Multimedia In Future Generation Systems Computer Science Essay

This paper discusses about the mobile multimedia used in various generation of mobile system. It focuses on all the generations that are up to the current trend and also about the future generation which is to be implemented. Since the technologies are improving day by day, it is appropriate to focus on this title which helps us to gain more knowledge about the evolution of mobile multimedia. Number of technologies are been discussed in this paper and which generation of mobile system uses what technology are also discussed in deep. On the other hand the implementation of the future generation (4G) is mainly discussed and the problems it could face while implementing this new generation is also focused. Carrying on with this discussion, a research and investigation topic is brought up where it helps to find the solutions that are used to overcome such problem in a detailed manner and so the readers could easily understand and get to know more about such advanced systems. Summing up, it is clear that in the future nothing is possible without a mobile multimedia communication and without such advanced systems.

Mobile Multimedia plays a very important role in this current generation. It is in that state where nothing can take place without a mobile multimedia. Multimedia is a combination of media of different types such as text, audio, image, and video which is represented in a digital form. Text is a string of alphabets from a particular character set. Image is an object that represents a picture form that consists of lines, curves, circles, and so on (Halsall, 2001).Computer generated graphics and digitized documents, and graphical arts are some of the examples of images. Images consists of two different forms, they could be 2D or 3D. When compared with that of hi-fi audio and video systems the bandwidth required for the transmission of text and image is less. Audio is represented by the amplitude of sound waves, which has low-fidelity speech during conversations through telephones and high-fidelity quality audio sound. Video is a motion of frames or images, it can also be known as the transmission of the visible part. It is the broadcasting medium of stationary or movable objects. For such as these communications, implementation of several technologies was involved from earlier generation that is from 1G to the latest development 3G which is further developed to 4G now. The cellular telephony concept that had first been put forward in the late 1940s received a minimal research and development effort during the late 1950s. Every generation that were implemented involves some special technologies. These developments of technologies are according to the requirements of that certain period. But it is clearly noticed that the technological improvement are increasing day by day and several new developments and invented every time. Through this the service providers and the end users are satisfied with the technologies that are implemented. Technology advancements in many areas make it possible to build devices that were not possible even 5 years ago. This paper mainly discusses about multimedia involving in mobile technology and different fields where mobile multimedia can be used. It also focuses on the different generations of mobile technology where this mobile multimedia had been implemented.

As it is known, the mobile world is waiting for the next generation of technology to be implemented, that is 4G. Therefore it is appropriate to focus about this generation in this paper where mobile multimedia will definitely be used. Some importance is also given to 3G since it also used more of this mobile multimedia which served every mobile user up to their expectation without any failure of the implementation process. Expectations are more on this mobile multimedia technology since everything in this current trend requires such technology. Something very much advanced is to be implemented in this upcoming generation of mobile system 4G which are also expected to be derived from the 3G mobile technology. Everyone hopes that the 4G technology will definitely offer a high speed and high quality compared to those of the previous generation multimedia systems. The advancement of the multimedia technology of 4G from 3G is also spoken in this paper and the problems that could arise while implementing the mobile multimedia in the future generation are also discussed. Several solutions were gained where such problems while implementing multimedia in 4G can be rectified, so that implantation can easily be carried out. The advantages of 4G are also shown in this paper and how these advantages will be helpful for the end user are also shown in detail. It’s no doubt that the users are eagerly waiting for this generation of mobile multimedia technology to be implemented.

2.0 Literature review

As previously mentioned, this section focuses on the mobile multimedia technologies at different generations that existed before this current generation of mobile network systems that is the 3G. This gives the readers a brief idea of the previous generation of mobile multimedia and also of how they have been working and how it was useful for the end users. The following paragraphs discusses about the different generations where mobile multimedia have been used.

