A Comparative Study of Waveforms Across Mobile Cellular Generations: From 0G to 6G and Beyond

Waveforms define the shape, structure, and frequency characteristics of signals, whereas modulation schemes determine how information symbols are mapped onto these waveforms for transmission. Their appropriate selection plays a critical role in determining the efficiency, robustness, and reliability of data transmission. In wireless communications, the choice of waveform influences key factors, such as network capacity, coverage, performance, power consumption, battery life, spectral efficiency (SE), bandwidth utilization, and the system’s resistance to noise and electromagnetic interference. This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of the waveforms and modulation schemes used across successive generations of mobile cellular networks, exploring their fundamental differences, structural characteristics, and trade-offs for various communication scenarios. It also situates this analysis within the historical evolution of mobile standards, highlighting how advances in modulation and waveform technologies have shaped the development and proliferation of cellular networks. It further examines criteria for waveform selection—such as SE, bit error rate (BER), throughput, and latency—and discusses methods for assessing waveform performance. Finally, this study presents a comparative evaluation of modulation schemes across multiple mobile generations, focusing on key performance metrics, with the BER analysis conducted through MATLAB simulations.