In this topic, details of third generation (3G) wireless communication systems
will be discussed. This topic consists of three sections.
The first section discusses: 1. characteristics and standardization of 3G systems; 2. evolving from 2G to 3G systems; 3. International Mobile Telecommunications 2000 (IMT-2000); and 4. Universal Mobile Telecommunications Systems (UMTS).
The second section identifies opportunities and challenges of 3G systems. Specific applications of 3G systems, such as 3G personal services, mobile commerce and wireless Internet are discussed in this section.
T T o o p p i i c c
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LEARNING OUTCOMES After completing this topic, students should be able to: 1. Identify the characteristics and standardization of 3G wireless systems. 2. Describe the evolution from 2G to 3G systems. 3. Justify opportunities and challenges of 3G wireless systems. 4. Illustrate the development of 3G wireless communication systems in the Asia-Pacific region. X 3G Wireless Communications TOPIC 6 3G WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS W 135 The final section of the topic illustrates the developments and field trial results of 3G systems. Particular reference will be made to Hong Kong, Japan, Australia, and China.
As in previous topics, you will be asked to read a number of online readings and activities. It should be noted that these readings and activities are essential for this course and you should not skip them. X INTRODUCTION We have discussed in previous topics that there has been an exponential increase in the growth of mobile and Internet services in the past ten years. According to a recent prediction by the UMTS Forum as shown in Figure 6.1, the very strong growth in mobile users will continue. It is also predicted that there will be about 3 billion mobile users by the Year 2015 and that future mobile growth will be predominantly in Asia and the developing countries.
Figure 6.1 Predicted growth of mobile users [Source: UMTS Forum]
We have mentioned earlier in other topic that frequency spectrum is a scarce resource and spectrally-efficient systems are required to cope with the exponential growth in the demand of system capacity. In the 1992 World Radio Conference (WRC92), additional frequency spectrum in around the 2000 MHz band was allocated to the FPLMTS (Future Public Land Mobile X TOPIC 6 3G WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS 136 Telecommunications Systems). The FPLMTS is currently known as IMT-2000 (International Mobile Telecommunications 2000) and commonly referred to as the third generation (3G) system. 3G is the future generation of wireless systems that provides enhanced multimedia capability to users. Details of 3G systems are discussed in this topic. THIRD GENERATION (3G) WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS Wireless communication systems can be broadly classified into 1G, 2G and 3G. All analogue cellular phones are considered to be 1G systems. The use of digital technologies in 2G systems dramatically improves the quality and security of the systems. In addition to the use of digital technologies, 3G systems also provide enhanced multimedia services to users. Characteristics of 3G systems The ITU summarizes the characteristics of 3G systems in the following paragraphs, which is reprinted from the ITUs web page.
The characteristics of the third-generation handsets will mainly consist of three points: a very high bit rate, enhanced communications and multimedia enabled. Third-generation mobile communication will provide the mass-market with: high quality, efficient, and easy-to-use wireless mobile multimedia services.
Third-generation systems will provide support for: high data rates: (minimum) 144 kbit/s in all radio environments and 2 Mbit/s in low-mobility and indoor environments. symmetrical and asymmetrical data transmission. In fact, the data rate isnt the same, and doesnt have to be, when transmitting information from a server to a terminal or from a terminal to a server. circuit-switched and packet-switched services, such as Internet Protocol (IP) traffic and real-time video. good voice quality (comparable to wire-line quality). greater capacity and improved spectrum efficiency. several simultaneous services to end-users and terminals, for multimedia services. the seamless incorporation of second-generation cellular systems, in order not to have any discontinuity between the second- and the third-generation systems. TOPIC 6 3G WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS W 137 global, i.e. international roaming, between different IMT-2000 operational environments. economies of sale and an open global standard that meet the needs of the mass market. Source: International Telecommunications Union, http://www.itu.int/imt /what_is/3rdgen/index.html>
The ITU vision of global wireless access in the 21st century is shown in Figure 6.2. International Mobile Telecommunications 2000 (IMT-2000) is the 3G system that will be discussed in more detail later in this . However, it can be seen that in- building, urban, suburban and global coverage are covered by picocell, microcell, macrocell, and satellite, respectively.
Figure 6.2: The ITU vision of global wireless access in the 21st century [Source: <http://www.itu.int/imt/what_is/imt/]
To support enhanced multimedia services, the outlook of 3G phones is different from that of 2G phones. For example, 3G phones should: provide a large colourful screen with touch screen facility have a built-in video camera have the ability to access the Internet be lightweight with long battery life, etc.
X TOPIC 6 3G WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS 138 Some concept phones proposed by a leading mobile phone manufacturer are shown in Figure 6.3.
Figure 6.3 Concept phones for 3G services [Source: <http://www.nokia.com>]
Having seen the advantages and some applications of 3G systems, we are now going to discuss the standardization of 3G systems and the pathway from 2G to 3G. Standardization of 3G systems As mentioned earlier in other topic, 3G systems will provide the potential for a whole range of mobile multimedia services, such as Web surfing, access to corporate LANs and Intranets, and financial transactions from a mobile terminal. To provide global compatibility of mobile terminals, standardization of 3G systems is an important topic in deploying 3G systems and services.
