Shahabuddin, Rahaman, Rehman, Ahmad, and Khan
8
networks had a limited risk of mass cloning of the mobile sets. Although attempts had
been made to completely get rid of mobile set cloning, they were proven to be unsuccessful. Even though the information about the number being dialed could be encrypted,
the major problem was transmission through the air, as signals could easily be received
by using any FM receiver, since the transmission used frequency modulation [16].
1.4 Second Generation Cellular Systems
The improvement of the processing abilities of hardware platforms made the development of 2G wireless systems possible. Digital modulation scheme was implemented in
2G, targeting the voice market. The overall system performance rapidly improved due
to shifting from analog to digital modulation schemes. The total capacity in 2G
was improved by using digital speech codecs, implementing time division and Code
Division Multiplexing (CDM) techniques for multiplexing several users using a single
channel. In 2G, stronger security systems were also introduced by applying encryption algorithms that were absent in the 1G.
Another attractive feature of the second generation along with other new applications
was the short messaging service (SMS). The first SMS was sent using Vodafone
GSM network on 3 December 1992 in the United Kingdom. Gradually, some European
countries implemented this service to notify the users about the voice mail. Nokia
released their first SMS supporting mobile phone, which was capable of sending SMS
from one user to another. Today, over 23 billion SMS messages are sent from the mobile
operator per day, all over the world. The SMS are used for news updates, business alerts,
various payments, blogging, voting and for many other uses.
2G systems evolved to support packet data services, while the previous method was
the circuit switched data service, which was similar in concept of dial‐up modems.
Wireless Access Protocol (WAP) was introduced to provide internet contents to
handheld devices.
1.4.1 Global System for Mobile Communications
As soon as it became obvious that long‐term economic goals in Europe had to be fixed,
the CEPT was formed in 1982 by the “Conference Des Administrations Europeans
Des Posts et Telecommunications” to address sector needs. The CEPT successively
established the “Groupe Spéciale Mobile” (GSM), to develop the specification for a pan‐
European mobile communications network. The standardized system targeted spectrum efficiency, low mobile and base stations costs, international roaming, better voice
quality, compatibility with other systems such as Integrated Services Digital Networks
(ISDN), and the ability to support new services. Before GSM, the cellular market was
scattered with a variety of mutually incompatible systems implemented in different
countries. For example, Scandinavian countries had NMT‐400 and NMT‐900, the
United Kingdom had TACS, Germany had C‐450, and France had Radiocom.
The European telecommunications standards institute (ESTI) released the first version
of the GSM standard, called the GSM Phase I in 1990. Consequently, many operators
8
networks had a limited risk of mass cloning of the mobile sets. Although attempts had
been made to completely get rid of mobile set cloning, they were proven to be unsuccessful. Even though the information about the number being dialed could be encrypted,
the major problem was transmission through the air, as signals could easily be received
by using any FM receiver, since the transmission used frequency modulation [16].
1.4 Second Generation Cellular Systems
The improvement of the processing abilities of hardware platforms made the development of 2G wireless systems possible. Digital modulation scheme was implemented in
2G, targeting the voice market. The overall system performance rapidly improved due
to shifting from analog to digital modulation schemes. The total capacity in 2G
was improved by using digital speech codecs, implementing time division and Code
Division Multiplexing (CDM) techniques for multiplexing several users using a single
channel. In 2G, stronger security systems were also introduced by applying encryption algorithms that were absent in the 1G.
Another attractive feature of the second generation along with other new applications
was the short messaging service (SMS). The first SMS was sent using Vodafone
GSM network on 3 December 1992 in the United Kingdom. Gradually, some European
countries implemented this service to notify the users about the voice mail. Nokia
released their first SMS supporting mobile phone, which was capable of sending SMS
from one user to another. Today, over 23 billion SMS messages are sent from the mobile
operator per day, all over the world. The SMS are used for news updates, business alerts,
various payments, blogging, voting and for many other uses.
2G systems evolved to support packet data services, while the previous method was
the circuit switched data service, which was similar in concept of dial‐up modems.
Wireless Access Protocol (WAP) was introduced to provide internet contents to
handheld devices.
1.4.1 Global System for Mobile Communications
As soon as it became obvious that long‐term economic goals in Europe had to be fixed,
the CEPT was formed in 1982 by the “Conference Des Administrations Europeans
Des Posts et Telecommunications” to address sector needs. The CEPT successively
established the “Groupe Spéciale Mobile” (GSM), to develop the specification for a pan‐
European mobile communications network. The standardized system targeted spectrum efficiency, low mobile and base stations costs, international roaming, better voice
quality, compatibility with other systems such as Integrated Services Digital Networks
(ISDN), and the ability to support new services. Before GSM, the cellular market was
scattered with a variety of mutually incompatible systems implemented in different
countries. For example, Scandinavian countries had NMT‐400 and NMT‐900, the
United Kingdom had TACS, Germany had C‐450, and France had Radiocom.
The European telecommunications standards institute (ESTI) released the first version
of the GSM standard, called the GSM Phase I in 1990. Consequently, many operators