Background[edit]
The nomenclature of the generations generally refers to a change in the fundamental nature of the
service, non-backwards-compatible transmission technology, higher peak bit rates, new frequency
bands, wider channel frequency bandwidth in Hertz, and higher capacity for many simultaneous data
transfers (higher system spectral efficiency inbit/second/Hertz/site).
New mobile generations have appeared about every ten years since the first move from 1981 analog
(1G) to digital (2G) transmission in 1992. This was followed, in 2001, by 3G multi-media
support, spread spectrum transmission and, at least, 200 kbit/s peak bit rate, in 2011/2012 to be
followed by "real" 4G, which refers to all-Internet Protocol (IP)packet-switched networks giving
mobile ultra-broadband (gigabit speed) access.