, operators can handle three times more subscribers than GPRS, triple their data rate per subscriber, or add extra capacity to their voice communications.
EDGE allows the delivery of advanced mobile services such as the downloading of video and music clips, multimedia messaging, high-speed Internet access and e-mail on the move.
Simple upgradeEDGE uses the same structure, as today's GSM networks, which allows it to be overlaid directly onto an existing GSM network. For many existing GSM/GPRS networks, EDGE is a simple software-upgrade.
Due to the very small incremental cost of including EDGE capability in GSM network deployment, virtually all new GSM infrastructure deployments are also EDGE capable and nearly all new mid- to high-level GSM devices also include EDGE radio technology.

3G/WCDMA
What is 3G/WCDMA ?Developed by the global GSM community as its chosen path for 3G evolution, WCDMA is the air interface for one of the International Telecommunications Union's (ITU's) family of third-generation mobile communications systems.
3G/WCDMA (Third Generation / Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) enables the continued support of voice, text and MMS services in addition to richer mobile multimedia services such as
Music
TV and video
Entertainment content
Internet access
UMTS offers data speeds up to 384kb/s along with voice services.

HSPA
Standardised by 3GPP, HSPA is the set of technologies that defines the migration path for 3G/WCDMA operators worldwide. HSPA, which uses the FDD transmission scheme, includes HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access), HSUPA (High Speed Uplink Packet Access) and HSPA Evolved. These are also known as 3GPP Releases 5 through to 8.
Unlike many other mobile broadband technologies, HSPA provides very efficient voice services in combination with mobile broadband data.
In most HSPA networks, the end-user can expect to enjoy speeds of at least 1Mbps upwards, depending upon the peak speed of the network (anywhere from 1.8Mbps to 14.4 Mbps) with peak uplink speeds of up to 5.7Mbps.
HSPA EvolvedHSPA Evolved introduces MIMO (Multiple-Input, Multiple-Output) capabilities and higher order modulation (64QAM), enabling greater throughput speeds and higher performance. The first HSPA Evolved services are expected to be deployed at the end of 2008.
For more information on HSPA, network deployments, devices and case studies and white papers, please visit www.gsmworld.com/HSPA.

LTE
Long Term Evolution (LTE) is the next step from 3G/WCDMA & HSPA for many already on the GSM technology curve but also for others too, such as CDMA operators. This new radio access technology will be optimized to deliver very fast data speeds of up to 100Mb/s downlink and 50Mb/s uplink (peak rates).
Designed to be backwards-compatible with GSM and HSPA, LTE incorporates Multiple In Multiple Out (MIMO) in combination with Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) in the downlink and Single Carrier FDMA in the uplink to provide high levels of spectral efficiency and end user data rates exceeding 100 Mbps, coupled with major improvements in capacity and reductions in latency. LTE will support channel bandwidths from 1.25 MHz to 20 MHz and both FDD and TDD operation.
Although both LTE and WiMAX use the OFDMA air interface, LTE has the advantage of being backwards compatible with existing GSM and HSPA networks, enabling mobile operators deploying LTE to continue to provide a seamless service across LTE and existing deployed networks.
Several major mobile operators, including some running CDMA networks today, have indicated they will adopt LTE in the next few years. Japanese mobile operator NTT DOCOMO has said that it is aiming to launch a commercial LTE network by the end of 2009, while in the U.S., the largest CDMA operator, Verizon Wireless, is currently trialing LTE with a view to launching a commercial LTE service in 2010.
LTE- AdvancedLTE-Advanced extends the technological principles behind LTE into a further step change in data rates. Incorporating higher order MIMO (4x4 and beyond) and allowing multiple carriers to be bonded together into a single stream, target peak data rates of 1Gbps have been set.
LTE-Advanced also intends to use a number of further innovations including the ability to use non-contiguous frequency ranges, with the intent that this will alleviate frequency range issues in an increasingly crowded spectrum, self back-hauling base station and full incorporation of Femto cells using Self-Organising Network techniques.
LTE-Advanced will be 3GPP’s technology as a candidate for the ITU-R IMT-Advanced process, which is intended to identify ‘4G’ technologies.

