Research Challenges for 3G and Paving the Way for Emerging New Generations

The first third-generation (3G) systems are going to be implemented within the year 2001. Academia and industry are, however, already looking for means to improve the system performance further. Spectral efficiency and higher data rate are the goal. In order to achieve this goal, several means have to be combined. The most important of these are interference cancellation and multiuser detection, optimum space-time processing and adaptive modulation and coding. In the future several wireless systems having different performance characteristics, system structure and parameters will exist. This heterogeneity will make the seamless handover from system to system difficult if not appropriately solved. 4G (fourth generation) is an acronym without any generally accepted concept. We describe some desirable goals and features of the 4G systems.