2.1 Mobile Multimedia in 1G Mobile Technology:

This first generation mobile technology became available during the late 1970’s to the early 1980’s. There were number of other analogue 1G cellular system that began to be deployed around the world during 1980’s. This 1G mobile technology is the very first mobile telephones and it is also known as “cellular mobile radio telephone.” It is that only through this technology the first communication through a mobile phone was made. It was mainly based on analogue signals and this generation consisted of the original analogue signal and it was voice-only cellular telephone standard. These analogue signals were in a wave-like form through which the communications were carried out [Sarah Hyllok, 2000]. All first generation cellular systems used analogue frequency modulation for the transmission of voice messages. For the communication in 1G mobile network, two frequency bands were used called as the downlink and uplink transmissions [Gary J.Mullett., 2005].

This type of mobile communication was considered to be the earliest cellular system to be developed. Since the implementation of 1G mobile technology there were no means of communication through the air using a mobile device. This generation of mobile systems did not have that much of multimedia working on it but the system standard of 1G mobile system sets a operation as a procedure that were required between the mobile subscriber’s device and the cellular base station. This system also prescribed a protocol and signal that were necessary for the successful exchange of messages or communicating data between the mobile and the cell base station As it is well known, this generation of cellular system uses analogue signals and these signals were developed based on the Improved Mobile Telephone Service (IMTS) [Gary J.Mullett.,2005]. The network standards that were used for this generation of mobile system was Advanced Mobile Phone Service(AMPS), Total Access Communication System(TACS), Nordic Mobile Telephone(NMT).

2.2 Mobile Multimedia in 2G Mobile Technology:

The second generation mobile technology was developed during the 1990’s. This second generation of cellular systems used digital signals instead of analogue signals. In this generation of mobile system mobile multimedia was introduced. The special feature in this 2G mobile system is the conversion of user’s voice from analogue to voice message in a digital form. Such conversion is helpful to accommodate more than one user at a time[Gary J.Mullett.,2005]. The main digital signalling is to provide a better voice service to the end users or the consumers. Normally multimedia technology is responsible in providing a good quality of sound. Not only digital signalling was for voice services, it was also used for text messaging and Wireless Application Protocol(WAP) internet access which is impossible without a digitalised version of this multimedia technology. It is a fact that text messages and internet accessing is only been possible through a digital technology of networks.

Wireless multimedia was featured in this second generation of mobile systems enabled by Broadcom’s GSM/GPRS solution. This solution provided the handheld devices multimedia features such as MMS, WAP2.0 and JAVA applications. The network standards the supported the multimedia in 2G were,

Global System for Mobile Communication(GSM)

Digital AMPS(D-AMPS)

Personal Digital Cellular(PDC)

CDMA One[Gour Karmakar et al 2008].

2.3 Mobile Multimedia in 2.5G Mobile Technology :

2.5G mobile technology in just the advanced version of 2G. 2.5G mobile system has brought us from the first generation of cellular telephone system through the second generation due to the continual and unrelenting onrush of technology[Gary J.Mullett., 2005]. Since 2G system introduced access to the internet, there was a demand for a better data service and better access to the internet. That is the reason the developing team introduced this generation system which met the demands of the consumers. As discussed earlier mobile multimedia was introduced in 2G and therefore there were better service of this multimedia technology when compared with 2G. The access to the internet and other data services was really good and faster than that of 2G mobile technology. While 2.5G system was in action, a broad framework of 3G specifications had already been laid out. But the developer’s choice was to move into this generation and then into the next technology that is the 3G. This 2.5G was just an evolutionary approach or an upgrading the existing cellular system before a main generation of mobile technology to be introduced[Gary J.Mullett., 2005]. This 2.5G of mobile technology extends the capability of 2G by providing additional features such as packet-switched connection (GPRS) and enhanced data rates (HSCSD)[Gour Karmakar et al 2008]. Open Multimedia Application Platform(OMAP) were enabled in this mobile system that provided a multimedia-rich capabilities. This OMAP had two main advantages,

To maximise the overall performance of the mobile system.

To minimise the power consumption.

