Mobile Phone Technology

5G - What is 5G? An Overview.
5G is the latest generation of mobile phone technology, succeeding 4G. It is envisaged that, in the initial phase,. . .goto page
Mobile Network Operators (UK)
A Mobile Network Operator (MNO), also known as a Mobile Network Carrier, provides the infrastructure through which. . .goto page
EE
EE is the UK's number one mobile network, consistently achieving top rankings in surveys for high speed (40 Mbps),. . .goto page
Virgin Media - O2
O2 is one of the three UK mobile phone operators. It is owned by Virgin Media and operates under the Virgin Medi. . .goto page
VodafoneThree
VodafoneThree was formed following the merger of Vodafone and Three mobile networks in May 2025. The combined netw. . .goto page
Generations of Mobile Phone Technology - 0G to 5G.
0G Phones The cellular concept is the basis of modern mobile phones. Prior to this, there were many radio telep. . .goto page
Unified Database Management
In a mobile phone system, it is necessary to store data on each subscriber. In a 2G system, this data is stored in. . .goto page
Equipment Identity Register
Each mobile network operator must maintain a list of equipment that can and cannot connect to their network. Thi. . .goto page
Mobile Phone Masts
Any mobile connection connects to a mast that relays the signal to wired (fibre) or other backhaul, which sends th. . .goto page
Mobile Network Coverage
What a mobile phone customer requires is coverage for their phone on their network at places they visit. To achiev. . .goto page
Handover
Handover and handoff are different words for the same idea. The basic principle of mobile phone technology is th. . .goto page
Roaming
When a customer purchases a SIM, their details and the SIM details are entered into the home network. This include. . .goto page
Frequencies for Mobile Communications
In the UK, Ofcom is responsible for allocating and overseeing the frequencies used for communication. This include. . .goto page
Phone Numbers
How do we identify the mobile device? With a phone number? There are various numbers within the operation of a mobile. . .goto page
Mobile Network Virtual Operators (UK)
In addition to the MNOs in the UK there are a number of Mobile Virtual Network Operators. These organisations sell mo. . .goto page
Multiplexing
The mobile phone operators have limited bandwidth and they need to split the available space between different users.. . .goto page
Modulation
The data, in terms of 0's and 1's needs to be sent on a carrier wave at a specific frequency. For example Vodafone use. . .goto page
4G Mobile Network Architecture.
The move to 4G LTE is a move to an Enhanced UTRAN architecture. The technology behind 4G is LTE standing for Long Ter. . .goto page
SMS = Short Messaging Service
SMS (Short Messaging System) is available on all mobile phones. A user can send and receive SMS messages via an ap. . .goto page
2G - the change to digital.
The original mobile phone network was analogue, which had many problems. The security of phone calls was particularly. . .goto page
4G-LTE Network
The last version of 3G (3G-HSPA+) technology has squeezed a fast capable network from the 3G mobile phone network. . . .goto page
Phase Modulation
The basis of phase modulation is that changes are made to the phase of the carrier wave and these changes represent 0 . . .goto page
3G A faster digital network for 2000
3G was designed to be the new mobile network of the new millennium. Although it was a data-only network, it did not p. . .goto page
Frequency Physics.
