1.

Introduction

Enhanced Data rates for Global Evolution (EDGE) are a radio based high-speed
mobile data standards. A technology that gives Global System for Mobile
Communications (GSM) the capacity to handle services for the third generation of
mobile network. EDGE was initially developed for mobile network operators who fail
to win Universal Mobile Telephone System (UMTS) spectrum. EDGE gives
incumbent GSM operators the opportunity to offer data services at speeds that are near
to those available on UMTS networks. EDGE enables services like multimedia
emailing, Web infotainment and video conferencing to be easily accessible from
wireless terminals.

The explosive growth of Global System for Mobile (GSM) Communication services
over the last two decades has changed mobile communications from a niche market to
a fundamental constituent of the global telecommunication markets. GSM is a digital
wireless technology standard based on the notion that users want to communicate
wirelessly without limitations created by network or national borders. In a short period
of time, GSM has become a global phenomenon. The explanation for its success is the
cooperation and coordination of technical and operational evolution that has created a
virtuous circle of growth built on three principles: interoperability based on open
platforms, roaming, and economies of scale (GSM Association,
2004a). GSM standards are now adopted by more than 200 countries and territories. It
has become the main global standard for mobile communications; 80% of all new
mobile customers are on GSM networks. GSM has motivated wireless adoption to the
extent that mobile phones now globally outnumber fixed-line telephones. In February
2004, more than 1 billion people, almost one in six of the world’s population, were
using GSM mobile phones.

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Some developed European nations such as the United Kingdom, Norway, Finland, and
Spain have penetration levels of between 80 to 90% with other European nations not
far behind. However, there are some countries such as Hong Kong and Italy that have
a 100% penetration level. The importance of the mobile telecommunication industry is
now apparent: A recent study commissioned by a UK mobile operator establishes that
the United Kingdom’s mobile-phone sector now contributes as much to the UK gross
domestic product as the total oil- and gas-extraction industry (MMO2, 2004).

Technical developments, competition, and deregulation have contributed to a strong

growth in the adoption of mobile phones in the third world. In Africa, recent research
has shown that mobile telephony has been extremely important in providing an
African telecommunications infrastructure. The number of mobile phone users on the
African continent has increased by over 1,000% between 1998 and 2003 to reach a
total of 51.8 million. Mobile-user numbers have exceeded those of fixed line, which
stood at 25.1 million at the end of 2003. The factors for success in this region include
demand, sector reform, the licensing of new competition, and the emergence of
important strategic investors (ITU, 2004). Another region experiencing rapid growth
is India; it is one of the fastest growing markets, with its subscriber base doubling in
2003. It is anticipated that India will have 100 million GSM subscribers by 2007 and
2008 compared to 26 million subscribers as of March 2004 (3G Portal, 2004). Most
Latin American operators have chosen GSM over the North American code-division
multiple-access (CDMA) standards, and GSM growth in North America is higher
than CDMA.

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2 Generation Wise Categorization

2.1 Focus: Evolution Of GSM Networks

Mobile communications can be divided into three distinct eras identified by an

increase in functionality and bandwidth. These eras relate to the implementation of
technological advancements in the field. The industry is currently on the verge of
implementing the third technological era and at the beginning of defining the next step
for the fourth era.

2.2 First-Generation Networks

The first-generation (1G) cellular systems were the simplest communication networks
deployed in the 1980s. The first-generation networks were based on analogue-
frequency-modulation transmission technology. Challenges faced by the operators
included inconsistency, frequent loss of signals, and low bandwidth. The 1G network
was also expensive to run due to a limited customer base.

2.3 Second-Generation Networks

The second-generation (2G) cellular systems were the first to apply digital
transmission technologies for voice and data communication. The data transfer rate
was in the region of 10s of Kbps. Other examples of technologies in 2G systems
include frequency-division multiple access (FDMA), time-division multiple access
(TDMA), and code-division multiple access.

The second-generation networks deliver high-quality and secure mobile voice, and
basic data services such as fax and text messaging along with full roaming capabilities
across the world.

