Wireless Telephony

Wireless networks for telephony - telecommunication for mobile devices.

Gen	Voice	Data
0G
1G	Analog	Not really	NMT, AMPS, TACS, etc
2G	Digital	As analog modem, 9.6kbps	GSM, D-AMPS, PDC
2.5G	-"-	2.5G added dedicated digital data (GPRS)	Data rates from 9.6Kbps (GSM) to to 33Kbps (GPRS) 200Kbps or higher(2.75G)
2.75G	-"-	2.75G faster data (EDGE)
3G	-"-		UMTS/ WCDMA, EvDO, CDMA2000 3G = digital, supported data, but still circuit switched UMTS / WCDMA, EvDO Includes data but still onto circuit switched architecture 3.5G faster data, added true always-on / packet data (HSPA) Data rates of 2Mbps-tens of Mbps NB The USA and few other places had a rival technology ("CDMA"). IS95, EvDO. That was marketed as 3G when it was launched, but initially was probably closer to 2.5G and then upgraded to 3G with the EvDO upgraded.
3.5G		3.5G faster data, added true always-on / packet data (HSPA)
4G	voice as VoIP (VoLTE)		4G = wireless broadband OFDMA, flat architecture, true packet switched Pure data: voice as VoIP (VoLTE) Most people say this is LTE & WiMAX, (though some people are waiting for an upgrade to LTE-A, based on a rather silly data rate definition). 4.5G term not widely used but some people say that is LTE-A Data rates of Tens of Mbps - Hundreds of Mbps
4.5G			LTE-A
5G	-"-