Mobile Network Operators (UK)
A Mobile Network Operator (MNO), also known as a mobile network carrier, is a provider of the infrastructure upon whi . . . goto page
EE
EE is the number one mobile network within the UK by a number of measures including serving the largest percentage of . . . goto page
O2
O2 is one of the 4 UK mobile phone operators, currently owned by Telephonica, a Spanish company. O2 is the second larg . . . goto page
Vodafone
Vodafone has 19.7% share in the UK mobile phone market and is the 3rd largest of the mobile phone companies. Together . . . goto page
Three
Three is the smallest of the UK mobile operators with 10.9% of the UK market. They claim a 99.8% population coverage i . . . goto page
Generations of Mobile Phone Technology.
0G Phones The basis of modern mobile phones is the celular concept. Prior to this there were many radio telephones u . . . goto page
BSS - Base System Subsystem.
The Base Station Subsystem (BSS) (part of the 2G network) consists of 2 components; the Base Transceiver System (BT . . . goto page
Network Switching System
The Network Switching System has at it's core the Mobile Switching Centre (MSC). This takes the communication from th . . . goto page
Home Location Register
The Home Location Register (HLR) is where the netwrok stores the subscription data. It stores the permanent data abou . . . goto page
Visitor Location Register
The Visitor Location Register (VLR) comes as a pair with the Mobile Switching Centre (MSC). This stores the revevant . . . goto page
Authentication
The Authentication Centre (AuC) provides 2 functions to the GSM network. Firstly it stores the key (Ki) associated wit . . . goto page
Equipment Identity Register
The Equipment Identity Register (EIR) maintains lists of equipment that has tried to connect to a mobile phone network . . . goto page
Phone Services
The key task of a mobile phone is to make and receive phone calls. Landlines in the UK are run through the Public Serv . . . goto page
Mobile Phone Masts
A mobile phone mast is there to make the wireless connection between the MS and the rest of the network. These masts a . . . goto page
Mobile Network Coverage
The coverage of a network is crucial for the service provided to the client. In the UK there is near ubiquitous covera . . . goto page
User Equipment
A the user end of the mobile phone network is the equipment used by the user to connect to the wireless part of the n . . . goto page
Cellular Concept
Some key factors in building a cellular network : The network has to cope with large numbers of subscribers . . . goto page
Handover
Handover and handoff are different words for the same idea On a WiFi system, where mobility is not the norm, a dev . . . goto page
Registration
This description relates to the GSM model; registration for 3G and 4G networks are broadly similar The SIM has inte . . . goto page
Frequencies for Mobile Communications
In the UK there are 5 frequency bands made available for mobile phone communication. These bands are regulated by OfC . . . goto page
Mobile Phone Technology Basics
When purchased, the SIM is registered by a network with the features available to that SIM and stored in the netw . . . goto page
Phone Numbers
How do we identify the mobile device? - a phone number. International Network Operator is the number that identifi . . . goto page
Speech
When a speaker talks into their mobile phone it is an analogue signal that the phone receives; and when the receiver h . . . goto page
Analogue to Digital Conversion
When a phone call is made the task is to convert the analogue input (talking) to a digital representation of the wave . . . goto page
Mobile Network Virtual Operators (UK)
In addition to the MNOs in the UK there are a number of Mobile Virtual Network Operators. These organisations sell mo . . . goto page
Multiplexing or Multiple Access
There is a limited amount of bandwidth available to the mobile phone operators and one of their requirements is to sha . . . goto page
Modulation
The data, in terms of 0's and 1's needs to be sent on a carrier wave at a specific frequency. For example Vodafone use . . . goto page
Generic Mobile Reference Architecture
The different generations of mobile phone technology are based on a similar mobile network architecture. In order to h . . . goto page
GPRS networks
GPRS, often called 2.5G, is a enhancement to the initial 2G network. The 2G network was a phone network and data was . . . goto page
Framework for the 4G mobile Network.
The move to 4G is a move to an Enhanced UTRAN architecture or an enhanced 3G network. The technology behind 4G is LTE . . . goto page
WAP
The mobile Internet became available around 1999. The first phones, such as the Nokia 7110, were monochrome, small me . . . goto page
Mobile Web Overview
From 1990 it has been possible to see web pages on a mobile, the Nokia 7110 being one of the first devices. This was a . . . goto page
JQuery for Mobiles - JQM
JQuery is a javascript framework that simplifies native Javascript language coding. It is used extensively in web dev . . . goto page
Responsive Web Design for Mobiles - Bootstrap
Responsive web development implies a technology that will respond to the size of the display and to render the web pa . . . goto page
native Apps for Mobiles
There are millions of applications available for the mobile phone owner to download to their phone covering every conc . . . goto page
Cell Splitting and Small Cells.
The basics of cell splitting is to reduce the strength of signal of an antenna, this reducing the area of coverage fo . . . goto page
SMS Short Messaging Service
SMS is the Short Messaging System available on all mobile phones. An app on a user's phone will allow them to send an . . . goto page
SMS Messaging Apps
A single SMS message is limited to 160 characters so how can larger messages be sent? Standard SMS Apps on the ph . . . goto page
WAP Push Messages
WAP Push is a special type of SMS message that is pushed to the recipient. The data sent is one of two types : . . . goto page
MMS Messages
MMS is the Mulitmedia messages service available on all modern phones phones. It is advertised as adding rich media s . . . goto page
Increasing capacity of mobile phone network.