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To address the poor data transmission rates of the 2G network, developments were
made to upgrade 2G networks without replacing the networks. These technological
enhancements were called 2.5G technologies and include networks such as General
Packet Radio Service (GPRS). GPRS-enabled networks deliver features such as
always-on, higher capacity, Internet-based content and packet-based data services
enabling services such as colour Internet browsing, e-mail on the move, visual
communications, multimedia messages, and location-based services. Another
complementary 2.5G service is Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE).
This network upgrade offers similar capabilities as those of the GPRS network.
Another 2.5G network enhancement of data services is high-speed circuit-switched
data (HSCSD). This allows access to nonvoice services 3 times faster than
conventional networks, which means subscribers are able to send and receive data
from their portable computers at speeds of up to 28.8 Kbps; this is currently being
upgraded in many networks to 43.2 Kbps. The HSCSD solution enables higher rates
by using multiple channels, allowing subscribers to enjoy faster rates for their Internet,
e-mail, calendar, and file-transfer services. HSCSD is now available to more than 100
million customers across 27 countries around the world in Europe, Asia Pacific, South
Africa, and Israel (GSM, 2002)

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2.4 Current Trend: Third-Generation Networks

The most promising period is the advent of third-generation (3G) networks. These
networks are also referred to as the universal mobile telecommunications systems
(UMTSs). The global standardization effort undertaken by the ITU is called IMT-
2000. The aim of the group was to evolve today’s circuit-switched core network to
support new spectrum allocations and higher bandwidth capability. Over 85% of the
world’s network operators have chosen 3G as the underlying technology platform to
deliver their third-generation services (GSM, 2004b).

The implementation of the third generation of mobile systems has experienced delays
in the launch of services. There are various reasons for the delayed launch, ranging
from device limitations, application-and network-related technical problems, and lack
of demand. A significant factor in the delayed launch that is frequently discussed in
the telecommunication literature (Klemperer, 2002; Maitland, Bauer, & Westerveld,
2002; Melody, 2000) is the extortionate fees paid for the 3G-spectrum license in
Europe during the auction process. Most technical problems along with device
shortage have been overcome, but there are still financial challenges to be addressed
caused by the high start-up costs and the lack of a subscriber base due to the market
saturation in many of the countries launching 3G.

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3 Current Market Technologies

3.1 GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication):

The largest digital mobile standard in use today, used in over 170 countries
worldwide. More than 70 percent of the world's digital phones operate on GSM
technology. Implemented in 400MHz, 800MHz, 900MHz, 1800MHz and 1900MHz
frequency bands.

3.2 GPRS (General Packet Radio Service):

An enhancement for GSM core networks that introduces packet data transmission,
GPRS uses radio spectrum very efficiently and provides users with "always on"?
connectivity and greater bandwidth. GPRS users will eventually enjoy worldwide
roaming while 1xRTT users today cannot. GPRS is the internationally accepted
standard for roaming based on GSM technology, which is employed by over 170
countries around the world.

3.3 EDGE (Enhanced Data rates for Global Evolution):

EDGE is a technology that gives GSM Networks the capacity to handle services for
3G. EDGE was developed to enable the transmission of large amounts of data at peak
rates of up to 472kbps. Users should experience average speeds of 80 kbps to 130
kbps. EDGE deployment will begin in 2003 with full deployment finishing in 2004.
EDGE devices are backwards compatible with GPRS and will be able to operate on
GPRS networks where EDGE has not yet been deployed.

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3.4 The Second Generation Evolution to EDGE:-
GSM and TDMA/136 are two second-generation cellular standards with worldwide
success. Today GSM is used by more than 135 million subscribers in over 100
countries, and the TDMA/136 system family (including EIA-553 and IS-54) serves
over 95 million subscribers in over 100 countries worldwide. Although speech is still
the main service in these systems, support for data communication over the radio
interface is being rapidly improved. The current GSM standard provides data services
with user bit rates up to 14.4 kb/s for circuit switched data and up to 22.8 kb/s for
packet data. Higher bit rates can be achieved with multislot operation, but since both
high-speed circuit-switched data (HSCSD) and General Packet Radio Service (GPRS)
are based on the original Gaussian minimum shift keying (GMSK) modulation, the
increase of bit rates is slight.

