2
GSM and EGPRS
2.1 Introduction
The limitations of the first generation analogue mobile telephony system led to the development of the second generation mobile systems. Systems such as Nordic Mobile Telephones (NMT) in (Scandinavian) Europe, AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone Service) in the USA and TACS (Total Access Communication System) in the UK operated under the so-called first generation systems. However, they were incompatible with each other and covered a small geographic area. Though developments did take place within these systems, however, digital revolution paved the way for the next wave of mobile systems which went on to cover most of the planet. These second generation digital systems were more harmonized and of course had a digital technology at their foundation leading to better voice quality and spectrum utilization. Many variants of second generation systems came in different markets that included GSM (Global Systems for Mobile Communications), TDMA IS-136, CDMA IS-95, PDC (Personal Digital Cellular) and PHS (Personal Handy Phone System). However, in this chapter, we will only discuss in detail the GSM and EGPRS systems.
The GSM system is the most popular second generation technology with over a billion people connected through this system (in 2007, the world saw more than 3 billion people connected to voice telephony). The first GSM networks appeared up commercially in the early 1990s but, however, work on these systems started as early as during the 1980s. Based ...
