A radio access network (RAN) is part of a mobile telecommunication system implementing a radio access technology (RAT). Conceptually, it resides between a device such as a

mobile phone A mobile phone or cell phone is a portable telephone that allows users to make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while moving within a designated telephone service area, unlike fixed-location phones ( landline phones). This rad ...

, a computer, or any remotely controlled machine and provides connection with its

core network A backbone or core network is a part of a computer network which interconnects networks, providing a path for the exchange of information between different LANs or subnetworks. A backbone can tie together diverse networks in the same buildi ...

(CN). Depending on the standard, mobile phones and other wireless connected devices are varyingly known as user equipment (UE), terminal equipment,

mobile station A mobile station (MS) comprises all user equipment and software needed for communication with a mobile network. The term refers to the global system connected to the mobile network, i.e. a mobile phone or mobile computer connected using a mobi ...

(MS), etc. RAN functionality is typically provided by a silicon chip residing in both the core network as well as the user equipment. See the following diagram:

     CN
    /  ⧵
   /    ⧵
 RAN    RAN
 / ⧵    / ⧵
UE UE  UE UE

Examples of RAN types are: * GRAN:

GSM The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is a family of standards to describe the protocols for second-generation (2G) digital cellular networks, as used by mobile devices such as mobile phones and Mobile broadband modem, mobile broadba ...

* GERAN: essentially the same as GRAN but specifying the inclusion of EDGE packet radio services * UTRAN:

UMTS The Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is a 3G mobile cellular system for networks based on the GSM standard. UMTS uses Wideband Code Division Multiple Access, wideband code-division multiple access (W-CDMA) radio access technolog ...

* E-UTRAN: The Long Term Evolution (LTE) high speed and low latency It is also possible for a single handset/phone to be simultaneously connected to multiple RANs. Handsets capable of this are sometimes called dual-mode handsets. For instance it is common for handsets to support both GSM and UMTS (a.k.a. "3G") RATs. Such devices seamlessly transfer an ongoing call between different radio access networks without the user noticing any disruption in service.

RAN in the United States

According to research company New Street, mobile providers

T-Mobile US T-Mobile US, Inc. is an American wireless network operator headquartered in Bellevue, Washington. Its majority shareholder and namesake is the German telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom. T-Mobile is the second largest wireless carrie ...

and

AT&T AT&T Inc., an abbreviation for its predecessor's former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the w ...

use Swedish communication company Ericsson as their primary RAN provider, while Verizon primarily uses South Korean provider Samsung. Nokia is the minority vendor for all major US wireless providers. According to EJL Wireless Research, Verizon is also using Ericsson.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Radio Access Network Radio technology

RAN in the United States

See also

References