Context Switching involves storing the context or state of a process so that it can be reloaded when required and execution can be resumed from the same point as earlier. This is a feature of a multitasking operating system and allows a single CPU to be shared by multiple processes.A diagram that demonstrates context switching is as follows −In the above diagram, initially Process 1 is running. Process 1 is switched out and Process 2 is switched in because of an interrupt or a system call. Context switching involves saving the state of Process 1 into PCB1 and loading the ... Read More

Global System for Mobile communication (GSM) architecture comprises of the following components −Mobile Station : The mobile station is the mobile phone, which comprises of the mobile handset and SIM card. The mobile handset comprises of the transceiver, the display and its processor. SIM stands for SubscriberIdentity Module. It is a removable chip that contains account information of the subscriber and connects the handset to the mobile network system.Air Interface : The air interface is the interface between the mobile station and the Base Transceiver Station. It is also called the UM interface as it is analogous to U interface ... Read More

Global System for Mobile communication (GSM) is the most widely used digital mobile telephony system. GSM technology was first launched in Finland in 1991. It was developed by European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) to describe the protocols for 2G mobile communications.Presently, GSM comprises of approximately 90% of mobile connections worldwide. Features Original 2G standard was a digital, circuit-switched, full duplex network. GSM is part of the evolution of wireless mobile telecommunications including High-Speed Circuit-Switched Data (HSCSD), General Packet Radio Services (GPRS), Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE), and Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service (UMTS). GSM operates at either 900 MHz ... Read More

Digital Advanced Mobile Phone System (D-AMPS)is a digital version of Advanced Mobile Phone Systems (AMPS), the original analog standard for cellular phones. D-AMPS uses a combination of time division multiple access (TDMA) and frequency division multiple access (FDMA). It adds TDMA to get three channels per AMPS channel, thus tripling the number of calls on a channel. Features They are standardised by IS-54 and IS-136. As in AMPS, D-AMPS also uses frequencies from 800 to 900MHz for transmission. Half of the spectrum is used for sending signals and the other half is used for receiving signals. The frequency ... Read More

Second generation (2G) mobile phones switched from analog system of 1G to digital system. It was commercially launched in 1991 as GSM standard in Finland. As with 1G phones, 2G phones didn’t have any worldwide standardizations. 2G systems were also known as personal communications services (PCM). Advantages of 2G over 1G It allows voice signals to be digitized and compressed. So, they are more efficient on frequency spectrum than 1G. They introduced data services for mobile in form of SMS text messaging. Data and voice signals are digitally encrypted. So, security against eavesdropping and fraud increased manifold. Digital signals ... Read More

Frequency division duplex (FDD) is a communication technique where the connected parties can communicate with each other in both directions through use of separate frequency bands for transmitting and receiving. Since FDD uses different frequency bands for upstream data and downstream data, the sending and the receiving signals do not interfere with each other. FDD in Cellular Networks Cellular networks use FDD to separate the channels. One block of the electromagnetic spectrum is allocated for uplink, which carries data from mobile phones to a base station. A different block of the spectrum is allocated to downlink, carrying data ... Read More

Cellular architecture is constituted of the following −A network of cells each with a base station.A packet switched network for communication between the base stations and mobile switching centers.The public switched telephone network to connect subscribers to the wider telephony networkCellular ConfigurationIn all cellular systems, land area is divided into a number of cells each with its radio service. In AMPS the area is large which in digital services, the area is much smaller.Conventionally cells are hexagonal in shape.Each cell uses a frequency range that is not used by its adjacent cells. However frequencies may be reused in non-adjacent cells.At ... Read More

Advanced mobile phone system (AMPS) was a standard for analog cellular phone system developed by Bell Labs and officially introduced by AT&T in 1983.FeaturesIt is an analog system based on the initial electromagnetic spectrum allocation for cellular service by the Federal Communications Commission.It uses frequency division multiple access (FDMA) for multiple simultaneous conversations.Frequency ranges within the 800 and 900 MHz are allocated for cellular telephones in AMPS. Half of the signal is used for sending signals and half is used for receiving signals.It has a high bandwidth requirement particularly when the number of conversations is very high.It was the first ... Read More

Improved Mobile Telephone System (IMTS) was a radio system that linked to public switched telephone networks (PSTN) before the era of cellular mobiles. It was introduced in 1964 and was the wireless equivalent of landline dial up telephones. Features IMTS was a radio system for mobile telephones that was an improvement over the previous Mobile Telephone System (MTS). MTS supported half duplex communication. So, the communicating parties could not communicate simultaneously. IMTS supported full duplex communication, thus allowing both the user to talk and hear simultaneously. IMTS required a high power transmitter to be installed, preferably on the ... Read More

Process Scheduling handles the selection of a process for the processor on the basis of a scheduling algorithm and also the removal of a process from the processor. It is an important part of multiprogramming operating system.There are many scheduling queues that are used in process scheduling. When the processes enter the system, they are put into the job queue. The processes that are ready to execute in the main memory are kept in the ready queue. The processes that are waiting for the I/O device are kept in the I/O device queue.The different schedulers that are used for process ... Read More