2ND-GENERATION WIRELESS INFORMATION NETWORKS

Wireless information networks in the form of residential cordless telephones and cellular mobile radio systems, are technological infants, little changed from when they arrived on the market 10 years ago. As the demand for wireless access to the public telephone network grows, the weaknesses of first generation technology become increasingly apparent. To enhance the capacity and capabilities of wireless information networks, five standardized second generation networks will be deployed in Europe, North America, and Japan. All are based on digital voice transmission and improved network control relative to the first generation. This paper describes the motivation behind the standards and presents details of transmission technologies and logical control channels.