2 - The motives behind the 3G evolution

Abstract

This chapter highlights some of the driving forces behind the 3G evolution, giving the reader an understanding of where the technical requirements and solutions are coming from. A key factor for success in any business is to understand the forces that will drive the business in the future. This is in particular true for the mobile-communication industry. Here the rapid growth of the number of subscribers and the global presence of the technologies have attracted several new players that want to be successful. The chapter also discusses Radio Access Network (RAN) approaches and an evolved core network with regard to the 3G evolution, In addition to Long-Term Evolution (LTE) and high-speed packet access (HSPA).An evolved core network, the “Evolved Packet Core,” was developed to ensure that an operator can coexist easily between HSPA Evolution and LTE. The System Architecture Evolution (SAE) study focused on how the 3GPP core network will evolve into the core network of the next decades. The philosophy of the SAE is to focus on the packet-switched domain and migrate away from the circuit-switched domain. This is done through the coming 3GPP releases ending up with the Evolved Packet Core.