Wireless and Mobile Communications

Figure 1 gives a rough overview of some prominent wireless communication systems focusing on the two parameters gross data rate and relative speed between sender and receiver. Assuming a mobile end-user connected to a stationary transceiver station, the points on the (non proportional) speed axis resemble nonmoving persons, pedestrians, cars downtown, cars outside cities, and cars on a highway, respectively. Note that high-speed trains and airplanes cannot be accommodated by most technologies without specialized equipment. In the range suitable for higher speeds, we find typical mobile telecommunication systems offering mainly voice service and covering whole countries (see Schiller (2003) for a comparison). The most successful system is GSM (global system for mobile communication) with its successor UMTS (universal mobile communications system) for higher data rates. While GSM can be enhanced for higher data rates with GPRS (general packet radio service) and EDGE (enhanced data rates for global evolution), UMTS with its new enhancements HSDPA (high speed downlink packet access) and HSUPA (high speed uplink packet access) can deliver even higher data rates abstract