requencies used for mobile phone technology range from 700MHz to 3.8GHz; with 26GHz coming on stream. These frequenc. . .goto page
OFDMA - Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access
OFDM is the 'raw' frequency division multiplexing in that it splits splits the spectrum into 15kHz sub-channels, orth. . .goto page
MIMO - Multiple Input Multiple Output
MIMO, is multiple input, multiple output meaning that the signals are transmitted on different frequencies to differen. . .goto page
4G+ LTE Advance Networks
How to speed up 4G? The LTE Advance network, often referred to as 4G+, is a technology used to produce more speed out. . .goto page
WiFi and Mobiles
Wi-Fi is a wireless communication technology that allows computing devices to send and receive data from the inter. . .goto page
Mobile Broadband
There are two types of mobile router available to purchase and use. A 'mobile' mobile router is one that can be carrie. . .goto page
iPhone 17
In 2007 Apple released their first phone, the iPhone. A touch sensitive screen rather than a keyboard and a large, for. . .goto page
Samsung Galaxy S25
In 2010 Samsung released their Galaxy S range of phones as their flagship phone. These phones have, over the years, d. . .goto page
QAM - Quadrature Amplitude Modulation
There is always a demand to deliver more bits on the carrier wave. 8PSK will deliver 3 bits (8 values) but this me. . .goto page
Drivers for 4G Technology
Why was 3G not good enough? What applications are driving the demand for 4G technology? Without these demands, . . .goto page
5G Drivers for the Technology
A familiar question - why is 4G not good enough? 5G has 3 (potential) impovements over the 4G network namely more c. . .goto page
Rich Communication Services - RCS Messaging
SMS is the most basic of mobile messaging systems. There have been enhancements to allow long messages (over 160 c. . .goto page
LTE for Machines (LTE-M)
IoT for smart devices can be located anywhere but they need a communication path to the cloud or a server. In an. . .goto page
Carrier Aggregation
In a 4G-LTE environment the available bandwidth is split into channels, or component carriers. The standard sizes of . . .goto page
Network Slicing
In a 4G network each operator will run a general purpose network supporting the range of use, from browsing the Inter. . .goto page
Heath Issues of Mobile Technology
With every new generation of mobile phone technology, claims are made that the associated radiation is dangerous. . . .goto page
5G Small and Macro cells.
The classical view of mobile phone transmission is for large (macro) cells to be erected to cover a significant are. . .goto page
Voice over LTE - VoLTE
VoLTE - Voice over LTE - is the protocol for using the 4G network for phone calls. 2G and 3G networks wer. . .goto page
CGNAT- Carrier Grade Network Address Translation
When your phone is connected to the mobile network it needs an IP address so that your phone can be found.There are t. . .goto page
OFDM - Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing
FDM - Frequency Division Multiplexing is the basic technology that underlines OFDM. The available bandwidth is split . . .goto page
Beam Forming
In busy areas, most mobile cell towers are arranged to receive and send data within a 120-degree sector. These cel. . .goto page
5G - New Radio vs Stand Alone
5G in UK - the mobile operators, EE, O2, and VodafoneThree each bought frequencies to be able to run a 5G network. Th. . .goto page
Voice over IP - VoIP
VoIP is the making of a phone call over the Internet. Making phone calls over the Internet has been the 'norm' for . . .goto page
Vo-WiFi - Voice over WiFi or WiFi Clling
If your phone is connected to a WiFi network and you wish to make or receive a call then this can be carried out seam. . .goto page
Architecture of 5G mobile networks.
In the UK, there are two variants of 5G: 5G SA (standalone) and 5G NR (new radio). 5G-NR has the 5G radio/wireless. . .goto page
Frequency Divion Duplex & Time Division Duplex.
Communications between a user and the base station needs to be both ways. In a full duplex system the communication b. . .goto page
e-SIM.
A SIM card is a Subscriber Identity Module, and is the way the network identifies the device on the network. It . . .goto page
NB-IoT - Narrow Band Communications.
4G and 5G are designed to send large amounts of data, such as streaming movies. But in an IoT environment this speed i. . .goto page
Ultra Wide Band -UWB
Ultra-wideband (UWB) is a radio technology that enables short-range, high-bandwidth communication using a low amount . . .goto page
LPWAN - Low Power Wide Area Network
LPWAN - Low Power Wide Area Network refers to the technologies that allows small devices such as sensors, actuators to. . .goto page
Satellites and Mobile Phone technology
The transmission from a mobile to the mast is horizontal to the ground, and the transmission of the data back to the c. . .goto page
5G Self Backhaul.
One of the core technologies integrated into 5G is the ability to use mmWaves. these waves are at 26GHz and 40GHz. Due. . .goto page
Dynamic Spectrum Sharing.
Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS) is the technology that allows the mobile operators to use the same frequencies to deli. . .goto page
5g Frequency Bands
Three types of frequency are used (or are about to be used) for delivering 5G in the UK: low, mid and high bands. . . .goto page
Uplink Carrier Aggregation
Carrier aggregation is used to increase the data rate whereby multiple frequency blocks (component carriers) can be us. . .goto page
5G Core
The 5G core is the collection of functions required for the 5G network to work. These include authenticating users and. . .goto page