1. Explain why 3G is said to be the most important revolution since the industrial revolution; and 2. Explain what 3G is going to mean for a user. SELF-TEST 6.1 TOPIC 6 3G WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS W 139 It has been discussed quite a number of times that all existing cellular systems are 2G (or 2.5G) systems. The three most important 2G systems are: GSM (widely adopted throughout the world) TDMA/IS-136 (mainly adopted in North America) cdmaOne/IS-95 (mainly adopted in North America and some Asian countries). Since there already exist a huge number of 2G users, a smooth transition from 2G systems to 3G systems is absolutely required. To ensure such a smooth transition, a roadmap has been defined by the ITU, as shown in Figure 6.4.
Figure 6.4 Roadmap from 2G to 3G [Source: <http://www.itu.int/imt/what_is/roadto/index.html>]
It can been seen from Figure 6.4 that six organizations are involved in the standardization of 2G systems.
For GSM, the GSM Association (<http://www.gsmworld.com>) and ETSI (The European Telecommunications Standards Institute, <http://www.etsi.org>) are involved.
For TDMA/IS-136, UWCC (The Universal Wireless Communications Consortium, <http://www.uwcc.org>) and T1 (Committee T1, <http:// www.t1.org>) are involved.
For cdmaOne (IS-95), CDG (CDMA Development Group, <http://www.cdg.org>) and TIA (the Telecommunications Industry Association, <http://www.tiaonline.org>) are involved. X TOPIC 6 3G WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS 140 Figure 6.4 also illustrates three leading 3G network proposals, namely: W-CDMA (Wideband Code-Division Multiple Access) UWC-136 (Universal Wireless Communications 136) cdma2000 (cdma2000 is a TIA standard for 3G technology that is an evolutionary outgrowth of cdmaOne).
Major organizations that are responsible for standardizing these proposals include: 3GPP (The 3G Partnership Project, <http://www.3gpp.org>) for W-CDMA; 3GPP2 (The 3G Partnership Project 2, <http://www.3gpp2.org>) for cdma2000; and UWCC for UWC-136.
3GPP and 3GPP2 Information about 3GPP and 3GPP2 can be downloaded from <http://www.3gpp2.org/text/background.cfm>, which is reprinted below.
Background: Third-generation (3G) wireless technology is of great interest to the telecommunications industry and 15 contributions were submitted by the June 30, 1998 deadline to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) for proposed radio transmission technologies (RTTs) under the International Mobile Telecommunications 2000 (IMT-2000) process. Concurrent with the ITU process, TIA has been addressing domestic issues associated with 3G technologies through two major efforts: TIA has become an active proponent of the Third- Generation Partnership Project number 2 (3GPP 2); and TIA also is urging convergence of technology through its 3G ad hoc group under the Wireless Communications Division.
3GPP 2 is an effort spearheaded by the International Committee of the American National Standards Institutes (ANSI) board of directors to establish a 3G Partnership Project (3GPP) for evolved ANSI/TIA/EIA-41, Cellular Radiotelecommunication Intersystem Operations networks and related RTTs. The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) initiated the concept for a 3GPP at the beginning of 1998. ETSI approached TIA and Committee T1, sponsored by the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS), in March of this year with an initial proposal to join the 3GPP effort.
TOPIC 6 3G WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS W 141 Members of the ANSI board were concerned that the ETSI proposal was too limiting, and as a result, established a 3G ad hoc committee to examine how all standards development organizations (SDOs) could be involved. In June, a meeting was held between this ANSI ad hoc group and a delegation from ETSI in Seattle to further discuss how the 3GPP could accommodate all industry participants. The original ETSI proposal focused on global system for mobile (GSM) communications technology. After a July 10 follow-up meeting in London, ETSI announced its unwillingness to include other non-GSM technologies in its proposal. As a result, the ANSI ad hoc group recommended a similar proposal for the creation of 3GPP 2 and then presented it to TIAs Wireless Communications Division 3G ad hoc group. The 3GPP 2 proposal was presented to a larger audience in August, and the position was refined.
It was decided that ANSIs ad hoc committee needed to present the 3GPP 2 proposal to both TIAs and Committee T1s standards-formulating groups and to other regional SDOs. A presentation and explanation of the 3GPP 2 proposal was made by the ANSI ad hoc delegation to the Telecommunication Technology Committee (TTC) and the Association of Radio Industries and Business (ARIB) in Japan and the Telecommunications Technology Association (TTA) in Korea, September 13.
Both Japan and Korea SDOs were receptive to the proposal and announced that they will consider joining the effort. In early September, TR-45, Mobile and Personal Communications Committee, reviewed the presentation and decided to endorse TIAs involvement in the effort. Subsequently, TIA and ANSI met with ETSI on September 25 and presented its proposal for 3GPP 2.
The 3GPP proposal, originally presented by ETSI to Committee T1 and TIA and other national SDOs, encourages the development of a joint technical committee at the international level which would handle pre-ITU and interregional specification work for IMT-2000 RTTs and related network specifications.
ANSIs response to the ETSI proposal was the creation of the 3G partnership as a multilateral collaboration among national and regional SDOs to facilitate the development of globally applicable technical specifications for 3G mobile systems based on the evolution of the two globally deployed mobile architectures: GSM/Mobile Application Part (GSM/MAP) and ANSI/TIA/EIA- 41. The work is to be accomplished cooperatively to facilitate the development of timely ITU IMT-2000 recommendations.
