Hands-on 1 — Evolution of Mobile Networks: 2G → 3G → 4G → 5G

Compare architecture diagrams and identify major changes across generations
2G GSM
▶
3G UMTS
▶
4G LTE
▶
5G NR SA
2G — GSM / GPRS
3G — UMTS / HSPA
4G — LTE / EPC
5G — NR / 5GC (SA)
🔶 2G: Circuit-switched voice + GPRS packet data
🔷 3G: WCDMA air + separate CS & PS domains
🟣 4G: All-IP flat core, CS domain removed
💗 5G: Cloud-native SBA, CU/DU split, slicing
📱
UE
2G Handset
🗼
BTS
Base Transceiver
🎛️
BSC
Base Station Ctrl
🔀
MSC / VLR
Mobile Switching
🗄️
HLR
Home Location Reg
☎️
PSTN
Fixed Network
Um (Air)
Abis
A
C / D
PSTN Trunk
📱
UE
3G Handset
🗼
NodeB
3G Base Station
🎛️
RNC
Radio Net Ctrl
🛰️
SGSN
Serving GPRS
🌉
GGSN
Gateway GPRS
🌐
Internet
Packet Data Net
Uu (WCDMA)
Iub
Iu-PS
Gn / Gp
Gi
📱
UE
LTE Handset
🗼
eNodeB
Evolved NodeB
🧠
MME
Mobility Mgmt
🚦
SGW
Serving Gateway
🌉
PGW
PDN Gateway
🌐
PDN
Internet / IMS
LTE-Uu
S1-MME
S11
S5/S8
SGi
📱
UE
5G NR Handset
🗼
gNB (CU/DU)
5G Base Station
🧠
AMF
Access & Mobility
🎯
SMF
Session Mgmt
⚡
UPF
User Plane Func
🌐
DN
Data Network
NR-Uu
N2 (NGAP)
N11
N4 / N3
N6
READY Click "Start Flow" or "Next Step" to compare architectures across 2G → 5G.
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