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EDGE uses high-level modulation in 200 kHz TDMA and is based on plug-in
transceiver equipment. Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service (UMTS) is a
new radio access network based on 5 MHz wideband code division multiple access
(WCDMA). UMTS can be used in both new and existing spectra.
By adding third-generation capabilities to the GSM network implies the addition of
packet switching, Internet access, and IP connectivity capabilities. With this approach,
the existing mobile networks will reuse the elements of mobility support, user
authentication/service handling, and circuit switching. Packet switching/IP capabilities
are added to provide a mobile multimedia core network by evolving existing mobile
telephony networks.

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4. Development of EDGE:-

EDGE was first proposed to European Telecommunications Standards Institute

(ETSI) in Europe, as an evolution of GSM at the beginning of 1997. Although EDGE
reuses the GSM carrier bandwidth and time slot structure, it is by no means restricted
to use within GSM cellular systems. Instead, it can be seen as a generic air interface
for efficiently providing high bit rates, facilitating an evolution of existing cellular
systems toward third-generation capabilities. After evaluating a number of different
proposals, EDGE was adopted by UWCC in January 1998 as the outdoor component
of 136HS to provide 384 kb/s data services. This was in support of the technology
evolution for GSM and TDMA/ 136 systems.
Since then, EDGE development has been concurrently carried out in ETSI and UWCC
to guarantee a high degree of synergy with both GSM and TDMA/136. The
standardization roadmap for EDGE foresees two phases. In the first phase the
emphasis has been placed on Enhanced GPRS (EGPRS) and Enhanced Circuit-
Switched Data (ECSD).
EDGE uses the same TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access) frame structure, logic
channel and 200 kHz carrier bandwidth as today's GSM networks, which allows
existing cell plans to remain intact. Its high data transmission speed offers more
diverse and media
rich content and applications to GSM subscribers.

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4.1 Implementing EDGE:

Implementation of EDGE by network operators has been designed to be simple. Only

one EDGE transceiver unit will need to be added to each cell. With most vendors, it is
envisaged that software upgrades to the Base Station Controller (BSCs) and Base
Stations can be carried out remotely. The new EDGE capable transceiver can also
handle standard GSM traffic and will automatically switch to EDGE mode when
needed. Some EDGE capable terminals are expected to support high data rates in the
downlink receiver only (i.e. high dates rates can be received but not sent), whilst
others will access EDGE in both uplink and downlinks (i.e. high data rates can be
received and sent).
The later device types will therefore need greater terminal modifications to both the
receiver and the transmitter parts. EDGE is designed for migration into existing GSM
and TDMA networks, enabling operators to offer multimedia and other IP-based
services at speeds of up to 384 kbits/s (possibly 473 kbits/s in the future) in wide area
networks.
An important attraction of EDGE is the smooth evolution and upgrade of existing
network hardware and software, which can be introduced into an operator's current

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GSM or TDMA network in existing frequency bands.In addition, the TDMA industry
association, the Universal Wireless Communications Corporation, has introduced
what it calls EDGE Compact.

4.2 The Technology behind EDGE

The first stepping stone in migration path to third generation wireless mobile services
(3G) is the General Packet Radio Services, GPRS, a packet-switched technology that
delivers speeds of up to 115kbps. If GPRS is already in place, Enhanced Data rates for
Global Evolution (EDGE) technology is most effective as the second stepping stone
that gives a low impact migration. Only software upgrades and EDGE plug-in
transceiver units are needed. The approach protects operators' investments by allowing
them to reuse their existing network equipment and radio systems.
EDGE provides an evolutionary migration path from GPRS to UMTS by
implementing the changes in modulation for implementing UMTS later. The idea
behind EDGE is to eke out even higher data rates on the current 200 kHz GSM radio
carrier by changing the type of modulation used, whilst still working with current
circuit (and packet) switches.
EDGE is primarily a radio interface improvement, but in a more general context it can
also be viewed as a system concept that allows the GSM and TDMA/136 networks to
offer a set of new services.

