Re: Symbian - Handheld Game - EPOC - Embedded OS - PKI - WIND
<< Symbian's technology is based on GSM. Got any idea how it will fare if the world switches over to CDMA? Is this just a simple rewrite for them, or a major discontinuity? >>
The world is NOT switching over to CDMA, although eventually virtually all 3rd generation wireless technologies will use a CDMA air interface.
In the 3G world at least 70% (some research agencies are now saying 80%) of all carriers will deploy GSM technology.
Today, 67.4 % of the digital wireless subscribers in the world use GSM and 13.4% use CDMA.
In this calendar year alone, the GSM subscriber base will increase by over 100 million subscribers, which is more than the total subscriber base of 90 million cumulative CDMA subscribers worldwide by year end.
As PDA's and mobile data appliances go wireless, this is one of the major advantages that the EPOC based OS and Symbian which is initially targeted at GSM enjoy, and it is one of the reasons I am a bit cautious about investing in Palm (much less WIND at least as it applies to embedded OS in wireless).
In addition, there is a distinct difference between a GSM mobile device today (yesterday, and tomorrow), and a CDMA mobile device, and there is a significant potential advantage in the mandated GSM architecture.
Like a Palm, A CDMA device is a single device and all ASIC's or IC's are soldered in.
By contrast every GSM device, properly referred to as a mobile station (MS), consists of the mobile equipment (ME) and a smart card called the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM).
The SIM serves many functions in a GSM MS. It handles virtually all authentication and encryption functions for authenticating to a mobile network using shared private keys (A3/A8 algorithms). It handles authentication and encryption (e-security) to Internet servers for e-commerce (m-commerce) using Public Key Cryptography (PKC) with either RSA or ECC, or either, or both. It stores data, digital certificates, keys, microbrowsers, and Java (or Java like) applications, and it executes those applications. In a GSM MS, an embedded OS need not be burdened with some of this functionality.
The SIM is essentially a powerful microcomputer without keyboard or monitor (it uses the keyboard and display of the ME and it can proactively execute applications stored on it). A SIM uses either EEPROM or Flash for data storage (rather than RAM).
EPOC employs a powerful 32-bit IC controller, and when implemented in a GSM MS, its processing power is supplemented by another powerful 32-bit controller, The SIM IC card. The 2 work together, and complement each other.
Despite it's tiny form factor here is an overview of the architecture of the SIM (Infineon's latest "88" series, sampling shortly):
* 32-Bit RISC microcomputer in 0.25 µm CMOS technology with integrated security concept with Memory Management (MMU) & Protection Unit.
* 136 Kbytes of ROM for application programs, libraries and Device Drivers (typically a smart card manufacturer like Gemplus, Schlumberger, Oberthur, writes a custom Operating System (OSs) "mask" for this ROM, but the "mask" (firmware code) is fully compliant with 3GGP/SMG9 standards.
* 64 Kbytes of EEPROM for stored programs and data files
* 8 Kbytes of RAM (scratch pad for computations) for local variables, buffer and stack.
* 1100-Bit Advanced Crypto Engine (ACE) for the PKI stuff providing
fast execution of public key crypto algorithms, optimized for RSA and Elliptic Curves with Key lengths up to 2048-bit and dedicated 700 bytes of Crypto-Coprocessor RAM
* DES Accelerator
- DES and 3DES in hardware
- Flexible key management
- Optimized for data throughput (parallel load)
* True Random Number Generator (RNG)
infineon.com
In short, when the EPOC OS is deployed in a Symbian Platform like Quartz, it does not have to concern itself with the whole processor intensive functionality of authentication, encryption, key management, key generation and storage of certificates.
The overall architecture of the GSM environment lends itself very well to incorporation of the Symbian Platform.
Although a SIM has no functionality stand alone, in many respects it is a more powerful computing device than a Palm.
As a CDMA user, I am somewhat handicapped by the fact that Symbian for obvious reasons (market share, both today and tomorrow, and the architecture of the GSM MS) is initially focused on the GSM market for mobile wireless computing. So I use Palm.
Symbian, however, looks like a real standout to me, in the Handheld Game, for all of the reasons Eric J. has stated here, and others I have just alluded to.
I should add, that in 3G (whether a WCDMA or cdma2000 air interface is employed) a SIM (or as CDG calls it, an R-UIM, will be deployed, and yes, this means that a SIM will be needed in a Palm, to authenticate to a 3G GSM network, or perhaps any 3G3 network. This puts Symbian somewhat ahead of the curve, IMO.
- Eric - |
