Re: Mobile Wireless Data- 3G to the Rescue?
Thread- Here's a pretty optimistic viewpoint of how 3G is supposed to take care of a lot of the problems mentioned upstream. It's a somewhat detailed roadmap as to how the new standards will attempt to embrace the old. -MikeM(From Florida)
*****************************
Third Generation Mobile
In the world of mobile telephony, the saying goes: scratch a fixed-line user, and you'll find a wireless user just waiting for the right priced service. While mobile operators have a pretty solid basis for touting the universal desirability of wireless- growth rates for cellular technology over the last 5 years average 36% year-on-year -there's long been a missing link which has helped push up wireline traffic levels and keep the wolf from the door of fixed-line providers.
That missing link is data, the one area where cellular phones, with their puny 9.6kbps standard transmission rates, can't hope to compete with the world of 64kbps-plus copper twisted pair. With the number of mobile users already having outstripped fixed-line connections in some countries, the phenomenal uptake of the Internet and emerging converged services which blend the worlds of Web and broadcast television have served as a source of comfort for traditional, fixed-line telcos. Data traffic has fast become the driving force for network growth and revenues- and they have the only show in town.
Or did have. Thanks to development efforts within the ITU and throughout the wireless community, mobile telephony is about to get a whole new look. Get ready for wireless data. Get ready for mobile Internet and wireless videotelephony. In short, get ready for 3G.
Three What?
Third generation mobile or 3G to wireless operators and equipment makers, represents the next iteration of today's digital mobile systems. First generation systems were the old analogue-based brick sized phones sported by pinstriped executives and showbiz personalities way back in the early 80s. Second generation systems, which introduced digital technology on top of traditional telecoms circuit-switching, were introduced in most industrialised nations in the early 1990s.
These systems, which comprise four main standards; GSM, Digital AMPS (D-AMPS), CDMA and PDC, now dominate wireless networks, with a total of more than 300 million users worldwide in contrast to a dwindling few still connected to first-generation analogue systems. With many countries now actively closing down their analogue networks, it won't be too long before the wireless world is a digital-only domain.
Just as the introduction of digital technology into mobile networks paved the way for new services such as SMS (Short Message Service), Caller ID, closed user groups (as in a local area PABX) and the like, so the introduction of third generation systems will revolutionise the way we use mobile networks. For a start, 3G systems will be fully digital and that includes packet-based transmission and seamless compatibility with a range of digital systems, from gaming consoles and computers right up to Web-friendly digital TV.
Because 3G systems support transmission rates as high as 2Mbps, operators are already envisaging a wide range of new services, from real-time fast Web access to dial-up, on-line games and even personal videoconferencing over specially-designed large-screen handsets.
Indeed, the difference between second-generation and third generation networks will be so radical that most equipment manufacturers don't even talk about 3G equipment in the same way. Expect today's simple mobile handsets to metamorphose into new kinds of 'digital personal communicators' or 'personal communications devices'compact, take-anywhere units which will be as indispensable as your wallet, keys and credit cards. In fact, if handset manufacturers and on-line content designers have their way, your new phone could actually become your wallet, keys and credit cards.
What Drives Demand
When mobile services first came on the market, there was a lot of talk and most of it was the largely voice-only traffic which once dominated the world's telecoms networks. The staggering growth of the World Wide Web since 1994 has changed all that. Today, data traffic has already outstripped voice in markets like the US and the UK, and is expected to do so throughout the rest of the developed world in the very near future.
As an increasing amount of information becomes available on-line, more and more people are using the Web and proprietary on-line services as the first port of call for everything from the latest stock prices and weather forecasts to finding the answers to the most arcane questions. But on-line information is just the beginning. As the number of Web connections continues to double every year, the climate is right for the long-awaited explosion in electronic commerce. Reach that critical mass of on-line shoppers and the sky's the limit for telcos, who'll see network traffic,and revenues soar.
