Review #1 -- Implementation of 4g networks -- Not as easy as once believed

For an initial entry, I thought I’d look at an article discussing 4g wireless networks as an “emerging technology.” While this is still very much true, I examined an article from 2001 titled “Issues in Emerging 4G Wireless Networks” by Upkar Varshney and Radhika Jain of Georgia State University. The authors give perspective on the perceptions that where held nearly a decade ago on the future of these technologies. They held the belief that 4g wireless technologies would be unveiled around 2006, with full implementation sometime soon after that. Varshney and Jain also questioned whether this technology would simply bypass 3g wireless networks. None of this has obviously happened; we are just beginning to see these 4g technologies coming to fruition.

For a more current take, I examined an article by Mark Sullivan titled “Not all 3g Wireless Networks Are Created Equal.” Being both fairly brief, these writings in conjunction provide a nice overview of past expectations along with current realities. Sullivan reviews the major 3g wireless providers in the United States (Verizon, Sprint, At&t, etc.) and speaks to the strengths and weaknesses of each. Without diving into specific comparisons, it is interesting to note that even in 2009 each still experiences challenges in overall functionality. This is in stark contrast to Varshney and Jain’s belief that 3g networks may simply be superseded by superior technologies. The curve in terms of implementation was far steeper than these two authors expected. Sullivan speaks to not only the speed of a network, but also its reliability. He states, “That wireless service — so often an afterthought to smart phone buyers — is hugely important: it connects your new phone to all the fun and useful apps and services that made you lust after a smart phone in the first place.” The author speaks of the different qualities of networks. This was also a major theme in the other article. Varshney and Jain believed for a quality infrastructure each network must have a certain quality of service (QoS). While each company got adequate reviews by Sullivan, it is still of note that differences certainly exist between providers and that not all wrinkles have been removed from 3g networks.

Reading these two articles in conjunction provided me with perspective about the relative difficulty in implementing these technologies. During the early 2000’s , there seemed to be limitless potential for wireless networks. Projections made by Vershney and Jain have certainly been off. They believed 4g technologies would be prominent almost 3 years ago, but they are just now emerging. In the grand scheme of things, this is not a huge problem, but it does show that infrastructure is more difficult to implement than many believe. It will be interesting to see when 4g technologies are simply the baseline for wireless connection.

Varshney, U., Jain, R. (2001). Issues in emerging 4G wireless networks. Communications , 94-96.

Sullivan, M. (2009). Not all 3G wireless networks are created equal. MSNBC.