This cooperation may result in either complete specifications or in agreed technical elements, which the participating SDOs may submit to the ITU through their normal national or regional processes. This latter form of cooperation builds X TOPIC 6 3G WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS 142 on the agreements and history of pre-ITU standardization cooperation in the development of network recommendations on signalling, transmission and maintenance subjects fostered by the Global Standards Collaboration (GSC) and has been expanded on in GSC and Radio STandardizaion (RAST) agreements and resolutions among many of the Participating Standards Organizations now discussing the formation of 3GPs.
Participating SDOs will have the right to submit 3GP technical specifications for approval and publication as standards, or parts of standards within their home national or regional processes. The partnership is a new way of working among the existing organizations. It addresses the industrys need to produce globally applicable specifications without altering the national or regional scope of existing standards organizations.
The proposed 3G partnership is structured into two projects: x 1.3GPP 1: Global specifications for GSM/MAP network evolution to 3G and the UTRA RTT. x 2.3GPP 2: Global specifications for ANSI/TIA/EIA-41 network evolution to 3G and global specifications for the RTTs supported by ANSI/TIA/EIA-41.
Additionally, it is recognized that related work spanning the two families is being undertaken outside of the partnership projects:
Harmonization and consolidation of similar wideband code division multiple access air interface specifications as pre-standardization work to feed into ITU Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) Study Group (SG) 8 Task Group (TG) 8/1; and Network-network interface specifications The 3GP will support the resolutions of the May 1998 GSC ad hoc meeting with ITU-Telecommunication Sector (ITU-T) SG11 on IMT-2000 calling for collaboration in the area of networking 3G mobile systems. However, it is expected that the actual specification will be developed in ITU-T SG11.
ANSI initially proposed the establishment of one 3GPP as an overall umbrella activity, but the ANSI 3G ad hoc recognized that ETSI has led global discussions for work focused on item 1 above. TIA in the United States is the home organization for ANSI/TIA/EIA-41, and TIA has already moved to open global discussions focused on item 2. Even if not done under a single organizational structure, these two efforts have agreed to cooperate in the development and support of the technical objectives in the above bulleted items and have similar operating procedures so future convergence of work activities is facilitated.
TOPIC 6 3G WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS W 143 The ANSI group believes the definition of 3GP rules and procedures, whether through one organizational structure or two independent but interconnected activities among many of the same participants, should be developed with agreement of all participating SDOs. These rules and procedures should address the development of specifications and of other candidate input to the ITU for the four work areas defined above. In a separate document, the ANSI 3G ad hoc group provided its suggested additions and modifications to the procedural framework suggested by ETSI. This procedural framework includes clarification of voting procedures, information-sharing rules, common criteria for evaluation of resultant specifications, intellectual property rights, etc.
3G Ad Hoc Group The TIA WCD 3G ad hoc group has met frequently since the board of directors approved it to continue to facilitate harmonization of technologies in the United States. The 3G ad hoc group has three task groups: TG 1, Harmonization; TG 2, Government Partnership; and TG 3, Spectrum Issues. TG 1 continues to identify potential areas of harmonization for 3G by examining the output documents of the standards-formulating groups. TG 2 had a successful first meeting in which representatives from seven government agencies attended and agreed to bring their questions about 3G to the group. TG 3 is developing a position on how the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) could provide additional spectrum for IMT-2000. Additionally, TG 3 will provide input to the FCC on how new spectrum could be allocated in the future for 3G use.
In addition to the above brief introduction to 3GPP and 3GPP2, online Powerpoint (viewer can be downloaded from Microsoft at <http://www.microsoft.com/downloads>) presentations on the operation of 3GPP and 3GPP2 are available for downloading. When you study the presentations, pay particular attention to the following items: definition, scope, and characteristics; contributions to the ITU; internal structure; and responsibilities of 3GPP and 3GPP2.
In addition to 3GPP and 3GPP2, brief information and objectives about UWCC can be downloaded from UWCC.
X TOPIC 6 3G WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS 144 About UWCC The Universal Wireless Communications Consortium (UWCC), founded in 1996, is a Bellevue, Washington-based international consortium of more than 100 wireless carriers and vendors supporting the TDMA-EDGE & WIN technology standards. TDMA-EDGE network operators currently serve over 65 million TDMA-EDGE and Analogue subscribers within their networks. The TDMA- EDGE Taking Wireless Beyond the Call technology brand (Time Division Multiple Access - Enhanced Data Rates For Global Evolution) represents not only second generation enhanced services but also 3G compliant high-speed wireless data and Internet access technology to be available any time, anywhere.
The purpose of this cooperative, non-profit organization is to promote TDMA- EDGE & WIN as an integrated global wireless communications technology, providing operators and subscribers with a flexible, compatible service that can evolve into additional enhanced voice and data services.
Members of UWCC are working to deliver an enhanced portfolio of global mobility services across all spectral, market, and subscriber bands. Member companies serve customers worldwide and have the proven capability and experience to offer expert assistance to new operators and subscribers in the development and deployment of wireless services.