While it's true that for the foreseeable future, at least, wireless speeds will always play second fiddle to the speeds achievable with a souped-up wireline connection, the 2Mbps promised by third generation systems should be ample for mobile Web access and complex multimedia services, right up to full motion personal video-conferencing.
While wireless systems are not likely to replace wireline any time soon, it seems likely that many people, especially in the industrialised world, will soon be using their home wireline service almost exclusively for fixed connection to the Web through a PC or a high-end digital TV. For the rest of their telecoms needs, from simple voice to high-speed file transfer, Web surfing and integrated messaging, they'll use a lightweight, large-screen, mobile communicator based on third generation technology.
Incompatible Standards
Aside from speed, one of the biggest problems with today's digital mobile systems is the existence of competing, incompatible standards in different parts of the world. While Europe and parts of Asia and the Pacific are devotees of GSM (Global Standard for Mobiles), in the US the so-called PCS (Personal Communications Services) 1.9GHz networks use a mix of cdmaOne (or IS-95), D-AMPS (Digital Advanced Mobile Phone Service, or IS-136) and GSM 1900, depending on the operator. Japan also has its own standard PDC (Personal Digital Cellular). And none of these systems is interoperable with the others, bad news for business users, who find their mobile phone no longer keeps them in touch when they're travelling, but also a headache for equipment vendors and larger operators, who lose the ability to effect economies of scale through the need to simultaneously manufacture and support a wide range of different technologies.
The Tangle of 2G Cellular and Cordless Standards
Analogue- AMPS NMT JTAC NMT CT1 TACS TACS CT1 AMPS
Digital- D-AMPS GSM PDC GSM PCS1900 DCS1800 CDMA CDMA CDMA DECT CT2 PHS CT2 CT2 PWT PACS
For all these reasons, the vision for third generation mobile systems has always been of a harmonised, global standard which would finally deliver on the promise of seamless, anytime, anywhere communications.
Now, through the work of the ITU and its member organizations, that vision is set to become a reality through the adoption of the IMT-2000 standard.
A Solution at Last- The IMT-2000 Concept
Work on developing the new global standard which would underpin third generation networks began under the auspices of the ITU back in the mid 80s and was boosted by the decision of the World Administrative Radiocommunication Conference held in Torremolinos in 1992 to identify harmonized worldwide radio-frequency spectrum for IMT-2000 services in the 2GHz band.
The IMT-2000 concept broadly describes a range of technologies, including both terrestrial and satellite systems, with a flexible, and, most importantly, common core functionality which facilitates seamless interworking across different networks.
Hard Slog
For the ITU Radiocommunication Sector, development of the IMT-2000 standard has been a lengthy and arduous process involving not only years of consultation with the world's equipment manufacturers and operators, but complex co-ordination with a wide range of other standards bodies and ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector groups working in inter-related areas, from signalling and protocols, transmission and network management to security, multimedia technologies and even tariffing structures.
IMT-2000 standardization work reached a crucial point in March this year with the meeting in Fortaleza, Brazil to determine the technology which would provide the crucial underlying 'air-interface' that is, the part of the system which carries the call from the base station to the user's mobile handset. The meeting was called upon to choose from a broad range of proposals, submitted by administrations, regional standards bodies and individual operators, which had been under evaluation since October 1998.
A Global Vision
The IMT-2000 standard covers a broad range of systems and applications, from ordinary cellular networks to emerging personal satellite-based telephony and low-cost fixed wireless access (FWA) systems (often known as Wireless Local Loop, or WLL.
Advanced Global Mobile Personal Communications by Satellite systems (often called GMPCS systems or Big LEO which are scheduled to progressively come on-line over the next five years or so, will be integrated into the IMT-2000 vision as the satellite component of third generation systems. Through dual-mode handsets, GMPCS subscribers will be able to take advantage of the same high-end features as users of terrestrial 3G systems, and will be able to seamlessly roam from satellite networks to IMT-2000-compatible ground-based networks with no loss of functionality or network quality.