Services
With more than 3 billion people using GSM and approximately 80 percent of the world's population covered by mobile networks, GSM is fast becoming the most popular way to deliver information, communication and entertainment services to people worldwide.
Increased sophisticationSince the 1990s, the GSM family of technologies has become increasingly sophisticated and GSM networks now offer a wealth of mobile data and entertainment services.
After voice, the growth of SMS (Short Messaging Service), or text messaging, continues, with an estimated one trillion messages sent globally in 2005. More advanced messaging services – such as MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service), IM (Instant Messaging) and mobile email – offer users an even richer mobile messaging experience.
Media-rich contentMobile communications also has the opportunity to become the new personal entertainment and information medium of choice. Already dubbed the 'fourth screen,' after television, cinema and the PC, the industry is delivering a vast array of media rich content to users throughout the world including advanced mobile gaming applications, mobile music, and TV and video content.
The benefits of convenience, immediacy and personalisation have fostered the growth of location-based services and mobile commerce applications. Internet-style services on hundreds of thousands of WAP sites contain much of the information and images found on the wider Internet.

Voice
Services to handle incoming callsMost GSM operators provide a number of services that help their customers to manage incoming calls. These services can usually be activated in the 'Settings' section of your phone's menu.
VoicemailThis service functions just like a traditional answer machine. If your line is engaged or you don't answer an incoming call after a pre-specified number of rings, your mobile operator diverts the caller to a voicemail system. The caller is welcomed by a pre-recorded greeting and given the opportunity to leave a message.You are alerted to a new voicemail by a text-message or a call from your operator. You can then retrieve the new message by dialling a number provided by your operator. The service typically allows you to listen to the message again, save the message for a certain number of days or delete it.
Call Waiting & Call HoldWhen you are using your phone, the handset can be set to alert you to any incoming calls. You can then put your current conversation on hold by pressing a button on the phone, allowing you to take the new call. You typically press the same button again to return to your earlier conversation.
Call ForwardingMost operators offer you the option of diverting incoming calls to another number.
Call RestrictionsIf someone else is borrowing your phone, you may want to restrict the calls they can make, such as international or premium-rate numbers, for example.
Show or Hide numberTo help you to decide whether to answer a call, most mobile phone operators will display the number of any incoming call on the screen of your handset. That means that your number will also appear on the handset of the person you are calling. However, you can typically disable this function using your handset.
Push-to-Talk over CellularSome GSM operators are now offering Push-to-Talk over Cellular (PoC) services, which allow people to use their phones as walkie-talkies, merely pushing a button to talk to another user or group of users.Users can check whether their 'buddies' (people pre-selected from their contacts' list) are connected before activating the service. Only one person can talk at a time and all other participants hear the speech.The service has been successful in the U.S. with business users and a number of European GSM operators are now offering PoC to consumers.In order to use the service, users need to be a customer of an operator that has launched PoC, and have a compatible handset that has the PoC software built into the device. Please contact your operator to determine whether your network supports PoC services.

Messaging

SMS (Short Messaging Service) allows users to send and receive text messages on a mobile

phone. Each message can be up to 160 characters long and sent to and from users of different operator networks. All mobile phones support SMS.
Billions of text messages are sent worldwide every week. It is estimated that a worldwide total of 1 trillion text messages were sent in 2005.
In addition to person-to-person SMS, a variety of content-based text messaging services are available. The majority of GSM operators allow users to subscribe to services that send news, sport and entertainment content direct to a mobile phone in the form of an SMS. For more information please contact your GSM operator. MMS
MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) is a store and forward messaging service that allows subscribers to exchange multimedia messages.As such it can be seen as an evolution of SMS, with MMS supporting the transmission of additional media types: text, picture, audio, video, or a combination of all four.The originator can easily create a Multimedia Message, using phone camera, or can use images and sounds stored previously in the phone (or downloaded from a web site).If the recipient phone is not switched on, the Multimedia Message will be stored and sent as soon as the phone is switched on. A number of Multimedia Messages can be stored in the user’s handset and reviewed or forwarded later. With MMS, it is also possible to send messages from phone to email, and vice versa.In order to send or receive a MMS, the user must have a compatible phone that is running over a GPRS or 3GSM network. Most mobile phones and operator networks support MMS.
So how does MMS work?
Depending upon the operator, a typical example of how a MMS message can be sent and received between two compatible MMS phones is outlined below:
Using a MMS compatible phone, take a photo
Use your phone to personalise the message by adding text, sound clip or your own voice
Send the MMS message
On a compatible phone, the MMS message will appear with a new message alert. The picture message will open on the screen, the text will appear below the image and any sound will begin to play automatically.
If the message is sent to a non-compatible phone the user will receive a SMS message telling them they have been sent a picture message. They may then be given a website address, and possibly a username and password to view the message.
(This is a simple example that may differ from operator to operator.)
Instant Messaging
Instant Messaging (IM) is an IP-based (Internet Protocol) application that can provide real-

