The wireless infrastructure can be partitioned into two major segments, common for all generations of wireless

technologies.

Radio Access Network (RAN

Core Network (CN)

Different portions of the wireless infrastructure undergo equipment changes as wireless service providers upgrade
their networks from one generation to the next. Some portions of the network may be reusable while other portions
may require completely new equipment, all of which depends on the particular wireless technology being adopted.
Figures 1 to 3 illustrate the required changes in infrastructure equipment as the network evolves from 2G to 4G.

Figure 1 depicts the network elements required for both 2G (GSM) and 2.5G (EDGE). 2G wireless is the technology
intended for voice applications. It improved upon the first generation of wireless technology (AMPS - analog voice) by
providing digitized voice. For data applications, 2.5G technology such as EDGE was introduced. With reference to
Figure 1, the network elements denoted by blue represent the 2G infrastructure. In the transition from 2G to 2.5G,
packet data capabilities are added to the network by upgrading two sections of the network. First, the Radio Access
Network is upgraded to GERAN, which is essentially an air interface modulation format change, and is often
accomplished, by a software upgrade. Thus the BTS and BSC hardware can be reused. A new network element, the
PCu (Packet Control Unit) is added into the RAN which handles all packet data and forwards it to the Core Network.

Next, the GPRS Core Network, which handles all the packet data, is introduced into the infrastructure. The new
network
elements
for
the
2.5G
network
are
denoted
by
red
in
Figure
1.
In the transition from 2.5G to 3G, only the RAN portion of the network is required to be upgraded. The upgrade from
2.5G GERAN to 3G UTRAN, denoted by red in Figure 2, involves replacing all BTS with NodeB network elements
and replacing all BSC with RNC network elements. 3G UMTS reuses the previous generation circuit switched
infrastructure for voice applications (MSC, HLR/VLR) and also reuses the 2.5G GPRS packet switching infrastructure
(SGSN, GGSN) for packet data applications. Thus the Core Network is not required to be upgraded.

It should be noted that the sheer amount of data expected to traverse the 3G infrastructure will increase substantially.
As a result, the transport capacity of the RAN backhaul, connecting the remote cell site nodes (BTS, NodeB) to the
central site nodes (BSC, RNC), may require an upgrade. Bonding multiple T1/E1 lines using ATM IMA (Asynchronous
Transfer Mode Inverse Multiplexing) is a common approach to upgrading the RAN backhaul network for 3G networks.
In the transition from 3G to 4G, both the RAN and the Core Network need to be upgraded. The network elements
required for the 4G network are depicted in red in Figure 3.

In the RAN, the 3G NodeB network elements are replaced with 4G eNodeB. Notice that 4G RAN (aka LTE) has a
simpler architecture and consists of a single hierarchy containing only eNodeB elements. Some of the features
normally implemented by the 3G RNC have been pushed down into the eNodeB, and some of the RNC features have
been brought into the 4G Serving Gateway or into the Mobility Management Entity (MME).
In the Core Network, the entire infrastructure needs to be replaced. The older 3G network is an overlay network, with
separate and distinct equipment handling only voice circuit switching and distinct equipment handling only packet
data. In addition, by historical development, the 3G GPRS Core Network is largely based on ATM technology. The
architecture for the 4G Core Network (aka EPC) is specified to be a simplified and flatter "all-IP" network, with all
applications - voice, video and data - running over this common IP network. Thus the migration from 3G to 4G
requires completely new infrastructure equipment in the Core Network.
The RAN backhaul also needs to be upgraded since the bandwidth capabilities of 4G will be at least an order of
magnitude greater than that for 3G. Continuing to use bonded T1/E1 lines is unattractive. Given that the bandwidth
granularity for T1/E1 is 1.5Mbps/2Mbps, an excessive number of T1/E1 lines would be required to support 4G
backhaul bandwidth which may be on the order of 1-2Gbps. newer backhaul technology such as Carrier Ethernet
may be more attractive from an economic cost-per-bit point of view.
The industry standards for 4G technology are still being developed today. Only as of December 2008, have the

standards for LTE and EPC (3GPP Release 8) been locked down. It is expected that many technology changes may
continue to occur on the 4G network before it reaches a state of maturity.
SNMP Explanation
http://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/what-is-snmp.html

ABBR
RAN Radio Access Network
AMPS Advanced Mobile Phone System (1g)
GSM Global System for Mobile (2g)
BTS Base Transceiver System
BSC Base Station Controller
BSS Base Station Subsysetm
MSC Mobile Switching Center
HLR Home Location Register
VLR Visitor Location Register
PSTN Public Switching Telephone Network
NSS Network Switching Subsysetm
EDGE Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (2.5g)
GERAN GSM EDGE RAN
GPRS General Packet Radio Service
PCU Packet Control Unit
SGSN Service GPRS Support Node
GGSN Gateway GPRS Support Node
UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (3g)
UTRAN Universal Terrestrial RAN
RNC Radio Network Controller

HSDPA High Speed Downlink Packet Access (3.5g)

LTE Long Term Evolution (4g)

eUTRAN Evolved UTRAN
EPC Evolved Packet Core Network
MME Mobility Management Entity
PCRF - Policy and Charging Rules Function

Cellular network standards

0G (radio
telephones)

1G

MTS

MTA * MTB * MTC

IMTS

MTD

AMTS

OLT

Autoradiopuhelin

AMPS family

AMPS (TIA/EIA/IS-3, ANSI/TIA/EIA-553)

N-AMPS (TIA/EIA/IS-91)

TACS

ETACS

NMT

C-450

Hicap

Mobitex

DataTAC

GSM

CSD

3GPP2 family

cdmaOne (TIA/EIA/IS-95 and ANSI-J-STD 008)

AMPS family

D-AMPS (IS-54 and IS-136)

Other

CDPD

Other

GSM/3GPP family

2G

iDEN

PDC

PHS

HSCSD

GPRS

EDGE/EGPRS (UWC-136)

CDMA2000 1X (TIA/EIA/IS-2000)

1X Advanced

Other

WiDEN

3GPP family

UMTS (UTRAN)

WCDMA-FDD

GSM/3GPP family

2G transitional
(2.5G, 2.75G)

3GPP2 family

3G (IMT-2000)

3GPP2 family

3GPP family

WCDMA-TDD

UTRA-TDD LCR (TD-SCDMA)

CDMA2000 1xEV-DO Release 0 (TIA/IS-856)

HSPA

HSPA+

LTE (E-UTRA)

CDMA2000 1xEV-DO Revision A (TIA/EIA/IS-856-A)

3G transitional
(3.5G, 3.75G,
3.9G)

3GPP2 family

IEEE family

4G
(IMT

3GPP family

EV-DO Revision B (TIA/EIA/IS-856-B)

DO Advanced

Mobile WiMAX (IEEE 802.16e)

Flash-OFDM

IEEE 802.20

LTE Advanced (E-UTRA)

Advanced)

IEEE family

WiMAX-Advanced (IEEE 802.16m)