A radio access network (RAN) is part of a mobile

telecommunication Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that ...

system. It implements a radio access technology. Conceptually, it resides between a device such as a

mobile phone A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whi ...

, 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 buildin ...

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

terminal equipment In telecommunication, the term terminal equipment has the following meanings: * Communications equipment at either end of a communications link, used to permit the stations involved to accomplish the mission for which the link was established. * I ...

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 m ...

(MS), etc. RAN functionality is typically provided by a

silicon chip An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit (also referred to as an IC, a chip, or a microchip) is a set of electronic circuits on one small flat piece (or "chip") of semiconductor material, usually silicon. Large numbers of tiny ...

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 radio access network types are: *

GRAN Gran may refer to: People * Grandmother, affectionately known as "gran" *Gran (name) Places * Gran, the historical German name for Esztergom, a city and the primatial metropolitan see of Hungary * Gran, Norway, a municipality in Innlandet cou ...

GSM The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is a standard developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) to describe the protocols for second-generation ( 2G) digital cellular networks used by mobile devices such ...

radio access network * GERAN: essentially the same as GRAN but specifying the inclusion of

EDGE Edge or EDGE may refer to: Technology Computing * Edge computing, a network load-balancing system * Edge device, an entry point to a computer network * Adobe Edge, a graphical development application * Microsoft Edge, a web browser developed ...

packet radio services * UTRAN:

UMTS The Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is a third generation mobile cellular system for networks based on the GSM standard. Developed and maintained by the 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project), UMTS is a component of the In ...

radio access network * E-UTRAN: The Long Term Evolution (LTE) high speed and low latency radio access network It is also possible for a single handset/phone to be simultaneously connected to multiple radio access networks. 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") radio access technologies. Such devices seamlessly transfer an ongoing call between different radio access networks without the user noticing any disruption in service.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Radio Access Network Radio technology

See also

References