Your phone on steroids

摘要

New mobile networks come along once every decade or so. Starting around 1980, the first generation of cellular phones relied on analogue technology. When the second generation arrived in 1991, wireless networks began to go digital. By 2001, the third generation dumped circuit-switching, which uses direct connections, for more efficient packet-switching, which moves data around in blocks. Around 2010, fourth-generation networks embraced ip (internet protocol) technology wholeheartedly, providing mobile devices with broadband access to the internet. Given past experience, the next generation is due in 2020.