The OMPA core also had two external memory interface and one internal memory port which supports the synchronous and asynchronous memories. These memory ports are used for configuration and also for the storage of the program that supports the multimedia. The other memory allows direct connection to the chip. To enable such high level of multimedia application for a high-end phone Reduced Instruction Set Computing(RISC) and Digital Signal Processor(DSP) are also required.[J. Chaoui et al, 2009]. The definition for DSP and RISC will be discussed in 3G section since this enabling system is used more there.

2.4 Mobile Multimedia in 3G Mobile Technology:

This 3G mobile generation is in the current trend and almost all service providers work with this technology and through which the consumers are satisfied with technological development. This 3G technology involves all advanced versions of the 2G and 2.5G mobile systems. 3G uses a host of high-tech infrastructure networks which enables the user to access the internet at a high-speed[www.cellular.co.za]. This 3G cellular system provides a better bandwidth to support varying data rates on demand to the subscribers. 3G mainly provides an easy access to the internet than the previous generations. Additional to this, 3G mobile system supports multiple simultaneous connections, IP addressing to the users and so anything can be done online. This concept of mobile multimedia can also be called as Anywhere, Anytime and Anyhow accessing. For these technologies to be successful, 3G offers superior voice quality and broadband data transmission. 3G mobile system is doing a pretty good job of delivering mobile broadband to a new generation of devices[www.fiercewireless.com]. Now a day’s all the mobile phone manufacturers are mainly focusing on manufacturing mobile devices that support 3G technology. It’s just because this generation offers some advanced techniques and so it is better and easy to use for the mobile users. Mobile broadband offers almost all facilities in accessing the internet on a mobile device. It also provided positioning services and these services were made available where 3G system works on a mobile device. The most essential feature in 3G mobile system was video conferencing. First it is good to know something about video conferencing before focusing on how 3G multimedia technology is useful in video conferencing. Video conferencing is also done with the help of mobile multimedia applications and it is a 2 way communication with real time audio and vision and it also allows to display papers using the electronic document camera and also allows to play pre-recorded videos. This 3G is the advanced form of mobile communication as it allows to stream video. These are all done through the means of introducing mobile multimedia in to the third generation of mobile systems.

As discussed earlier the implementation of DSP/RISC in this 3G system provided a high level of multimedia application. Supporting handsets were manufactured to implement such technology. OMPA in addition to DSP and RISC were also used to make the multimedia application more effective that the end users to be satisfied of the applications. The essential feature of this multimedia application in 3G is not being used widely due to the screen size of the mobile phone; rather people find it easy and comfortable if done through a personal computer. So as said before this 3G mobile system gives the entire essential feature to the user for their convenience[J. Chaoui et al, 2009]. In some countries this 3G were not implemented due to following factors,

Building new networks costs more.

Cost involved in additional spectrum licensing.

Cost of upgrading equipments [Gour Karmakar et al, 2008].

This 3G has some very important advantages,

Enhanced multimedia which has control over voice, data, video and remote control.

Accessible on all popular modes such as e-mail, fax, web browsing.

High speed usage and a broad bandwidth.[www.advisorict.com]

2.4.1 Role of DSP/RISC in 3G:

Digital Signal Processor(DSP) and Reduced Instruction Set Computing(RISC) are included in the OMAP architecture. RISC architecture is responsible for control type code such as the Operating System, User Interface, and the OS applications. A DSP does the signal processing applications which gives a good quality of output such as MPEG4 video, speech recognition, and audio playback. As it is known the OMAP core includes two external memory interfaces and one internal memory port.

One of the external memory interfaces is used to support direct connection to synchronous and the other to support the standard asynchronous memories.

The asynchronous memory types are SRAM, FLASH, or burst FLASH devices and this memory type is used to store programs.

The internal memory connects directly to the on-chip memory which can be used to access data whenever required.

The interfaces are not dependent on each other and allow to access the data from direct memory access (DMA) unit.

There are numerous interfaces contained in the OMAP core that connects to the peripheral or to the external devices from the DSP or GPP. DMA is also supported by these interfaces to improve the efficiency of the system.[J.Chaoui et al, 2000]

2.4.2 General Characteristics of 3G Mobile Multimedia:

There are some general characteristics of this generation which uses multimedia applications,

3G offers seamless interoperability and inter-working among various technologies and systems.

