A Review of Mobile Technologies from 1G to the 5G and a Comparison between Them

Abstract

One of the most widely used systems in the past decades is the mobile communication system. This system provides a way for users to share their messages and information and communicate with each other in different locations without the use of any physical connection. The capabilities of such systems can be categorized into different generations. By definition, mobile network generations are a set of hardware and software advances that have been made with the advent of mobile telephony. If we want to introduce the generations of mobile phones since the creation of the first mobile network, we must start with the first generation of mobile phones or 1G. Then, with the advancement of technology and increasing human needs, other generations of mobile networks emerged. The second generation of mobile (or 2G), the third generation of mobile (or 3G), the fourth generation of mobile (or 4G) and fifth generation mobile (or 5G). Generations of mobile networks such as 2.5G, 2.75G, 3.5G, 3.75G and 4.5G have also emerged, which we will discuss later. In this paper, we do not discuss the zero generation mobile phone. 1G only offered low-quality analog audio services, but 2G had better audio quality than the previous generation due to the use of digital signals instead of analog. Then, in 3G, in addition to transmitting audio data, it was also possible to transfer non-voice data. In this generation, higher data rates, more capacity and multimedia communications were also supported. In 4G, the network capacity increased a lot and the data transfer speed and quality improved significantly. Finally, in the 5G standard, using new technologies such as millimeter waves and D2D communication, the data exchange speed has increased a lot and everyone is moving towards communication. In this paper, we describe the transition from 1G to 5G technologies and compare these technologies from different aspects.

Keywords- mobile communications system, cellular communications, generation, 5G, 4G, 3G, 2G, 1G. Multimedia communication, QoS (Quality of service).