Cell-phone Network Technologies: 3G

3G technology is the latest in mobile communications. 3G stands for "third generation" -- this makes analog cellular technology generation one and digital/PCS generation two. 3G technology is intended for the true multimedia cell phone -- typically called smartphones -- and features increased bandwidth and transfer rates to accommodate Web-based applications and phone-based audio and video files.

3G comprises several cellular access technologies. The three most common ones as of 2005 are:

CDMA2000 - based on 2G Code Division Multiple Access (see Cellular Access Technologies) WCDMA (UMTS) - Wideband Code Division Multiple Access TD-SCDMA - Time-division Synchronous Code-division Multiple Access 3G networks have potential transfer speeds of up to 3 Mbps (about 15 seconds to download a 3-minute MP3 song). For comparison, the fastest 2G phones can achieve up to 144Kbps (about 8 minutes to download a 3-minute song). 3G's high data rates are ideal for downloading information from the Internet and sending and receiving large, multimedia files. 3G phones are like mini-laptops and can accommodate broadband applications like video conferencing, receiving streaming video from the Web, sending and receiving faxes and instantly downloading e-mail messages with attachments.

Of course, none of this would be possible without those soaring towers that carry cell-phone signals from phone to phone.

3G is a cell phone network protocol. Click here to learn about network protocols for Smartphones.