Thanks Engineer, you have confirmed what I suspected by "reading between the lines". The following article is a refreshing change from the typically politically motivated stories we have been exposed to.
INFORMA NEWS: Standardization reduces headaches for cdmOne community
11/29/2000
Too many choices:
At the end of March this year, cdmaOne operators were faced with the choice of five different air-interface solutions and three different evolution paths to their goal of 3G high speed data networks. Some technologies, such as 1xRTT and 3xRTT were standardized, HDR was proprietary to Qualcomm, while 1xPlus and 1xTREME were new technologies brought forward by Motorola and its alliance partner, Nokia.
The end-decision on which to implement would have largely been driven by which vendor supplied the existing infrastructure, Qualcomm, Lucent, Motorola or Nortel. Throw the South Korean vendors into the melee and things become even more confusing. Now, however, the cdmaOne community is fast streamlining its previously confused 3G evolution path and is on track to have only three progressive steps after IS-95B, the packetized version of IS-95.
On May 30 this year, the CDMA Development Group (CDG) unveiled version 2 of its Standards Requirement Document for the evolution of cdma2000 1x. The first step towards this was the recent standardization of HDR as 1xEV (phase one) which was approved for publication in the last week of October.
Now, an industry standard
1xEV supports peak data rates up to 2.4 Mbps in a standard 1.25 MHz frequency channel and is optimized for the Internet, incorporating a flexible architecture based on standard Internet protocols. The CDG identifies a number of drivers behind the evolution of cdma2000 1x.
In the evolution timeline for cdma2000 1x, high-speed data capability to support existing and future Internet based services will become critically important.
The data traffic will involve a significant amount of bursty data characteristic of Internet access traffic.
Spectrum will continue to be a scarce resource, making 1.25 MHz systems significantly more attractive compared to 5 MHz systems, so long as comparable performance can be achieved. Operators and subscribers will benefit from these systems via:
High speed and higher capacity Packet Data transport system
Higher Spectral efficiency for Packet Data
Voice with higher spectral efficiency
The scalability and flexibility of cdma2000 1x systems are much better than 5 MHz systems for migrating existing 2G systems
cdma2000 1x systems minimize impact on cell-site equipment and handheld devices in evolving to support high-speed packet data services
In order to meet cdma2000 operator schedule requirements for deploying high- speed packet data services in a 1.25 MHz carrier, 1xEV will be defined in two phases. The CDG is outlining a phased approach because operators believe that the industry can deliver an optimized packet air interface without real-time (e.g., voice) services on an accelerated schedule compared to an air interface which delivers both real-time and high-speed packet data services on the same carrier.
IS-95 pioneer, Qualcomm, said the publication 1xEV is an important enhancement of the cdma2000 standard, which presently comprises 1xRTT and 3xRTT. Irwin Jacobs, chairman and CEO of Qualcomm, said a growing number of manufacturers have taken licenses for 1xEV. "The publication of the specification allows these manufacturers to continue aggressively toward the completion of interoperable commercial products with the knowledge that 1xEV technology has been standardized."
Jim Tackach, director of advanced systems at the CDG, told 3G Mobile that 1X evolution will become much more manageable with the standardization work being undertaken by the Third Generation Partnership Project 2 (3GPP2), which consists of CWTS in China; ARIB and TTC in Japan; TTA in Korea; and TIA in North America.
Voice traffic on 1xEV (phase one), also known as 1xEV data only (1xEVDO), is defaulted on to the 1xRTT network. Sam Maeda, manager business development of Qualcomm Japan, says dual-mode 1xRTT/1xEV chips, including Bluetooth processing, would be available on mass from 3Q01, with handsets ready for early 2002. All handsets will be dual-mode 1xRTT/1xEV from day one and Maeda says Japan's KDDI will be one of the first operators to offer 1xEV services in early 2002.
Moreover, Tackach said that 3GPP2 has also finalized requirements for 1xEV (phase two) standardization and is now accepting technology proposals. 1xEV (phase two) carries both data and voice traffic and is due for standardization by the end of next year. "The original target was May, but it will be definitely published by the end-2000," says Tackach.
Technology proposals
Tackach says three proposals have so far been submitted for 1xEV (phase two) standardization. These are Link Air's LAS-CDMA, Motorola and Nokia's 1xTREME and a proposal from Lucent. The likely outcome is that 3GPP2 will take the best specifications of each proposal to go forward with a strong, harmonized, phase two standard.
John Cippola, Motorola Vice President and General Manager for CDMA Systems Division, says that work on 1xPLUS, an intermediary standard developed by Motorola which raised data rates to 1.6 Mbps, has now been incorporated into 1xTREME for standardization as 1xEV (phase two).
Although Motorola has not officially cancelled the standard, Cippola has acknowledged that the likelihood of its manufacture is limited. Cippola also recognises that 3xRTT systems may become obsolete as 1xEV data speeds surpass those of the original specifications for 3xRTT. "3x may not be a good route to go down if you have capacity problems on your network, but I wouldn't call it obsolete or dead even though it has been a bit left behind by 1xEV," said Cippola.
Tackach agrees, but adds that there is also the possibility for 3xRTT to evolve, much as we've seen HDR, 1xTREME and 1xPLUS evolve into 1xEV. The official line from the CDG is that neither Phase 1 or Phase 2 is an end- state. Phase 1 must evolve to Phase 2, and Phase 2 is not necessarily the end of the evolution. In consideration of the typical lead times in standards development and product design, implementation, and testing, the CDG believes Phase 2 should be made available as soon as practical following Phase 1. "It is desired that the Phase 2 standard be completed (approved for publication) by October 2001 so as to enable trials in January 2002," the CDG states.
CdmaOne to cdma2000 - a history
IS-95A
IS-95A has IP standards built into the handset, while networks do not require an additional IP layer added to the packet transport layer. The result of this is the compatibility of hardware for all future IP based standard networks. IS-95A networks are capable of transmitting data rates of up to 14.4Kbps.
IS-95B
Through upgrades to the core and radio networks, IS-95B will offer increased data rates of up to 64Kbps. The CDMA network becomes packetized through the addition of a data infrastructure device at the Base Station Controller.
1xRTT
The first phase of cdma2000 effectively doubles voice capacity, increasing data transmission speeds to up to 144Kbps. It is estimated that typical speeds available to users will be about 130Kbps. South Korea's SK Telecom was the first operator to launch 1X services in October 2000. The service is available in the capital Seoul and will be extended to 23 of South Korea's largest cities by end-00. SKT claims it will be providing subscribers with data rates of up to 144Kbps capable of providing multimedia services such as video on demand and audio on demand. Commercial deployment by other operators is expected during 2001.
1xEVDO
The high-speed packet data service operates on one carrier. If the user requires voice or any other real-time service, the 1XEV system will automatically revert to using 1xRTT to implement the service. Manufacturers claim that this process will be transparent to the users of the systems.
1xEVDV
The CDG explains that the objective of Phase two is to integrate phase one capabilities onto the same carrier, while retaining the ability to maintain packet data services on a separate carrier. Phase two will offer three modes of traffic delivery: real-time, non-real-time and mixed real-time/non-real- time.
Contacts
Acknowledgement
Article courtesy of Informa Telecoms and Media, Gilmoora House, London. www.informa.com |