time written communication between people using a PC or Laptop.Mobile Instant Messaging is the ability to engage in Instant Messaging services from a mobile handset. Mobile IM allows users to address messages to other users using an alias (or user name) and address book, enabling the sender to know when his/her "buddies" are available.The advantage of mobile IM is that messages are sent and received in real-time via mobile handsets in the same way as fixed IM services, but without a computer. Mobile IM is seen as a natural evolution of the popular SMS service.To date, users have required an existing active IM account and a compatible handset (one with a pre-installed messaging client) running over a GPRS or 3GSM network. To start using mobile IM, users need to log-in to the IM application.
IM issues and GSMA action
Mobile IM is available from some operators now, but it is not always possible to use IM services between different operators and different IM communities. Other issues affecting existing IM services include concerns over security and cost transparency.The GSMA has been working with mobile operators to develop a true inter-network IM service. This initiative, called "Personal IM", is designed to attach the GSM principles of interoperability, ease-of-use, security, reliability and the calling-party-pays cost model to global IM services.IM industry agreement
Many of the world's largest operators – including Aircel, Bharti, BSNL, China Mobile, Hutchison Essar, Idea, MTNL, Orange, Spice, Telefónica, TeliaSonera, TIM (Telecom Italia Mobile), T-Mobile, Turkcell and Vodafone – have signed 32 letters of intent leading to interoperability agreements that will ensure IM services can be used across different networks and countries.Please contact your operator to determine whether your network supports mobile IM services. Email
Wireless email is the ability to send and receive email over wireless devices. As 2.5G (GPRS) and 3GSM networks give users constant connectivity access to their email, wireless email services are expected to become increasingly popular.There are a wide variety of handsets available today that support wireless push email services.Push refers to technologies that allow a central system, for example the mobile phone network, to send – or push – information to an end-user without any action on their part or on the part of the mobile device.With push email, emails are sent directly to the mobile device as soon as the email server receives them rather than waiting for the user or email client to request the email.Today's push email devices range from mid-priced mobile phones through to smartphones and specific email devices such as the Blackberry.To use wireless email services, devices must have supporting software; please contact your operator to determine whether your network supports email services.

GSM Roaming
Roaming is defined as the ability for a cellular customer to automatically make and receive voice calls, send and receive data, or access other services when travelling outside the geographical coverage area of the home network, by means of using a visited network.
Roaming is technically supported by mobility management, authentication and billing procedures. Establishing roaming between network operators is based on - and the commercial terms are contained in - Roaming Agreements.
If the visited network is in the same country as the home network, this is known as National Roaming. If the visited network is outside the home country, this is known as International Roaming (the term Global Roaming has also been used).
If the visited network operates on a different technical standard than the home network, this is known as Inter-standard roaming.
GSM Roaming, which involves roaming between GSM networks, offers the convenience of a single number, a single bill and a single phone with worldwide access to over 219 countries. The convenience of GSM Roaming has been a key driver behind the global success of the GSM Platform.
GSM Coverage Maps is a unique resource containing information supplied and approved by the members of the GSM Association.
Network, Services and Roaming information are continually updated to reflect the evolving situation worldwide. Interactive coverage maps, updated quarterly, allow you to navigate to see where exactly you can use your phone.
These definitions are provided simply to help industry discussion and do not indicate the scope of activities within the GSM Association.
SMS and Data Roaming Explained Document (802kb, pdf)

Coverage Maps on Your Mobile
Making the Internet MobileWith the introduction of .mobi we have now enabled our popular GSM coverage maps and roaming information to be browsed on your mobile device*.Network, Services and Roaming information are continually updated to reflect the evolving situation worldwide. The coverage maps, updated quarterly, allow you to see where exactly you can use your phone.On your device visit http://gsmworld.mobi/roaming for over 200 coverage maps worldwide.
What is dotmobi?Dotmobi is a new top-level domain, which will bring the wealth and variety of the Internet to mobile devices.
A dedicated mobile namespace (.mobi) and web development style guides will ensure that dotmobi sites work effectively on mobile devices. It is expected to lead to a wider availability of Internet-based services for mobile users, higher mobile Internet usage and increased demand for Internet access over mobile. This in turn will extend the reach of the Internet to a whole new audience of users.