When a mobile operator plans the network cell, covered by a single antenna, is designed to cover the specific area tak . . . goto page
Cell Sectorisation.
The typical schematic for mobile coverage shows perfect hexagons with an omnidirectional antenna at the centre. If dem . . . goto page
EDGE networks
EDGE = Enhanced Data-rates for GPRS Evolution On a modern smartphone, users will in areas of 2G network covererage a l . . . goto page
Long SMS Messages
A standard SMS message will send messages of at most 160 7-bit characters to a recipient. But what is the message to b . . . goto page
Flash SMS Messages
SMS messages are more adaptable than many would think. Different types of message can be sent by altering setting(s) i . . . goto page
Phase Modulation
The basis of phase modulation is that changes are made to the phase of the carrier wave and these changes represent 0 . . . goto page
3G Wireless Phones
G Edge had squeezed a lot out of an older network design but there was still a demand for data. The main goal for the 3 . . . goto page
3G Spectrum Auction (UK)
here was a large demand for data within the mobile phone network. Bands at 1900MHz and 2100MHz were allocated for 3G t . . . goto page
Frequency Physics.
requencies used for mobile phone technology range from 800MHz to 2.6GHz. These frequencies have different characterist . . . goto page
HSPA / HSPA+ networks
HSPA - High Speed Packet Access HSDPA - High Speed Download Packet Access HSDPA+ - Enhanced HSDPA Afte . . . goto page
OFDMA
At the core OFDMA is a frequency division multiplexing scheme. Where the broadband, frequency range is split into a nu . . . goto page
MIMO
MIMO, is multiple input, multiple output meaning that the signal are transmitted on different frequencies to different . . . goto page
Notable Phones
The start of the mobile phone revolution was in March 1973 with a large brick sized (and weighted)device that could m . . . goto page
Unpaired Spectrum
In the auctions for mobile frequency most of the spectrum sales have been for paired spectrum.that means the uplink an . . . goto page
Mobile Broadband
A Mobile router is a device the same facility as a normal broadband router but rather than providing the backhaul over . . . goto page
Apple iPhones
In 2007 Apple released their first phone, the iPhone. A touch sensitive screen rather than a keyboard and a large, for . . . goto page
Samsung Galaxy S Phones
In 2010 Samsung released their Galaxy S range of phones as their flagship phone. These phones have, over the years, d . . . goto page
SIM Deals
On each of the mobile phone operator sites there is a wide variety of mobile phones available at a variety of SIM tari . . . goto page
QAM - Quadrature Amplitude Modulation
There is always a demand to deliver more bits on the carrier wave. 8PSK will deliver 3 bits (8 values) but this me . . . goto page
4G-Drivers for the Technology
Why is 3g not good enough? What are the technology drivers that will give the demand for 4G technology. Because if . . . goto page
5G Drivers for the Technology
A familiar question - why is 4G not good enough? 5G has 3 (potential) impovements over the 4G network namely more c . . . goto page
5G - Overview of Technology
5G is the latest generation of mobile phone technologies, following on from 4G. Indeed it is envisaged that 4G will wo . . . goto page
5G Bandwidth Auction in UK
5G will be delivered (in UK) using a mix of 3 spectrum bands : 700Mhz - to provide the coverage over large areas . . . goto page
Virtual SMS.
Many companies use SMS messages to communicate with customers. For example : Marketing or Advertising Second of . . . goto page
Format of SMS messages.
n SMS message is sent as a series of 140 8 bit characters. These can be decoded into 160 7 bit characters (as usual in . . . goto page
WiMax
Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax) is a technology standard for long-range wireless networking f . . . goto page
RCS Messaging
SMS is the most basic of mobile messaging systems. There have been enhancements to allow long messages (over 160 c . . . goto page
LTE for Machines (LTE-M)
The model for IoT or Smart devices is that these can be located anywhere but they need some element of communication t . . . goto page
Carrier Aggregation
In a 4G-LTE environment the available bandwidth is split into channels, or component carriers. The standard sizes of . . . goto page
Network Slicing
In a 4G network each operator will have a single network. This of necessity will be a general purpose network support . . . goto page
Heath Issues of Mobile Technology
With every new generatio of mobile phone technology there are claims that the radiation associated with the technology . . . goto page
5G Small and Macro cells.
The big change implemented in 5g is (will be) mmWave, transmission frequency at 26GHz. These waves have a large capac . . . goto page
VoLTE
VoLTE - Voice over LTE - is the protocol for using the 4G network for phone calls. 2G and 3G networks wer . . . goto page
SDL
In a normal mobile connection the channel used is a pair of channels, one uplink and one downlink. The mo . . . goto page
CGNAT- Carrier Grade Network Address Translation
In a home computer network the usual organisation is that the router will have a unique IPv4 address, som . . . goto page