Dr. Lee says, "I don't like 3G," says Lee,
chairman and chairman of the
board for LinkAir
Communications Inc.
(www.linkair.com). "It is not a
very good system. I feel it is
wasting our time, and the
performance won't be as we
expected."
Dr Lee was VOD's Chief Technology Officer until recently when he went to work with Link Air. I am sure that VOD
knows from Dr. Lee what a crock this Euro W-CDMA really is.
Posted: 03/2001
Intellectual Capital
William C.Y. Lee
Looks Ahead to 4G
Wireless
By Bruce Christian
Calling it a
patched-up system
that could be
inefficient, William
C.Y. Lee, one of the
world's leading
authorities on mobile
communications, says it may be
best if the industry were to
leapfrog over third-generation
wireless and prepare for the
fourth-generation.
"I don't like 3G," says Lee,
chairman and chairman of the
board for LinkAir
Communications Inc.
(www.linkair.com). "It is not a
very good system. I feel it is
wasting our time, and the
performance won't be as we
expected."
On the other hand, "4G
technology can evolve quickly, so
we can skip 3G and go directly to
4G," Lee says.
For 35 years, Lee has worked on
the technology side of wireless
communications. But he also
recognizes the business side and
the need for resellers and agents to
offer wireless communications.
"They
have to
get into
wireless
to
survive,"
Lee
says.
"In the
future,
portability
and
mobility
will be
vital to
business
and to
personal
communications.
If the
distribution
channels
don't
get into
wireless,
I think
they are
missing
the
boat."
Lee
began
exploring
wireless
communications
after
receiving
his
doctorate
at Ohio
State
University--writing
his
dissertation
on
satellite
communications.
He was
hired in
1964 at
Bell
Labs to
further
his
satellite
research
with
AT&T
Corp.
(www.att.com).
But
before
he
arrived,
Congress
cut
funding
to the
AT&T
project,
because
lawmakers
feared
the
major
telecommunications
company
only
would
enhance
its then
monopolistic
position.
If Lee
wanted
to work
on
satellite
communications,
he
would have to go somewhere else.
"I chose not to go," he recalls. He
was then told of Bell Labs' new
research department called AMPS,
which would develop mobile
communications. He accepted the
challenge, because he had never
heard of mobile communications.
"Sometimes you don't choose your
future," Lee says. "But this turned
out to be a very rich field for me."
Indeed it has. Lee has written three
books on wireless and more than
200 papers. He has taught at the
university level and lectured
throughout the world. Lee's latest
book, Lee's Essentials of Wireless
Communications, was released in
mid-January. It is part of the
McGraw-Hill
(www.mcgraw-hill.com)
Telecommunications Series.
"Dr. Lee is among the elite telecom
luminaries and has been a key
player in the evolution of wireless
technologies from its first
generation through its current
third generation," says Steve
Chapman, executive editor at
McGraw-Hill.
After 15 years at Bell Labs, Lee
went to work for the ITT Defense
Communications Division.
Following his work there,
Vodafone Airtouch plc
(www.vodafone.com)--the
world's largest mobile
telecommunications
company--hired him. His attention
turned to personal
communications network (PCN)
technology and, in 1989, the
United Kingdom granted
Vodafone its PCN license.
Lee's 1990 work developing a new
microcell system increased radio
capacity by 2.5 times over the
conventional microcell system.
In all, Lee's work has led to 25
U.S. patents, with 11 more
pending. He also was instrumental
in conducting key research for
Pacific Telesis Group's (PacTel,
now part of SBC Communications
Inc., www.sbc.com) PCS
experimental CDMA, which was
perfected and launched in 1995 as
a viable commercial mobile
technology.
When Lee speaks of 4G, his
emotions are betrayed. He
becomes excited. He says the
technology is a step beyond the
immediate tomorrow.
He explains that the first three
generations of wireless
communications have required
using a pair of frequencies. One
frequency is used to send out a
signal, a second one is used to
receive.
"That is called the FDD [frequency
division duplex]," Lee explains, as
if he has returned to City
University of New York, where he
taught the first wireless classes
offered there. "The first three
generations use FDD because they
have no way to isolate the
interference in the sending out and
receiving back in the cellular
system.
"New scholars have come up with
special smart codes that can isolate
the interference in the host cellular
system, so you don't need the
FDD. Instead, we can use TDD
(time division duplex)."
According to Lee, this innovation
allows a signal to be sent on one
time slot and return in another
time slot on the same frequency.
"It's really about spectrum
efficiency," he says. "With this
system, you don't need
complicated technology."
Lee says much of the research
done to make wireless better has
been focused on isolating
interference.
"Interference is the killer. But now
we have these special codes. We
don't need any of the expensive
technologies, like smart antennas,"
Lee says. "This is simple,
high-tech efficiency in using the
spectrum, which is very
expensive."
Lee knows something about the
cost of wireless. He remembers
when the first mobile system was
available commercially in the
United States. It was rolled out just
about the same time as the 1984
Los Angeles Olympics. The cost
per unit was $3,800.
"All the Wall Street analysts were
saying it was too expensive. They
didn't think there would be many
people who would want it."
The Wall Street analysts were
wrong.
"People like mobility," Lee said.
"People like to travel. California
[residents] came to mobile
quickly, because California likes
to try new stuff."
Of course, Lee agrees with the
industry analysts who say that the
future for mobile communications
is in data. It is another reason he is
such a big proponent of 4G.
"Since the Internet has come up
and data transmission has started,
we need more bandwidth, and
more capacity and now more
frequency," Lee explains.
That is why using the available
frequency more efficiently makes
more sense, he adds.
"Sometimes you may be
downloading very heavy traffic,
but you may only be sending back
an acknowledgement or a request,
so we don't need the FDD. You
should be able to use the single
frequency." |
