Telecommunications technology is evolving over the years with terminologies like 2G, 2.5G, 3G and so on. In recent reports, Samsung claims to have hit a technology breakthrough with 5G and its networking unit is betting big on it. But what do these really mean?
G means "generation" and it all started in 1991 where 1G, or the first generation of wireless technology, allowed users to make wireless voice-only calls. In a nutshell, each Generation is defined as a set of telephone network standards, which detail the technological implementation of a particular mobile phone system.
Technology Advancement In Devices
In 1993, its digital brother 2G was introduced. This fancy new digital network is called GSM -- Global System for Mobile Communication. The digital network offers many other important features like digital encryption, packet data, SMS text messaging, caller ID and other similar network features. With this new technology came many of the services we now take some for granted like multimedia messaging and also introduced us to the SIM card. However, Packet data transmission rates on GSM are extremely slow, according to the BBC.
3G is the mobile broadband revolution. It came in at around the time the first wave of smartphones arrived in shops. This network combines aspects of the 2G network with some new technology and protocols to deliver a significantly faster data rate. It's not that fast but it gave wireless access to the internet, which was the first step -- and it made video calling possible.
Samsung Looks To The Future Of Mobile Communications Tech
4G is a very different technology compared to 3G and was made possible practically only because of the advancements in the technology in the last 10 years. In most laymen terminology, the technology is compared in terms of speed. It was also initially available in major cities, airports and selected regional ranges. The 4G network is based on LTE-Advanced- 3GPP Long Term Evolution.
5G and will let users download a one hour HD movie in six seconds. Samsung network equipment and devices offer an attractive pathway to meeting ever-growing consumer demand for data in an emerging 5G world. 5G technology is expected to drive the next wave of mobile application development and the Internet of Things (IoT). Samsung is a main contributor and holds a host of vital patents related to the new 5G standards, which are likely to be finalized in 2018, shares the Samsung Newsroom.
