AI in RAN

A brief history of mobile communications: from 1G to 6G

 Five generations of cellular standards have fundamentally changed our lives, but the world of mobile communications is still evolving.

 Beginnings: 1G and 2G

The first cellular generation (1G) is remembered for its analog voice transmission and bulky mobile phones that have very little in common with modern devices.

In 1982, Groupe Spécial Mobile (GSM) was founded – the starting shot for cellular technology across Europe. The idea was that frequencies for mobile communications should be allocated only to operators who agreed to use the GSM standard. This made proprietary systems a thing of the past. Travelers no longer needed to buy a separate mobile device for every European country.

2G introduced digital voice transmission and the short message service (SMS). Furthermore, a new type of ecosystem emerged consisting of network operators, infrastructure providers, device manufacturers and T&M specialists.

 Entering the age of data

With the introduction of the UMTS standard, 3G enabled telephony, data transmission and communications between machines. 4G optimized voice transmission and brought high-quality audio and video to smartphones – paving the way to the apps we commonly use today.

Now 5G focuses on large-scale networking. Devices as diverse as fitness trackers, refrigerators, traffic lights and industrial robots are being connected to the network. Lastly, 6G will support the further evolution of mobile communications with technologies such as artificial intelligence.

The evolution to 6G technology

 Evolution Path from 5G to 6G