UWCC Objectives Dedicated to providing the best global wireless communications service to operators and consumers, UWCC is focused on the following objectives: To develop standards for enhanced TDMA-EDGE & WIN services; To create partnerships for providing anywhere, anytime products and services; To promote the global deployment of TDMA-EDGE & WIN products and services; To expedite TDMA-EDGE & WIN technologies worldwide; To stimulate the global growth of TDMA-EDGE & WIN use and optimize terminal costs; and To provide products and information that spur global conversion to TDMA- EDGE & WIN. [Source:<http://www.uwcc.org/about/objectives.html>]
TOPIC 6 3G WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS W 145 Having discussed the organizations that are responsible for standardizing the 3G standards, we are going to discuss the evolution from 2G to 3G.
Evolving from 2G to 3G As already mentioned in the previous section, GSM, IS-136 and IS-95 are the three dominant 2G standards. Since both GSM and IS-136 employ TDMA technology and IS-136 employs CDMA technology, GSM and IS-136 are grouped together as TDMA systems and IS-95 is treated as a CDMA system.
Now, lets read a technical article on the cdma2000 and W-CDMA networks. In the following article, five sections are discussed, which include: an overview of packet mode data transfer in cellular networks GSM GPRS and IS-95B cellular networks architecture and protocol layers in two leading third-generation cellular network proposals, cdma2000 and W-CDMA mobile IP support in various cellular networks.
In the following sections, IMT-2000 and UMTS will be introduced. Read the article Packet mode in wireless networks: overview of transition to third generation, IEEE Communications Magazine, September 2000: 164172. After you have read the article, complete the following self-test before proceeding to the next section. READING 6.1 1. Explain the two steps in the evolution to higher data rates and more advanced services to be supported in the near future. 2. What is the main difference between IS-95B and IS-95A? Hence, what are the leading advantages? SELF-TEST 6.2 X TOPIC 6 3G WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS 146 IMT-2000 and UMTS According to the ITU, International Mobile Telecommunications 2000 (IMT-2000) are 3G mobile systems which are scheduled around the year 2000. Details of the ITU are covered in other earlier topic, which will not be repeated here. The Universal Mobile Telecommunications Systems (UMTS), on the other hand, is a member of the IMT-2000 family of 3G systems. The UMTS Forum is responsible for the standardization of the UMTS. A short introduction to the UMTS Forum can be downloaded from the UMTS Forum, which is reprinted below:
The UMTS Forum is an international and independent body, uniquely committed through the building of cross-industry consensus to the successful introduction and development of UMTS/IMT-2000 third generation mobile communications systems.
Uniquely focused on the delivery of market-focused recommendations and creating an environment for the successful commercial realization of UMTS/IMT-2000 globally, the Forum is engaged in a wide range of activities to increase awareness and understanding of third generation opportunities and issues.
Established in 1996, The UMTS Forum is a non-profit making global organization that currently has 250 member organizations drawn from the mobile operator, supplier, regulatory, consultant, IT and media/content communities.
The UMTS Forum works as a catalyst with other specialist organizations to examine issues such as technical standards, spectrum, market demand, business opportunities, terminal equipment circulation and convergence between the mobile communications and computing industries. We enjoy links with other established worldwide and regional organizations, standards bodies and recognized operator and industry communities including: ITU, GSM Association, GSA, UWCC, 3GPP (and its constituent Standards Development Organisations ETSI, ARIB, T1, TTA, TTC and CWTS), IPv6 Forum, CEPT and ETNO.
As a member of the UMTS Forum, you can become a key player in realizing the vision of tomorrows wireless Information Society. By joining 250 organizations of 40 countries from all continents, as an active member of the UMTS Forum you can enjoy these unique benefits: Be a participant not an observer with a unique perspective and insight into UMTS 3G mobile issues Share new learnings and dialogue with industry leaders TOPIC 6 3G WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS W 147 Leverage alliances with leading trade, regulatory and technical bodies Capitalise on tomorrows global mobile market opportunity Contribute to extend the UMTS vision
A brochure that introduces the UMTS Forum can be downloaded from its homepage.
Having been given an introduction to the UMTS Forum, lets read a concise article about the IMT-2000, which can be downloaded from the ITU homepage. When you read the article, pay more attention to the history, standardization and harmonization of IMT-2000.
After reading the above presentation, watch the short video on IMT-2000 from ITU.
The UMTS will be discussed in the following sections. A short introduction to UMTS can be downloaded from <http://www.umts-forum.org/what_is_umts. html>, which is reprinted below: What is UMTS? UMTS stands for Universal Mobile Telecommunications System
UMTS is a part of the International Telecommunications Unions IMT-2000 vision of a global family of third-generation (3G) mobile communications systems. Read the brochure produced by the UMTS Forum, which can be downloaded from: <http://www.umts-forum.org/brochures/ UMTS.pdf> READING 6.2 Read the presentation IMT-2000 standardization, presented at Telecom99, which can be downloaded from: <http://www.itu.int/ imt/imt2kstd.doc> READING 6.3 X TOPIC 6 3G WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS 148 UMTS will play a key role in creating the future mass market for high-quality wireless multimedia communications that will approach 2 billion users worldwide by the year 2010. Why UMTS? UMTS will enable tomorrows wireless Information Society, delivering high- value broadband information, commerce and entertainment services to mobile users via fixed, wireless and satellite networks.