The single standard provides the functionality of mobile, voice, data, internet and multimedia services onto a single platform.

IMT-2000 user can also experience seamless delivery of services over a number of media.

It provides high transmission rates, minimum of 2Mbps for users on the go and 348Kbps for mobile users.

2.5 Mobile Multimedia in 4G Mobile Technology

4G mobile system is the advanced technology of all other generations. This forth coming generation is expected to provide a wide variety of services from high-quality voice to high-definition videos anywhere in the world through high data rate wireless channels [Young Kyun et al, 2005]. For the purpose of high data rate, broad frequency bands are required and such broadband can be obtained by higher frequency bands such as microwave, millimetre-wave etc [Communications Magazine, IEEE 2008]. Developments are being carried out for a higher capacity with the help of the terminal protocol technology. A separate technology known as the public software platform technology is used to enable the application programs for downloading, and to provide high quality media coding technology over mobile networks. 4G mobile technology will have higher transmission data rate than 3G for the purpose of better communication. The goal of 4G is the convergence of wireless mobile with wireless access multimedia communication technologies[Gary J.Mullett., 2005].

2.5.1 Expected Characteristics of 4G Mobile Multimedia

Information’s that could be accessible from anywhere globally.

Transmission of real-time data in a high-level quality, since demand for multimedia data is increasing day after day.

The transmission cost is expected to be low.

Personalized integrated service instantly[Gour Karmakar et al, 2008].

4G is expected to provide an improved broadband, much better than the 3G technology.

The flow of data transmission could be in a higher speed for a better service.

4G is expected to provide the users with high quality colour video images and 3D graphic animation games[Young Kyun et al, 2005].

Mobile multimedia in interaction.

Mobile multimedia in action.

4G is also expected to be a combination of WiMAX and WiFi and such advanced multimedia system has been developed with two main architectures,

Interworking: This is used to work internally among different networks such as wireless LAN ad-hoc, digital video broadcast-terrestrial(DVB-T).

Integration: This is to provide a seamless integration of all the generation of mobile system into a single technology[Ruiz 2002].

3.0 Research and investigation

Since this paper focuses mainly on the implementation of multimedia it is appropriate to investigate and compare this generation (4G) with the rest of the previous generations. This generation of mobile system includes all the technologies that were involved in the implementation and the working of the 3G. Some special technologies such WiMAX are also included to deliver any fundamental shift in the underlying cost. 4G can be called as the evolution and the revolution of the mobile systems. It is just because some of the techniques are expected to be derived from the previous generation (3G) and some are to be new innovation technologies. Technologies are being developed by the 3GPP long-term evolution project team to make a move from the current generation to the next generation. This project is carried out such a way that this generation has the maximum level of multimedia applications that benefits the end users. Thus a great expectation is on this generation of mobile systems and the whole world is looking forward to work on this technology in the near future. This generation of mobile systems cannot be compared to the first (1G) or the second (2G) generation since its (4G) capability is far beyond these generations.

There are some challenges to be faced while implementing this generation of technology (4G). The major challenges that are to be considered are the mobile stations, systems and services. It is because of the advanced technologies deployed in the generation and so the systems are required to support such advanced mobile multimedia technologies. The mobile stations need to work in that speed of this system only then the data transmission will be continuous and without any delay in accessing for the users.

4.0 Conclusion

Summing up the whole paper it is noticed that nothing could take place without a mobile multimedia application and communication. The different generations had different specialities and different technologies, but every time the system improves with the forth coming generation. For every generation the mobile operators around the globe are offering an increasing variety of mobile multimedia service [Gary J.Mullett.,2005]. In the first generation (1G) basic trends towards a mobile system had been described, but it is no more used. Similar way in the second generation (2G) an advanced study has been made since this system is still being used in some countries. The next generation (3G) which is being used now dealt with the emerging technologies as well as the path way to the future generation. On the whole the implementation of mobile multimedia in 4G is well spoken and some solutions were given to overcome the problem.