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4.3 Packet-Switched Transmission: EGPRS:-
Due to the higher bit rate and the need to adapt the data protection to the channel
quality, the EDGE radio link control (RLC) protocol is somewhat different from the
corresponding GPRS protocol. The main changes are related to improvements in the
link quality control scheme. As mentioned earlier, link quality control is a common
term for techniques to adapt the robustness of the radio link to varying channel
quality. Examples of link quality control techniques are link adaptation and
incremental redundancy.
A link adaptation scheme regularly estimates the link quality and subsequently selects
the most appropriate modulation and coding scheme for coming transmissions in order
to maximize the user bit rate. Another way to cope with link quality variations is
incremental redundancy. In an incremental redundancy scheme, information is first
sent with very little coding, yielding a high bit rate if decoding is immediately
successful. If decoding fails, additional coded bits (redundancy) are sent until
decoding succeeds. The more coding that has to be sent, the lower the resulting bit
rate and the higher the delay.
EGPRS supports a combined link adaptation and incremental redundancy scheme. In
this scheme, the initial code rate for the incremental redundancy scheme is based on
measurements of the link quality. Benefits of this approach are the robustness and
high throughput of the incremental redundancy operation in combination with the
lower delays and lower memory requirements enabled by the adaptive initial code
rate.
As in GPRS, the different initial code rates are obtained by puncturing a different
number of bits from a common convolution code (rate 1/3). The resulting coding
schemes are listed in Table 1. Incremental redundancy operation is enabled by
puncturing a different set of bits each time a block is retransmitted, whereby the code
rate is gradually decreased toward 1/3 for every new transmission of the block. The
selection of the initial modulation and code rate to use is based on regular
measurements of link quality.

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4.4 Circuit-Switched Transmission: Enhanced CSD:-
For the ECSD mode of EDGE, the aim is to keep the existing GSM circuit-switched
data protocols as intact as possible. A data frame is interleaved over 22 TDMA frames
as in GSM, and three new 8-PSK channel coding schemes are defined along with the
four already existing for GSM. As shown in Table 2, the radio interface rate varies
between 3.6 and 38.8 kb/s per time slot. For nontransparent transmission, the current
assumption is that the radio link protocol of GSM is to be used.

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4.5 High Speed Circuit Switched Data (HSCSD) is a new high
speed implementation of GSM data techniques.

It will enable users to access the Internet and other datacom services via the GSM
network at considerably higher data rates than at present.HSCSD allows wireless data
to be transmitted at 38.4 kilobits per second or even faster over GSM networks by
allocating up to eight time slots to a single user.

Current datacom services over GSM generally allows transferring files or data and
sending faxes at 9.6 kbps. With HSCSD the user will find wireless connection to the
Internet much faster at 38.4 kbps, which is up to four times faster than today's
standard usage. It also opens up possibilities for many new kinds of market driven
wireless services. HSCSD is especially well suited for time sensitive, real-time
services. Examples could be transferring of large files with specified Quality of
Service or video surveillance. Commercial HSCSD implementations are important
steps towards 3rd generation wideband wireless multimedia services. Third-generation
wireless systems will handle services up to 384 kbps in wide area applications and up
to 2 Mbps for indoor applications.

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5 Types of EDGE:-

5.1 EDGE Classic:

The EDGE Classic air-interface is based on the EDGE standard developed by the
European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI). EDGE Classic is ETSI-
EDGE with minor modifications, primarily information related to ANSI-136, that
enables it to be overlaid as a packet data carrier on top of the existing ANSI-136 30
kHz air-interface. Examples of such information are pointers to the ANSI-136 Digital
Control Channels (DCCH) covered by the EDGE cell and some of the broadcast
information available on the ANSI-136 DCCH.
A class B ANSI-136 terminal (a terminal with ANSI-136 voice and EDGE packet
data) needs this information when camping on the EDGE packet data channel in order
to originate and terminate circuit-switched services, e.g., incoming and outgoing voice
calls.
Operators who can set aside 2.4 MHz of initial spectrum for data applications can
overlay EDGE Classic on top of their existing ANSI-136 air-interface.

5.2 EDGE Compact:

EDGE Compact uses the same modulation scheme as EDGE Classic. However, there
are certain key differences that enable it to be deployed in less than 1 MHz of
spectrum. The key characteristics that differentiate EDGE Compact from EDGE
Classic are:

5.2.1 Inter base station time synchronization:

A key characteristic of EDGE Compact is that the base stations are time synchronized
with each other. This makes it possible to allocate common control channels in such a
way as to prevent simultaneous transmission and reception. This creates a higher
effective reuse, necessary for control signalling, e.g., 3/9 or 4/12. The base station

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synchronization is carried out such that the timeslot structure is aligned between
sectors and the hyper-frame structures are aligned between all sectors.