UMTS will speed convergence between telecommunications, IT, media and content industries to deliver new services and create fresh revenue-generating opportunities UMTS will deliver low-cost, high-capacity mobile communications offering data rates up to 2Mbit/sec with global roaming and other advanced capabilities. When UMTS? UMTS services will launch commercially from 2001
UMTS licenses have already been awarded in several European countries
UMTS experimental systems are now in field trial with leading vendors worldwide How UMTS? UMTS builds on todays significant investments in second generation mobile systems
UMTS has the support of several hundred network operators, manufacturers and equipment vendors worldwide
UMTS is one of the major new third generation mobile communications systems being developed within the framework which has been defined by the ITU and known as IMT-2000.
The subject of intense worldwide efforts on research and development throughout the present decade, UMTS has the support of many major telecommunications operators and manufacturers because it represents a unique TOPIC 6 3G WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS W 149 opportunity to create a mass market for highly personalized and user-friendly mobile access to tomorrows Information Society.
UMTS will deliver pictures, graphics, video communications and other wide- band information as well as voice and data, direct to people who can be on the move. UMTS will build on and extend the capability of todays mobile technologies (like digital cellular and cordless) by providing increased capacity, data capability and a far greater range of services using an innovative radio access scheme and an enhanced, evolving core network.
The launch of UMTS services from the year 2001 will see the evolution of a new, open communications universe, with players from many sectors (including providers of information and entertainment services) coming together harmoniously to deliver new communications services, characterized by mobility and advanced multimedia capabilities. The successful deployment of UMTS will require new technologies, new partnerships and the addressing of many commercial and regulatory issues. The UMTS Forum is at the heart of all these issues, and encourages you to join us as an active participant in making the Information Society of tomorrow a reality.
After this brief introduction to the UMTS Forum, read the following detailed report produced by the UMTS Forum on The path towards UMTS. It is a concise and informative report that covers the wide breadth of UMTS technology rather than dealing in details. Three major areas are covered in this report: aspects of how the technology benefits the user, the community, the providers and the industry the steps and time-scales for introducing the UMTS technology technologies that will be essential for UMTS at its introduction and those which are likely to be required for its continuing evolution.
Read the 19 page report, The path towards UMTS technologies for the information society, produced by the UMTS Forum: <http://www.umts-forum.org/reports/report2.doc> OR <http://www.umts-forum.org/reports/report2.pdf> READING 6.4 X TOPIC 6 3G WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS 150 After you have read the article, complete the following self-test.
The introduction to 3G systems is now complete. In the next section, opportunities and challenges of 3G systems will be identified. OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES OF 3G SYSTEMS Opportunities of 3G systems At the beginning of this topic, we briefly discussed the prediction on the growth of the cellular market made by the UMTS Forum. The ITU also made a similar prediction on the growth of the cellular market (as shown in Figure 6.5). If we compare Figure 6.1 and Figure 6.5, it is easy to notice that both predictions are close to each other, which means strong growth is expected in the next ten years.
Figure 6.5: Growth of the cellular market. [Source: <http://www.itu.int>]
What does UMTS offer to users? SELF-TEST 6.3 TOPIC 6 3G WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS W 151 In addition to the growth of the cellular market, the ITU also made predictions on the growth of the fixed market. Results are shown in Figure 6.6.
Figure 6.6: The growth of fixed and mobile terminals [Source: <http://www.itu.int>]
It can be seen from Figure 6.6 that the number of mobile terminals is predicted to exceed the number of fixed terminals by the Year 2010.
Now, lets move to the opportunities of 3G systems. Since the data rate in 3G systems can be boosted up to 2 Mbps in a picocell environment, traditional applications that can only be supported by a wired system can now be implemented in a wireless environment.
Finally, lets read about the animated 3G personal services provided by Nokia.
X TOPIC 6 3G WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS 152 Marks experience Mark is a busy man, travelling from place to place for both business and pleasure. His company is trying to get established in the Far East, and so he spends a lot of time in China and at headquarters in Europe. News and financial information are a priority for him, as is staying in touch with his wife and kids when hes on the other side of the world.
http://www.nokia.com/3g/mark.html
Tiannings experience Thirty years old and currently tending a bar in Hong Kong, Tianning has just returned from Canada, where he lived for three years teaching Chinese. Always up for adventure, Tianning doesnt stay put in anywhere for long. He needs his 3G terminal to keep in touch with his large group of friends around the world and to keep up on his favourite sports: football and ice hockey.
<http://www.nokia.com/3g/tianning.html>
Hannas experience Hanna spends most of her time with books and lecture notes as she tries to finish up law school at Australian National University. Her 3G terminal comes in handy when she needs to reserve a book from the library or pay for photocopies. She is applying for internships and uses her terminal to keep track of her schedule and cheap student flights to Hawaii, where her boyfriend lives.
<http://www.nokia.com/3g/hanna.html>
Lauras experience Laura is both a fun-loving teenager and a dedicated figure skater. Although she doesnt have a lot of free time, she makes the most of it with her 3G terminal, making dates with friends, listening to the latest pop music, and even using it to help with her homework.
<http://www.nokia.com/3g/laura.html>
[Source: <http://www.nokia.com/3g>]
After a number of video clips and computer animated graphics, the two most important applications for 3G services, namely mobile commerce and wireless Internet, are now discussed in the following sections.
TOPIC 6 3G WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS W 153 Mobile commerce Mobile commerce means being able to pay for goods, services or information with a mobile terminal (e.g., a mobile phone, PDA, , etc.). The mobile phone is a uniquely powerful distribution channel, available anytime, anywhere, in the palm of the consumers hand. With high-speed and secure wireless communication protocols, mobile commerce applications have become much easier to implement and to use. It is believed that consumers who use mobile commerce applications will come to value their mobile phone as much as they do their wallets today.
