The Next Generation

4G is the all new generation of cellular wireless standards. It was preceded in time by the 3G and 2G wireless standards. These standards were released in the early 2000s and came in a variety of options, including the most used widely recognized CDMA and GSM, which are used on the networks of companies like Verizon and Cellular South for CDMA, and AT&T and T-Mobile for GSM. However innovative they may have been in their time, they are simply outliving their usefulness when it comes to the technological advances that are being made everyday.

The process of switching to 4G networks has been slowed by the difficult standards, which must be met to qualify for true 4G quality. As such, HSPA+ is currently the closest thing that has been publicly released that can provide speeds near 4G levels. However, these are more likely 3.9G speeds as they can reach speeds of 15.67 Mbit/s downstreams. True 4G must meet the following requirements: it must be based on an all-IP packed switched network, it must have peak data rates of nearly 100 Mbit/s for highly mobile things such as mobile access and almost 1 Gbit/s for low mobility such as local wireless access, it much be able to utilize efficiently network resources to support more users per cell tower at the same time, maximal spectral efficiency of 15 bit/s/Hz in downlink, and 6.75 bit/s/Hz in uplink, and smooth handovers must be present across all networks.

In 2008, there were two technologies that were thought to be options for 4G, LTE Advanced and 802.16m. However, due to the difficulty in implementation, the following alternatives have been offered: WiMax and LTE. These are only stepping stones for the larger networks WiMax and LTE Advanced as they are being finished. LTE Advanced's implementation began in 2010 and will likely not be finished until 2012 or 2013. There has been much confusion about LTE Advanced and whether it is actually 4G, because many cell phone networks have been putting out previous versions and calling it 4G while it is simply 3.9G because it does not meet the above required standards for inclusion into the 4G family. While most of the current networks are in fact 3.9G, help is on the way in the form of 100 Mbit/s download speeds in the near future.

These same cell phone providers are soon to release such updates and will continue to compete for customers as we progress into the future. A normal generation in terms of cell coverage lasts about 10 years, with the first generation being produced in 1981 and the second coming out in the early 1990's. Although this is typically the time it takes to to produce a new type of system, things seem to be gaining steam and being put out at a much faster rate. Whether this is because of technological advances or because of cell coverage providers inaccurately labeling their coverage remains to be seen, however one thing is certain, cell coverage is getting faster, and fast.