3G (IMT-2000) Interview Preparation Guide

Third generation (3G) wireless networks will offer faster data transfer rates than current networks. The first generation of wireless (1G) was analog cellular. The second generation (2G) is digital cellular, featuring integrated voice and data communications. So-called 2.5G networks
offer incremental speed increases. 3G networks will offer dramatically improved data transfer rates, enabling new wireless applications such as streaming media.

The International Telecommunication Union is the eldest organization in the UN family still in existence. It was founded as the International Telegraph Union in Paris on 17 May 1865 and is today the leading United Nations agency for information and communication technology issues, and the global focal point for governments and the private sector in developing networks and services.

Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is one of the third-generation (3G) mobile telecommunications technologies, which is also being developed into a 4G technology. The first deployment of the UMTS is the release99 (R99) architecture. It is specified by 3GPP and is part of the global ITU IMT-2000 standard.

2G (or 2-G) is short for second-generation wireless telephone technology. Second generation 2G cellular telecom networks were commercially launched on the GSM standard in Finland in 1991. Three primary benefits of 2G networks over their predecessors were that phone conversations were digitally encrypted, 2G systems were significantly more efficient on the spectrum allowing for far greater mobile phone penetration levels; and 2G introduced data services for mobile, starting with SMS text messages.

4G refers to the fourth generation of cellular wireless standards. It is a successor to 3G and 2G standards. The nomenclature of the generations generally refers to a change in the fundamental nature of the service. The first was the move from analogue (1G) to digital (2G) transmission. This was followed by multi-media support, spread spectrum transmission and at least 200 kbit/s (3G) and now 4G, which refers to all IP packet-switched networks, mobile ultra-broadband (gigabit speed) access and multi-carrier transmission.

CDMA2000 (also known as IMT Multi‑Carrier (IMT‑MC)) is a family of 3G mobile technology standards, which use CDMA channel access, to send voice, data, and signaling data between mobile phones and cell sites. The set of standards includes: CDMA2000 1X, CDMA2000 EV-DO Rev. 0, CDMA2000 EV-DO Rev. A, and CDMA2000 EV-DO Rev. B. All are approved radio interfaces for the ITU's IMT-2000.

Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications (DECT), known as Digital European Cordless Telephone until 1995, is an ETSI standard for digital portable phones (cordless home telephones), commonly used for domestic or corporate purposes. It is recognised by the ITU as fulfilling the IMT-2000 requirements and thus qualifies as a 3G system. Within the IMT-2000 group of technologies, DECT is referred to as IMT-2000 Frequency Time (IMT-FT)

WiMAX, an acronym for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, is a telecommunications protocol that provides fixed and fully mobile internet access. The current WiMAX revision provides up to 40 Mbps with the IEEE 802.16m update expected offer up to 1 Gbit/s fixed speeds. (WiMAX is based on the IEEE 802.16 standard, also called Broadband Wireless Access). The name WiMAX was created by the WiMAX Forum, which was formed in June 2001 to promote conformity and interoperability of the standard.

Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) (also known as Enhanced GPRS (EGPRS), or IMT Single Carrier (IMT-SC), or Enhanced Data rates for Global Evolution) is a backward-compatible digital mobile phone technology that allows improved data transmission rates, as an extension on top of standard GSM. EDGE is considered a 3G radio technology and is part of ITU's 3G definition.

High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) is a collection of two mobile telephony protocols, High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) and High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA), that extends and improves the performance of existing WCDMA protocols. A further standard, Evolved HSPA (also known as HSPA+), was released late in 2008 with subsequent adoption worldwide into 2010.