Popular Technology Degrees

Telecommunications or Television and Communications?

September 15, 2005
By Mary Hobson
Technology Schools Columnist

Do you, like me, buy a new cell phone, program in all your contact numbers, sort out the voice mail and messaging and then leave all the other features to rot? Or are you a gadget person, spend days working out the new features, and - in true geek fashion - read the manual?

More Applications

Well, wireless telecommunications are developing fast, and in several areas at once. New cell phones are becoming a little more interesting, with new applications such as cameras and the ability to transmit pictures. But once you've sent some of the pictures to your friends, or downloaded them into your PC, there's not really so much more, is there? Oh yes, we can pick up emails as well - hang on for a little longer, and the ancillary features might become more interesting than the phone.

Generations 1, 2 and 3

So far, we have seen three generations of telecommunications technology applied to cell phones. Actually, it has been somewhat more complex than that; the second generation advanced in slices, so we saw 2nd generation, 2.5 generation (GPRS half cell), 2.75 generation (GPRS full cell, I think), and now we are being sold 3rd generation technology. The technical name for this is CDMA2000, and the reason that we can do more with this communications technology is that the wireless bandwidth is much wider than previous generations - some 144kbps (kilobits per second). The next developments - 4th generation - will be theoretically available in 2006.

4th Generation

What will this mean? More bandwidth - data rates up to 2.4 mbps (megabits per second), and with this kind of bandwidth, there are lots of things you can do. First, this kind of bandwidth is around the same as you need for broadband communications - wireless lans and WiFi. The difference is that cellular phone technology runs on different protocols (rules), so once these are sorted out you can use your cell phone network as a computer network.

Secondly, this kind of bandwidth allows the smooth transmission of pictures as well as audio, so we have the possibility of "street television", that is watching television on the move. If you are commuting long distances, or want to see 10 minute updates of your favorite sport live, you simply use your 4th generation cell network. Thirdly, you can download appreciable amounts of music over your wireless telecommunications network.

Suddenly, the devices we use to make calls over the cell phone network are looking much more complex - we need something that acts like a laptop to be able to deal with these applications, or do we? With cell phones looking more like PDA devices, and PDAs with cell phone connectivity, it’s not hard to imagine devices that are eminently portable that can cope with all these applications. You simply need to know more, so maybe we will see more online courses in how to use your 4th generation telecommunications device properly - over your cell network, of course.

Sources:
http://searchmobilecomputing.techtarget.com/generic/0,295582,sid40_gci1078079,00.html?bucket=ETA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4G
http://www.eurotechnology.com/4G/index.html

About the Author
Mary Hobson is a consultant for technology start-ups in Russia. She has also worked as an executive officer in a defense facility and as a university lecturer in computer science and management information. Mary earned her first degree in textile marketing and subsequently studied education and computer science at a Master's degree level.

Copyright © 2005 HQ Publications. All rights reserved.