Download Documents
The following documents are GSM Association Permanent Reference Documents (PRD's) that have been classified as unrestricted for industry use. The documents are available as PDF files unless otherwise stated. Download Adobe Acrobat PDF reader here.
Click through to the Document Library

Entertainment
TV/VideoMobile TV and video services are hotly tipped to gain serious market momentum in the next few years.Mobile TV services in theory offer the same 'live' broadcast images as those viewed over the traditional medium. There are two ways to unite TV with mobile phone systems: real-time streaming over 3G networks and dedicated mobile broadcast networks.Mobile TV services streamed over 3G networks make use of the increased capacity offered by 3GSM technology and can be viewed with a 3GSM handset. Operators including Hutchison/3 and Vodafone are pressing ahead with services that stream TV channels to 3G handsets.
Trialling technologiesAn alternative way for operators to offer TV services is via dedicated, mobile TV broadcast networks using technologies such as DVB-H, DMB and MediaFLO.The majority of broadcast mobile TV trials in Europe have been based on DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcast-Handheld) technology and require users to have a DVB-H compatible handset. SFR, KPN Mobile, Telefónica Móviles, O2 and Telstra have all trialled DVB-H technology. More details can be found here: http://www.dvb-h-online.org/.Another mobile TV broadcast technology is South Korea's S-DMB (Satellite Digital Multimedia Broadcasting) service which as been put together by SK Telecom's TU Media subsidiary and Japan's Mobile Broadcasting Corporation, and is provided by a single satellite. In South Korea, the service has already reached 1 million users since its launch in December 2005.
European developmentsIn Europe, BT has joined together with Virgin Mobile customers to create BT Livetime which is based on DMB (Digital Multimedia Broadcasting), which in turn is based on the DAB technology used for digital radio.Terrestrial-DMB (to distinguish it from the satellite version, S-DMB) has been trialled in Germany with handsets supplied by LG and Samsung. Like DVB-H, T-DMB is also a standard endorsed in Europe by ETSI.
Other broadcast technologyMediaFLO (Media Forward Link Only) is a technology developed by Qualcomm, and has seen interest from operators in the U.S and Japan.MBMS (Multimedia Broadcast and Multicast Services) is a technology designed to deliver multimedia content over 3G networks more efficiently. With MBMS, companies can expect to achieve the same level of coverage without the need for any additional spectrum, licensing or base-station construction.Juniper Research predicts there will be 65 million users hooked up to mobile TV worldwide by 2010.Mobile video services tend to involve the delivery of pre-recorded shorter clips such as news headlines, sports action and movie trailers. The majority of operators that have deployed 3GSM networks already offer mobile video services, utilising the extra capacity of 3GSM technology.
MusicThe GSM family of technologies enables the provision of a large number of music services. The demand for portable music is high and there is a growing list of mobile music products for the consumer – traditionally the mobile music market has been limited to the provision of ringtones.
Ringtone developmentA ringtone is a brief audio file played to indicate an incoming call, and might consist of several bars of a familiar musical tune.Originally, a ringtone purchasing process typically involved a call over premium rate telephone lines to an Interactive Voice Recognition (IVR) system. Today, the majority of ringtones are downloaded directly from WAP portals and sent to a user's phone via premium rate SMS.
Monophonic and polyphonicRingtones first became popular in 1998 with the introduction of the monophonic tone. The monophonic ringtone was born through the introduction of handsets that were capable of supporting the 20 to 30 notes that make up a ringtone.
This capability was soon replaced as handset manufacturers developed devices that could replicate a number of sounds simultaneously, leading to the polyphonic ringtone, which has now predominantly taken the place of its monophonic predecessor.
A new product called ringback tones - sounds that callers hear over the line when the phone is ringing to be answered at the other end - is also now available.
RealtonesMeanwhile realtones (also known as truetones or mastertones) use actual sound recordings, and are growing in popularity. Realtones fall into two categories – those that use a recording which has been commercially released by a record label, and those which make their own 'soundalike' recordings.
Music track playbackBeyond ringtones, the ability to access complete music tracks and store them onto a mobile device is another contemporary development.Mobile phones are available on the market with built in synch-software and MP3 technology, as well as other digital music format playback capabilities. Realtones and full-track downloads are available from Internet and operator portals.
GamingThe mobile gaming market has evolved rapidly in recent years. Nearly all GSM handsets now offer embedded games that make use of the device's colour screen and, in some instances, high quality speakers and memory cards.The range of inbuilt games available is dependent on the model and make of handset, but all are easily accessible via the device's main screen menu.The launch of GPRS and 3GSM services has enabled the delivery of more advanced mobile games, downloadable for a fee from operator portals and the Internet.
Global Market Forecasts: Games Downloaded2005: 75.9 million2007: 162.5 million2009: 262.7 million2010: 299.4 million
There are two main download technologies for games handsets; Java and BREW.
Java already has over 88% of the market and, although Informa Telecoms & Media predicts that its market share will fall in the coming years, on a global basis this decline is not expected to be significant.
By 2010, Informa predicts there will be nearly 280 million users downloading Java games worldwide, representing 85% of the market. Meanwhile, it forecasts there will be over 34 million users downloading BREW games, forming 10.6% of the global market.
Multi-player gaming is also a growing market. Some content providers are offering games that enable up to eight people to compete in real-time over the network. With the launch of 3GSM services and 'all-you-can-eat' tariff packages, multi-player gaming is expected to grow much faster than single-player gaming.
Mobile Internet accessMost Web pages are not well suited to viewing on the small screen of a mobile phone, so mobile operators typically offer access to Internet-style services and sites using a technology called WAP.There are hundreds of thousands of WAP sites containing much of the information and images found on the wider Internet. You need a phone with a WAP browser to access these sites..mobiAn increasing number of handsets have relatively large colour screens and full Internet browsers that can call-up standard Web pages.
The GSM Association has teamed up with Microsoft, Nokia, Vodafone and several other industry players to create a subsection of the main Internet designed for access by these mobile phones.
The address of Web sites belonging to this subsection will end with the suffix .mobi, signalling to the user that the site has been designed for viewing on a mobile phone (for more information see www.dotmobi.org/).
Many mobile operators also allow their customers to use a personal digital assistant or laptop computer to access the Internet via the mobile networks.
Related documents
Introduction to dotmobi - Making the Internet Mobile (0.17MB)
Mobile games - a very serious business (0.22MB)
Mobile TV - Tuned in or tuned off (0.17MB)
Mobile Music: More ringtone than rock (0.20MB)

