| Abstract: | The great success of the i‐mode service shows that data communication services are becoming accepted in the mobile communication world. Multimedia mobile communication services will be provided by 3rd generation IMT‐2000 systems next year in Japan. Thus, the time has come to begin the research and development for 4th generation (4G) mobile communication systems. There exist many difficult issues for 4G systems, such as frequency resources, additional investment, higher speed wireless transmission technology and so on. Furthermore, a new concept must be discussed for 4G before solving these issues. This paper briefly presents current conditions of cellular systems and the development of IMT‐2000 in Japan. The concept and problems of the 4G system are then described along with new technologies that will be useful in solving technical problems. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. |
