1.1 The Amazing Growth of Mobile Communications

Over recent years, telecommunications has been a fast-growing industry. This growth can be seen in the increasing revenues of major telecommunications carriers and the continued entry into the marketplace of new competitive carriers. No segment of the industry, however, has seen growth to match that experienced in mobile communications. From relatively humble beginnings, the last 15 years have seen an explosion in the number of mobile communications subscribers and it appears that growth is likely to continue well into the future.

The growth in the number of mobile subscribers is expected to continue for some years, with the number of mobile subscribers surpassing the number of fixed network subscribers at some point in the near future. Although it may appear that such predictions are optimistic, it is worth pointing out that in the past, most predictions for the penetration of mobile communications have been far lower than what actually occurred. In fact, in several countries, the number of mobile subscribers already exceeds the number of fixed subscribers, which suggests that predictions of strong growth are well founded. It is clear that the future is bright for mobile communications. For the next few years at least, that future means third-generation systems, the subject of this book.

Before delving into the details of third-generation systems, however, it is appropriate to review mobile communications in general, as well as first- and second-generation systems. Like most technologies, advances in wireless communications occur mainly through a process of...