Now, lets read a concise document about mobile commerce from CNET. The document consists of four html files, which can be downloaded from CNET.
Mobile commerce: Brave new wallet By Juniper Foo June 18, 1999
Those days of being labeled beng for wearing a cellular on your hip or back pocket are now lost in the mist of antiquity.
The buzz phrase, have mobile, will transact, sums up the prevailing sentiment over a growing sector that is fast gaining currency with customers, telecom operators and content providers. Remember Citibank and Motorolas mobile banking promotion a while ago? Baby steps.
What Logica, a major global player in the wireless arena, calls the mobile commerce revolution, will see calls being paid with electronic cash held in the phone; loyalty points being displayed on your handphone screen as these are being awarded; bank systems automatically downloading the latest account information overnight onto your phone
In the wireless utopia, you can kiss goodbye to long queues as public transport tickets get delivered electronically into your mobile on request. Once in the phone, your e-ticket will be read by smart card ticket barriers. Simply swipe your handphone across a card reader, and youre off to destination X.
Logica has forecast a massive growth across Europe in mobile commerce by the year 2000. It also predicts that within three years, the delivery of e-commerce capability into the hands of users (literally and figuratively), using wireless technology, will reach 5.1 million Europeans. It is estimated that they will by then be spending a cool 2.7 billion per year through mobile services.
X TOPIC 6 3G WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS 154 Mobile commerce is already twining its vines tightly into Asia where we appear to value our mobile as much as we do our wallets. And the twain shall surely meet in the coming m-commerce revolution.
CNET Asia cornered Robert Leonardi, principal consultant and eBusiness creator for Logica, and inventor of the worlds first secure mobile payment system for mobile banking, the MobilSmart.
His latest innovation, Application Smart Card, has just been specified, which allows customers to have different applications on separate smart cards to use for the second slot of a dual-slot mobile phone.
In town recently, he gives answers to mobile commerce, its challenges and concerns, and where it is heading in the new e-commerce playground.
This may sound like a stupid Q. But what exactly is m-commerce? Mobile commerce is wireless e-commerce. It can be done with just a mobile phone, a PDA connected to a mobile phone or even a portable PC connected to a mobile phone.
Mobile commerce is the delivery of electronic commerce capabilities directly into the consumers hand, anywhere, via wireless technology and putting a retail outlet in the customers handanywhere.
I usually say that mobile commerce means that for the first time you can reach the consumer directly; not his fax machine, his desk, his secretary or his mailbox, but your consumer, regardless of where he is.
Everyone talks about e-commerce whenever the Net is brought up. So when did the phrase mobile commerce suddenly creep into the vocabulary. Who coined it?
The phrase was coined by Kevin Duffey, Logicas Group Telecom director, in February 1997. It has since gained much momentum. Logica formed and is working with the Global Mobile Commerce Forum towards making mobile commerce an open standard that is freely available to application developers.
TOPIC 6 3G WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS W 155 How do we know that m-commerce will deliver? And what does Duffey mean when he said m-commerce will help e-commerce become a reality. Isnt e-commerce already a reality?
Mobile commerce makes it possible for your customers to reach you wherever they are and whenever they need your services, whereas Internet commerce demands that you are attached to your desk. M-commerce lets you purchase, do banking, download cash or tickets when you need them wherever you are, simply by using a mobile phone.
Yes e-commerce is a reality although its still in its early stages. Mobile commerce is part of e-commerce, just user-friendlier. In almost all countries the penetration of mobile phones is much larger than the penetration of Internet access. Many people dont use a PC outside the office but keep their mobile phones by their side at all times. Mobile commerce is perfect for this group.
Are there market figures to show how large this sector will eventually grow to be?
In Europe we have estimated the market size of five million mobile commerce customers by the year 2000. By 2002, Logicas goal is to serve 5 percent of humanity, globally, with m-commerce.
Are there any m-commerce applications currently in use? The first mobile banking service started in Finland in 1993, in which customers could perform banking transactions over GSM via text messages.
Postgirot Bank in Sweden presented in September 1997 their solution called MobilSmart, which I invented. The SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) of a customers GSM phone secured real transactions from the users bank account to any other account at any Swedish bank.
Barclaycard and Cellnet in the U.K. launched a series of services in late 1995. Today I estimate they have about 250,000 customers who conduct mobile banking and download e-cash to a smart card inserted into their phone. A number of banks in Asia have also recently launched mobile banking services. X TOPIC 6 3G WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS 156 Other services provide stock exchange quotes to your phone on demand or when triggered by certain trading levels, in addition to credit rating information on demand whenever you need it.
Swedens largest newspaper, Aftonbladet, recently launched an m-commerce edition where the subscribers get text messages of important news.
In general, there are four steps up the m-commerce staircase: 1. Information (push as well as pull); 2. Transaction (payments and purchase); 3. Downloads (tickets, e-cash or other valuables); 4. Relationship (we are working on this level).
What clear trends in m-commerce are expected for the near future/millennium? We see a lot of banking and ticketing applications. Top-up of pre-paid phone cards and cash cards is also another application. Take Singapores Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) system for example. Imagine being able to top-up your cash card on the move simply by slotting it into a smart-card reader on your mobile phone and downloading cash from your bank account. No need to go to an ATM or petrol station kiosk.
