Very Good Reading,< Thanks Keith>
3/20/99 - Internet, CDMA drive wireless links
Mar. 19, 1999 (Electronic Engineering Times - CMP via COMTEX) -- The number of worldwide subscribers to code-division
multiple-access (CDMA)-based wireless networks has reached nearly 23 million, confirming the acceptance of wireless technology
as a stable communications medium. But while CDMA's rate of adoption over the past five years has been second only to that of
the Internet, the really compelling story is the merging of those two phenomena.
As wireless networks become more accessible, robust and spectrum-efficient, the use of data applications will proliferate in the
mass market. Qualcomm believes the expansion of services will occur in three phases. In the current, first phase, voice dominates
all networks, with some limited data use, and the main drivers, apart from lower cost, have been reductions in size and power
consumption. Phase two, which will occur over the 1999 to 2000 period, will feature wireless communicators in a variety of form
factors, with higher-performance networks and more advanced user interfaces. Wireless Internet access will become widely
available, and terminals will use higher-performance digital signal processors and microprocessors for richer user interfaces and
faster transfer rates.
Phase three (2000 to 2001) will see the emergence of universal thin channels, such as machine/machine applications. Wireless
networks will be used for asset tracking, telemetry and supervision functions, enabled by small, low-cost wireless modems,
significantly reduced service costs and more extensive coverage.
In a wireless-centric environment, the design of handheld terminals must take into consideration the entire networked system of
which they will be an integral part. The essential elements of the wireless networked system are the handheld terminal, the
wireless infrastructure, and the network-based applications and content .The services that coordinate all of those elements must
deliver what users need, when they need it.
The elements must be developed in parallel in order to make effective use of one another's capabilities and compensate for
deficiencies. For example, old analog wireless networks cannot provide highly reliable, high-throughput links between the handheld
terminal and network-based applications. To compensate for that weak telecom link, mobile data terminals were developed that
could behave autonomously for extended periods of time. As a result, the typical mobile professional today carries a laptop
computer with large amounts of data storage and relatively high processing power, as well as an analog wireless data modem and
a wireline modem for backup when coverage is unavailable or too expensive.
Increasingly, however, wireless systems such as CDMA are being deployed that provide a reliable digital air link with high
throughput, at an affordable cost. Because the network can provide greater bandwidth and a more reliable connection, the handheld
terminal is becoming more of a wireless network computer. That translates into much lower processing and data-storage
requirements, and therefore smaller, lighter, more power-efficient form factors. At the same time, the network-centric system places
a much higher demand on the fourth system element-services-to coordinate and manage the availability and format of the desired
content.
In the future, CDMA-based wireless infrastructures are expected to provide data-transfer speeds of 144 kbits/second and above,
while also providing pervasive wireless accessibility. The system model will then become extremely network-centric, with users
able to access content, applications and processing anywhere in the extended network, including from the handheld terminal.
The capabilities of handheld wireless terminals are both limited and enabled by changes in wireless infrastructures, applications,
content and services. Designers of future terminals must consider the evolution of all wireless system elements as they create new
terminals. At the same time, users' wants and needs are being fragmented in an increasingly diverse terminal market that is rapidly
dividing into several different segments.
The categories range from very low-cost-"free" from the operator-terminals focused on voice but with limited data features to
high-end, feature-rich terminals made as small as possible by using very densely integrated technology. The latter include
smart-phone platforms that combine complete voice and PDA capabilities.
At the same time, data-centric terminals are rapidly evolving from "wireless modems" into new types of systems. Those include
non-wireless data terminals that can add wireless functions via PC cards and Compact Flash cards, as well as PDAs and
subnotebooks with built-in wireless data capabilities provided by wireless chip sets or small wireless modem modules. And
traditional "data" terminals-palm-size PCs-are becoming wireless-enabled, adding voice-recognition and recording capability.
We can address the challenges by providing products along three vectors. The first is X, or deep integration. The traditional vector
for mass-market semiconductor companies, it provides the evolution to lower-cost, smaller-size and lower-power-consumption
terminals. Next is the Y vector: new standards. Essentially, it is a new vector that provides higher capacity, higher data rates and
better reliability, while leveraging deep integration. The third vector, Z, represents new applications. It provides a high degree of
flexibility to address the diversity of terminal segments and requirements.
An example of a product in the Z vector is a wireless chip set for smart phones. That chip set and its software must make no
compromises in the performance of either the communications tasks-voice and data-or the complex user interface and applications
tasks related to the PDA functionality.
Chip-set requirements include maximum flexibility for wireless designers in hardware and software, very high-performance,
low-power DSPs and microprocessors, along with ease of design for computer-centric designers who may have only limited RF
expertise.
A key feature is the use of a second independent microprocessor core in addition to the existing communications processor. That
second microprocessor should be dedicated to the operation of all user-interface and applications tasks and enable the terminal to
operate at increasing data rates. It should be capable of running industry-standard OSes and applications.
The terminal must be optimized to address the real-time, computationally intensive demands of CDMA and of an industry-standard
OS designed for demanding user interfaces and applications. Also, the device would open the wireless handheld terminal to
third-party developers' creative energies while maintaining a high level of protection for the CDMA elements.
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By: Johan Lodenius, Vice President of Marketing, Qualcomm Inc., San Diego, jlodenius
Copyright 1999 CMP Media Inc.
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