Video Services
Enriched multimedia services such as video sharing and video calling are now available on many 3GSM networks.These services use live camera or recorded video clips to enhance a user's mobile communication experience.
Video SharingA video sharing service allows mobile phone users to share a live camera view or a video clip while they are speaking on their video-enabled mobile phone.Operators expect video sharing to be a highly popular service used by people to exchange everything from live holiday video postcards to footage of a school sports day or video of a house for sale.
Video CallingA video call originates as a connection between two video-enabled mobile phones where both people on the call see as well as hear each other in real-time. It is a live video feed caller-to-caller.
How do I use video calling/sharing services?To make or receive such services, the handset has to be capable of video calling/sharing and used in a coverage area served by a 3GSM network. Cost, coverage and network interoperability information can be obtained from your operator.A size limit for the video file sent may be applicable: this will be set by your network provider and may be limited by the specifications of the handset. For more information contact your operator and/or consult your handset user guide.
More information:
GSMA activity - Video SharingThe mobile vendor community approached the GSM Association in 2005 to address the issue of interoperability. Strong support from key players in the industry resulted in the development of a GSMA solution, which has now been trialled across three continents.Successful completion of the trials in Europe, Asia and the U.S., will ensure that video share services work smoothly across networks and national boundaries from launch. See the following links for further details:
GSMA Trials to Pave the Way For Global Rollout of Video Share press release & PDF (742kb);
GSMA's video share trials in China prove successful

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Thursday, March 12, 2009

Mobile Network

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