A new technology called WAP makes it possible for a mobile phone to access the Internet. Logica very recently tested mobile banking in Europe using WAP technology.
Whatever you do over the Internet can now be done on the road simply by using your mobile phone. The difference is that mobile phones already have very strong authentication features built in, unlike the Internet.
I also see companies communicating urgent messages to their staff this way, just as Nokia currently sends press releases using text messages to GSM phones.
The Application Smart Card, my latest innovation at Logica, has just been specified. This allows customers to have different applications on smart cards which are inserted into the second slot of a dual-slot mobile phone. Just as you may now carry 2 or 3 credit cards in your wallet, you would carry multiple smart cards each carrying several complementary applications.
The card gives you the services you want. The great thing is that operators do not need to program different SIMs with different applications as is the practice today. Also, content providers do not need to have their applications developed TOPIC 6 3G WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS W 157 into a dozen different SIM cards to reach all customers who may subscribe to different service providers, and hence have different SIM cards in their mobile phones.
Best of all, the customer does not need to change SIMs when he changes service from banking to betting to tickets to road tolls, for instance. It is as easy as changing the game cartridges on a Nintendo Gameboy.
Moving from cool ideas to reality Is m-commerce suitable for every business? Can a regular business create a profitable m-commerce division?
Yes, every business that wants to communicate with its consumers and give them the option of buying or using the business services when the customer feels the need can make use of m-commerce.
Who will m-commerce benefit the most? In the beginning m-commerce will benefit the systems providers just as the Internet did in its early days. But very soon after, consumers will benefit by being able to consume when they want, where they want.
Content providers can reach their customers directly without interference from competitors, when their customers want their services. And the telecom operator will be able to differentiate with quality and content, and not just on price, as is the case today.
What are some of the issues and concerns currently surrounding m-commerce? And what about security? The biggest issue is getting a working partnership together and forging commercial arrangements. That is my role at Logica helping companies globally with the business relationships of m-commerce.
Security is not a problem. Postgirot Bank in Sweden, for example, accepts payments generated and secured by the mobile phone directly into their production system. And Postgirot processes 3.5 times Swedens GDP in these systems. Some customers use this security to transact as much as 100 million SEK (about S$20 million) at a time.
X TOPIC 6 3G WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS 158 Is there any de-facto standard for m-commerce at present? There are not one but a lot of standards for doing mobile commerce today, and Logica is working with the Global Mobile Commcer Forum to develop more standards where needed. Over and over again, we have seen that open standards are good for businesses and for consumers.
Applications will not necessarily standardize. There is currently no standard for bill presentation and payment in the conventional banking environment, so such a standard for mobile banking is probably not the first thing that will happen. What do you think will be the most important skill sets and tools in m-commerce over the next couple of years?
For tools WAP, dual-slot phones, Application Smart Card, Bluetooth. For skill sets, the most important will be the ability to design business cases where everybody wins, from the content provider to the telecoms operator, to the consumer.
Wireless Internet The phenomenal growth of wireless systems and the Internet have clearly indicated customer needs in interactive multimedia services anywhere and anytime. A prediction of the growth of mobile Internet market is shown in Figure 6.7, which can be downloaded from the ITU.
Figure 6.7: The growth of the mobile Internet market [Source: <http://www.itu.int>] TOPIC 6 3G WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS W 159 Thanks to the high-speed data transmission capability, access to the Internet using mobile phones is no longer a dream application. Through the use of WAP, it is possible to use 2G, 2.5G, or 3G systems to access the Internet.
Read the two concise and self-explanatory articles on wireless Internet that are attached. When you read the two articles, pay more attention to the latest developments in mobile handsets.
After you read the above articles, complete the following self-test.
Challenges of 3G systems When implemented in an irresponsible way, some of the future application of the 3G technologies could create serious problems for society. For example, privacy and personal security are still under hot debate.
On the technology side, there are many practical issues that still have to be solved. For example, battery technology, terminal size and display and processing capacity. Read the article Handhelds duke it out for the Internet, IEEE Spectrum, August 2000, pages 3541. READING 6.5 Read the article Cell phones answer Internets call, IEEE Spectrum, August 2000, pages 4246. READING 6.6 1. Identify items that might seem to be crippling handicaps of existing cellular phones for mobile commerce. 2. The frequency spectrum for IMT-2000 has been extended in the WRC2000. Explain the details of the spectrum extension. SELF-TEST 6.4 X TOPIC 6 3G WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS 160 On the economical side, high 3G licence cost, high investment cost, large uncertainty and unexpected returns are the major barriers for system operators. A concise article that summarizes the operation and management (O&M) challenges can be downloaded from <http://www.telecoms- mag.com/issues/200005/tci/diversity.html> and is reprinted below.
Diversity within Convergence: The Wireless O&M Challenge
Broadband Solutions The convergence of services, along with the proliferation of network equipment, creates operations and management challenges especially for wireless service providers transitioning to 3G.
Andreas Dietermann The transition to third generation (3G) wireless networks creates a new set of operations and management (O&M) challenges for service providers. At the core of the issue is the dynamic tension created by a convergence of services accompanied by a proliferation of network equipment.