5.2.2 Time Groups and Discontinuous transmission:

Each base station site is typically allocated at least three frequencies, one per sector,
using a 1/3 frequency re-use pattern. Inter base station time synchronization makes
it possible to create time-groups within every frequency. Each sector is assigned one
time-group. EDGE Compact is capable of supporting up to four time-groups per
carrier. The typical re-use configurations with three carriers are:
o 3/9 re-use using three out of the four time-groups
o 4/12 re-uses using all four time-groups.
When a sector belonging to one of the time-groups transmits or receives common
control signalling, the sectors belonging to other time-groups are idle, i.e., are silent
in both uplink and downlink. It is worth noting that the data traffic is carried over
these same frequencies without using the time group concept. This results in a
1/3 re-use pattern for data traffic.
o New logical control channel combination based on a standard 52 multi-frame
o Time Group rotation of Control Channel.

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6. EDGE in GSM Systems

6.1 Effects on the GSM System Architecture:

The increased bit rates of EDGE put requirements on the GSM/GPRS network
architecture. Figure. illustrates the GSM/GPRS architecture, the shaded parts of
which are discussed in this section. Other nodes and interfaces are not affected at all
by EDGE introduction.

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An apparent bottleneck is the A-bis interface, which today supports up to 16 kb/s per
traffic channel. With EDGE, the bit rate per traffic channel will approach 64 kb/s,
which makes allocation of multiple A-bis slots to one traffic channel necessary.
Alternative asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) or IP-based solutions to this problem
can also be discusses. One important fact is, however, that the 16 kb/s limit will be
exceeded already by the introduction of two coding schemes (CS3 and CS4) in GPRS,
which have a maximal bit rate per traffic channel of 22.8 kb/s. Consequently, the A-
bis limitation problem is being solved outside the EDGE standardization, and it is
therefore a GPRS related, not EDGE-related, modification. For GPRS-based packet
data services, other nodes and interfaces are already capable of handling higher bit
rates, and are thus not affected. For circuit-switched services, the A interface can
handle 64 kb/s per user, which is not exceeded by EDGE circuit-switched bearers.

7. Advantages

7.1 Advantages of EDGE

GPRS brought mobile phone users out from the world of WAP, and into a world
where Internet was finally available on mobiles. This in itself was a monumental feat,
and hence GPRS took off with quite a bang. With GPRS, large amounts of data can be
transferred to and from the mobile device over the Internet. GPRS-enabled mobile
phones also double up as portable Internet connections for laptops. In some cases,
where Internet access is not readily available but a mobile network is, GPRS can be a
lifesaver. Most phones can be used as a modem once connected to a laptop. The
advantage of GPRS, in today’s technological environment, is that it is a great backup
option. The portability factor has diminished somewhat, with the advent of much
faster data cards, which plug directly into the laptop.

Since GPRS uses the cellular network’s GSM band to transmit data, more often than
not, when a connection is active, calls and other network-related functions cannot be
used. The data session will go on standby. This is a characteristic typical of the Class

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B GPRS device. There are Class A devices as well, where there are two radios
incorporated into the device, allowing both features to run simultaneously. However,
Class A devices tend to be more expensive, and by extension, less popular. Most
mobile phones fall in the Class B category. GPRS is usually billed per megabyte or
kilobyte, depending on the individual service provider. However, this has changed in
many places, where GPRS downloads are no longer charged as per usage, but are
unlimited, and there is merely a flat fee to be paid every month.

8. CONCLUSION
In just over two decades, mobile network technologies have evolved from simple 1G
networks to today’s 3G networks, which are capable of high-speed data transmission
allowing innovative applications and services. The evolution of the communication
networks is fuelling the development of the mobile Internet and creating new types of
devices. In the future, 4G networks will supersede 3G.

The fourth-generation technology supports broadly similar goals to the third-

generation effort, but starts with the assumption that future networks will be entirely
packet-switched using protocols evolved from those in use in today’s Internet.
Today’s Internet telephony systems are the foundation for the applications that will be
used in the future to deliver innovative telephony services.

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9. Bibliography

www.wikipedia.org/wiki/EDGE
www.siemens.ie/mobile/technologies/edge.htm
www.mobilegprs.com/edge.htm
www.3g-generation.com/gprs_and_edge.htm

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