FWA systems, meanwhile, are expected to represent an important IMT-2000 application in coming years, particularly in developing countries where they represent a low-cost way of bringing telecommunications to poorly-served communities. The high transmission speeds supported by IMT-2000 systems will also play a vital role in helping developing nations join the information revolution by providing a ready link to the Internet, at present only feasible using wireline services. Finally, the economies of scale made possible through an integrated third generation standard should help drive down equipment and handset costs, bringing mobile telephony within reach of a larger number of people in the world's poorer countries.
Recent decisions in ITU provide essentially a single flexible IMT-2000 standard with a choice of multiple access methods that include CDMA, TDMA and combined TDMA/CDMA, to embrace the many different mobile operational environments around the world. Further development of the more detailed IMT-2000 radio interface recommendations within the ITU is being pursued with the aim of minimising the impact on users of flexibility within the IMT-2000 standard, through maximising commonality and ease of digital implementation in a hand-held mobile unit. IMT-2000 radio interfaces should include the capability of operating with both of the major third-generation core networks currently under development.
For the ITU and its Sector Members, the task ahead involves harmonizing these multiple-mode systems so that, despite some technical differences, the resulting third generation networks nonetheless conform to the IMT-2000 goal of unified global access and functionality.
To this end, IMT-2000 recently accepted a range of proposals designed to enhance interoperability which were developed by the Operators' Harmonization Group, an independent affiliation of some 35 operators and 12 major equipment manufacturers. The first release of the standards for IMT-2000 radio interfaces are due to be formally adopted by the next major IMT-2000 meeting, scheduled from 25 October to 5 November, in Helsinki.
Coming to an Operator Near You!
The process of issuing third generation licences is already well underway in Japan and Europe, particularly in countries like Sweden and Finland, which already boast very high levels of mobile penetration. For the rest of the world, licences will be up for grabs over the next 1-3 years, allocated either via an auction, as is planned in the UK and US, or through a 'beauty-contest' whereby potential 3G operators present their network proposals to the government, which then makes its choice based on criteria such as speed of implementation, population coverage, range of services and so on.
Some countries, like Japan and South Korea, will give priority to existing second-generation licence holders; others, including the UK, will adopt a clean slate approach and select licensees purely on the strength of their proposed networks.
In addition to selecting new 3G network operators, administrations will also need to make radio frequency spectrum allocations for new networks. While some countries will set aside new spectrum for 3G, others will overlay IMT-2000 systems onto the spectrum used for existing digital mobile services, in order to ensure a seamless migration of customers onto new networks without the need to re-jig existing spectrum allocations or find additional spectrum in already-crowded radiofrequency bands.
Users in Japan can expect to access third generation services as early as 2001, with Europe and parts of Asia and Pacific coming on-line in 2002 and the US bringing up the rear shortly after that.
Europe, which has to deal with an environment comprised of many different nations, has moved fast to ready itself for next generation mobile. It already has a well-defined plan for 3G implementation following strategic guidelines defined by the European Commission and regulations adopted by the European Parliament.
In the beginning, multi-mode handsets will be the rule, giving early adopters access the power of 3G services on their home networks while maintaining normal second-generation functionality when they roam in an area where third generation networks are not yet in place.
Just as analogue and digital systems have co-existed for a decade, so third generation systems will live in harmony alongside their older cousins, giving operators time to upgrade equipment and get the most out of investments in 2G infrastructure and ensuring existing users get the same high-quality service they enjoy today.
Back to the Future
Even as the ITU puts the finishing polish on the set of standards which will define IMT-2000 third generation networks, talk is already afoot of fourth and even fifth generation systems.
What can we expect from such futuristic technology? At the moment, it's really anyone's guess. The few certainties, in an industry which continues to transform itself at an astonishing pace are these: faster speeds, more functionality, and a cheaper, increasingly personalized range of services.
|
