Wireless Communications
In The New Millennium
Telephone calls on phones
with wires will mostly
be found in old movies
From smoke signals, to the beat of drums, to the use of semaphores and telegraph,
humans have searched for more efficient means of transmitting ideas and thoughts from one
person or location to another. Other developments, such as the vacuum tube and transistor,
led to the widespread use of Alexander Graham Bell's 1876 invention, the traditional wireline
telephone.
More recent developments, such as low-cost microprocessor chips and digital switching
capabilities, have led to more advanced communications technologies and today's wireless
revolution. In the past two decades, more than 400 million people worldwide have employed
wireless technology to communicate. And this number is expected to reach one billion by the
year 2003.
Where do we go from here? What will this mean to the human race in the next
millennium? And how will Qualcomm and its Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)
technology contribute to changes in the way we communicate?
In the next millennium wireless communications will be based on CDMA technology.
Originally a military communications technology, Qualcomm pioneered CDMA for
commercial applications and has successfully patented its developments. The proven quality,
reliability and cost effectiveness of CDMA have resulted in it becoming the fastest-growing
wireless technology today for voice communication and the technology of choice for next
generation services worldwide. CDMA has added more than 25 million subscribers this past
year alone with a total of 83 operators in 35 countries. With revenue of nearly $4 billion for
fiscal year 1999, Qualcomm has been successful at doing just that. Recently added to the
S&P 500 Index and a 1999 Fortune 500 company, Qualcomm calls San Diego home. The
company, along with more than 35 other telecommunications companies, can trace its roots
back to LINKABIT, my first company, forming what has been appropriately dubbed the
"Wireless Capital of the World."
As it becomes more widely available in Asia, Latin America, Europe and Africa, one can
expect that the subscriber numbers will continue to increase.
Qualcomm has more than 1,000 patents, issued and pending, for CDMA technology. The
company licenses its technology to more than 75 companies and added Ericsson to the list of
licensees in 1999. A series of agreements between the companies included the sale of
Qualcomm's CDMA infrastructure business to Ericsson, as well as cross licensing
agreements and the decision to jointly work towards a single CDMA standard for third
generation (3G) wireless services.
The Wireless Net
The Internet continues to be the fastest-growing technology today. What is perhaps less
well known is that wireless is the second fastest-growing technology. The true potential of
the wireless industry is now being realized as the cost of service drops and wireless networks
become more pervasive. Continuing to drive this wireless trend, consumers will access the
Internet through a wireless connection. The ability of next generation systems to effectively
transmit voice and data will bring to fruition the convergence of computing and telephony and
with it a whole new range of capabilities and devices.
In Korea and Japan, CDMA (IS-95B) technology supports up to 64 kilobits per second
data rates which allows Web browsing and other Internet access capabilities. What we will
begin to see in these countries will become mainstream in much of the world shortly
thereafter. CDMA technology will provide wireless operators increased efficiencies which
will, in turn, help reduce the cost for users of wireless services and increase the number of
wireless users worldwide.
Qualcomm recently introduced its High Data Rate (HDR) technology to accommodate
data transmission at speeds of up to 2.4 megabits per second using a standard CDMA
wireless carrier (1.25 Mhz). The demonstration of HDR coincided with the 10th anniversary
of Qualcomm's first public demonstration of CDMA technology.
With the megabit-per-second data speeds supported by HDR, Qualcomm is extending the
advantages of CDMA to support the rapidly growing high-speed fixed Internet market and
making the Internet easily available to mobile users. HDR is expected to be very cost
competitive with Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) and cable-based fixed location solutions but
also will support mobile access. The ability to maximize current network investment, as well
as increase efficiency and flexibility for wireless operators will provide consumers with next
generation data capabilities earlier than originally expected. HDR is compatible with existing
CDMA infrastructure and spectrum assignments and provides a high burst rate, always-on,
cost-effective wireless Internet access using standard Internet protocols.
Not only will wireless data be profitable and support continuous connections, but most
personal computing as well as voice and data communications will be accomplished on a
common portable device which can effortlessly interface to large non-mobile displays and
other devices as needed. Voice and other traffic will utilize Internet protocols with a rich
variety of features and services supplied by Internet servers and, of course, carried to the
user over a CDMA radio interface.
Moving forward, one will see a tremendous increase in the computing power available, for
example, in wireless phones, which will be continuously connected and available at lower and
lower costs. For many people, the wireless phone will not only be a primary means of
communication, but will also be used as a "main computer."
CDMA will make possible the use of a single device such as a phone to become the
primary means of communication in the home, on the road or in the office. Telephone calls
on phones with wires will mostly be found in old movies and appear rather quaint, rather like
rotary dials today. CDMA could also be the primary means of computing with the ability to
plug into peripherals, such as keyboards, printers and monitors in the office, providing the
capability to port data and connectivity wherever we go. Anywhere. Anytime.
Endless Possibilities
Feature enhancements, such as voice recognition and Global Positioning System (GPS),
open up endless possibilities for applications. Voice recognition will replace the need for a
traditional keyboard in mobile environments, where it is rather inconvenient to use one's
hands to communicate. GPS technology will enable us not only to provide our location in
event of an emergency, but also to find the closest Chinese restaurant when we have a
craving, or help us navigate where we need to go when we are lost, or need an alternate
route. It could also, for example, help us find a shop that carries a particular item we need.
GPS technology, embedded into our wireless phone or other mobile device, will help us locate
where we are, download a database of information regarding the item we are searching for,
and help us navigate the shortest possible route to find that item.
These new devices, and the convergence of wireless technology and computing, will
affect our lives: the way we shop, find where we are, keep up to date in the world, educate
ourselves, amuse ourselves and provide numerous other possibilities beyond our imagination
today.
The wireless world, and its capital San Diego, will never be the same.
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