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Any simple 3G interpretation

Can anyone explain the 3G technology from a programmer’s point of view? I am a bit confused. For example, if I develop a mobile application with Android or IPhone SDK. Should I relate to the network I used? Or the SDK has the same interface for all of these networks (3G, GPRS, CDMA). In addition, is 3G a technology or a set of communication technologies? Is it the same as WCDMA?

Thanks.

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3G is not one technology, but a family of mobile communication standards. There are different standards in different regions of the world. In the USA, CDMA is used (not sure if WCDMA is also used), while in Europe, WCDMA (or better known as UMTS) is used, which has recently been upgraded to HSPA. These are both standards of the 3G family.

GPRS and EDGE, which are the standards of the 2G and 2.5G families, are the predecessors of the 3G family. From the point of view of the programmer, the only difference between the listed GPRS, EDGE and 3G standards (UMTS or CDMA) is the connection speed.

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You do not need to worry about a specific protocol, but you can very well distinguish between Wi-Fi and 3G, and your program behaves differently depending on what is available, because WiFi is faster and cheaper. In the case of the iPhone, there is even an explicit agreement that some heavy data operations should only be done via WiFi.

Another idea is to detect if roaming is active and notify the user about it (although the phone should already do this).

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I am sure that you have no problem finding a 3G definition through a web search. Here is one from Wikipedia .

As a developer, your main concern should be whether your application should / should be at the top of the 3G connection level in terms of bandwidth and / or streaming capabilities. You may need to identify the level of communication, for example, on a carrier / Wi-Fi or simply older than 2G (GSM, etc.) etc.

You do not need (unless specifically required) to really worry about its underlying technical significance. For Andriod, the SDK should provide you with enough tools / utilities to create an application that abstracts from the communication layer.

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3G refers to the speed and capabilities of a cellular network. From the point of view of API and programming, there is no difference, however, the 3G network will be able to transmit data at a higher speed, but also consumes more battery power during active operation.

3G is an umbrella term for several technologies, including UMTS, HSPA, HSDPA, EVDO. WCDMA is just a modulation scheme, but often similar to UMTS when used on cellular networks (which define more than simple modulation).

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To test your application on the emulator in different conditions (although this is not WiFi at the moment), you can use the emulator console and the gsm command.

 the 'gsm data <state>' allows you to change the state of your GPRS connection valid values for <state> are the following: unregistered no network available home on local network, non-roaming roaming on roaming network searching searching networks denied emergency calls only off same as 'unregistered' on same as 'home'

Alternatively from the command line:

 $ adb emu gsm data roaming # set roaming $ adb emu gsm data home # set home
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