Book excerpt: With over four billion subscribers Worldwide, GSM/EDGE is by far the World's most successful communications technology of all time. Ubiquitous, deployed in every country of the World, except in Japan and South Korea, GSM/EDGE is the result of a continued evolution that has spanned over two decades. A leading team of experts from Nokia, Nokia Siemens Networks and Instituto Nokia de Tecnologia, guide you from the history of GSM standardization to the cutting-edge techniques in the latest 3GPP releases. Covering 3GPP Release 7 and Release 8, and addressing their motivation and detailing their concepts, this book also offers insights into further steps in evolution from Release 9 and beyond. GSM/EDGE: Evolution and Performance allows you to keep apace with all of the new developments that have occurred in 3GPP on the GSM standard since the introduction of EDGE: Covers all the key aspects of GSM/EDGE Evolution from Release 7 until Release 9 in a systematic manner. Features performance evaluations derived from leading-edge simulation tools and field trials. Addresses network optimization techniques and environmental aspects. Written by leading experts in the field of GSM/EDGE evolution and standardisation. Contributors from Nokia, NSN, Helsinki University of Technology and Instituto Nokia de Tecnologia.