The new Eero Signal could have saved me a lot of headaches when I was dealing with regular internet outages at my home last year. See, Signal automatically detects when your internet goes down and switches your whole Wi-Fi network over to a cellular connection to minimize disruption. Sure, when I’d suddenly see a “Slack…
When we talk about making computing greener, the conversation often turns to hardware. Data centres have become far more efficient over the years. Power supply units that once wasted 40% of energy now operate above 90% efficiency. Cooling systems that once consumed several times the power of the servers themselves have been dramatically improved. The…
Power-saving methodologies have been integral to all generations of 3GPP technologies, aimed at reducing the power consumption of user equipment (UEs) and other battery-dependent devices. Some of the stringent requirements of 5G, such as achieving a 10-year battery life for certain IoT devices, have necessitated further optimisation of power consumption. To address this, 3GPP Release…
Some of you may know that I manage quite a few LinkedIn groups, and I often come across advanced presentations and videos on LTE and 5G. From time to time, people reach out asking where they can access a free beginner-level course on the 5G Air Interface. With that in mind, I was pleased to…
As 5G evolves and the number of deployed IoT devices increases globally, efficient and reliable network selection becomes ever more critical. Particularly for stationary devices deployed in remote, deep-indoor or roaming environments, traditional selection mechanisms have struggled to provide robust connectivity. This has led to operational challenges, especially for use cases involving low-power or hard-to-reach…
The 3G4G Blog continues to be a favourite among tech enthusiasts, with over 17 years of content. This year, we reached a remarkable milestone: over 3 million views in 2024, pushing our total to nearly 19 million views since Blogger began tracking in July 2010. As 2024 draws to a close, we’re excited to share…
As 5G matures, new icons are appearing on smartphones to distinguish faster or more advanced connections. Some of the latest 5G smartphones around the world have started showing new icons such as 5G+ and 5GA. Interestingly, in Japan these are referred to as pictograms. A long time ago, we looked at how Swisscom described its…
When discussing mobile networks, much of the focus tends to be on radio access technologies, spectrum, or core network evolution. However, two often overlooked yet critical components in the operational backbone of any telecom network are Operations Support Systems (OSS) and Business Support Systems (BSS). While not typically defined in 3GPP specifications, OSS and BSS…
The concept of network slicing has been one of the standout features in 5G (no pun intended). It allows operators to offer logically isolated networks over shared infrastructure, each tailored for specific applications or services. These slices are identified using a combination of the Slice/Service Type (SST) and an optional Slice Differentiator (SD), together forming…
Introduction As the deployment of 5G networks continues to expand globally, the industry is already looking ahead to enhance capabilities through 5G-Advanced features. Among these innovations is the “Store and Forward” (S&F) functionality for Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN), which represents a significant advancement for IoT applications utilizing satellite connectivity. This feature, specified in 3GPP Release 19,…