This apparent paradox convergence of services amid greater diversity of network systems along with the O&M needs of a hierarchical management structure amid a flexible, flat-hierarchy network model, creates headaches all around for network planners.
On closer look, of course, the challenge is less of a paradox than it seems. From an O&M approach, perhaps its best to see convergence and diversity as two sides of the same coin. Convergence fixed-mobile, voice-data, computer-telephony is the end. Infrastructure diversity switches, routers, gateways, servers, thin clients is the required means.
From the O&M perspective, it means using a flexible concept allowing management integration on different levels, whether it is peer-to-peer at the element level and up-and-down within the TMN network management hierarchy.
The Continuity Challenge 3G systems will begin as islands in a sea of 2G. Because of this, service providers from the start will want to see as small as possible change in O&M between the two. Two networks and one management system will be the order of the day. This rule means the creation of general requirements such as common management for all 2G and 3G network components (e.g., switching, intelligent network devices, radio) down to very practical ones TOPIC 6 3G WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS W 161 such as re-use of existing resources such as operation and maintenance centres (OMCs) and transmission lines.
To support common management for 2G and 3G, an O&M system has to comprise the entire range of management functionality, such as simultaneous display and handling of both networks alarms in a common alarm list, as well as simultaneous display and handling of bi-technology network topologies. This concentration function is important not only with respect to individual network technicians, but even more so to network mediation that must be done at an upper-layer network management centre (NMC).
But theres a lot more to the O&M challenge than integration and mediation of 2G and 3G. Considering the typical multi-supplier network scenario GSM and universal mobile telecommunications service (UMTS) bring, there already is a tremendous variety of equipment within an operators network. 3G adds yet another layer of complexity. Remember, 3G is not one standard, but a family of technologies within the IMT-2000 framework. In short, 3G will see networks continue to diversify in terms of different vendor equipment and specific formats defined by geography and region.
It is only realistic to acknowledge that even when you take standardization as far as possible, blank spots always remain. The greater degree of diversity, the more urgent the pressure will become to make O&M the unifying factor in fixed and wireless networks.
The Technology Challenge 3G introduces various new technology characteristics, including: the consistent separation in logical and implementation-specific O&M in the UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRA); or, the multi-vendor interface aspects that allow service providers to combine radio network controllers (RNCs) and UMTS base stations (also known as Node-Bs) from different suppliers within a radio sub-network. This particular standardization issue the UTRAN RNC-Node-B interface has far more significance to O&M as compared to 2G. But all can be viewed as examples highlighting the need for flexibility and unification at the O&M level.
As wireless markets continue to mature and begin to migrate to 3G, several factors will decrease operators revenue margins, including ever increasing competition and, in some areas, market saturation. This will lead operators to look more than ever for cost-cutting opportunities. O&M is an outstandingly sensitive field in that respect. O&M costs translate to staff X TOPIC 6 3G WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS 162 costs. And, as the number of network elements will steadily increase, the goal will be to maintain the required O&M manpower while the network grows in size.
However, as network size and complexity increase, O&M becomes a strategic aspect of service provision. So while it may be necessary to consider cost, this must be balanced against the strength and quality O&M adds to the entire business model. O&M itself will prove to be one of the key factors of success in the 3G networks market.
More Challenging Aspects Its clear that there are both quantitative and qualitative challenges that 3G imposes on network operators and equipment suppliers. Technological diversification alone carries these two aspects. Quantitatively, it creates the need for streamlined O&M for steadily increasing network sizes. Qualitatively, it lays a foundation for management of new technologies, in particular asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) and Internet protocol (IP), to which wireless service providers are still largely unaccustomed yet are much closer to integration than even some major telecom suppliers see.
Generally speaking, the quantitative aspects of 3G O&M requirements follow the lines of system performance, flexibility and scalability. The qualitative perspective mainly addresses technology-oriented topics, such as what end-to-end management looks like in a 3G IP-based network. But also the general issue of continuity is assigned an all-new qualitative dimension with the introduction of the expected new technologies.
In short, the key requirements for wireless O&M to pave the way for success in the 3G market are a smooth evolution concept, easy introduction of new services support, the efficient reduction of costs of ownership in a stabilization phase and future proof concepts that insure an operators investments.
The Platform Siemens Radio Commander platform is an element management platform for 3G wireless networks. Merging O&M for 2G and 3G mobile radio networks within a common hardware and software platform, it comprises the key values for the introduction of 3G networks. Various radio access technologies and types of equipment will have to be managed to pave the way for a seamless introduction of 3G. The Radio Commander itself is based on object oriented development tools, methods and technologies such as UML, CORBA, IP, Java and HTML. It complies with industry standards such as GDMO/ASN.1 and Q3. TOPIC 6 3G WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS W 163 The platform is part of Siemens Integrated Mobile Network Management framework, dubbed SIMON. Featuring an open system architecture with standardized open interfaces, SIMON integrates into existing TMN environments. Standardized interfaces allow seamless integration of the Radio Commander into the service providers workflow environment. The following are some of SIMONs characteristics: Harmonization of nomenclature, interfaces and TMN functionality for optimized interaction and data exchange; Use of common platforms based on leading edge technologies; Flexible integration of network element managers and dedicated-task tools at the network management level; and Multi-vendor integration at the network management level.
A modular tool environment called Integrated Intelligent Information Broker (I3) architecture supports complex operational processes in todays evolving and tomorrows emerging mobile networks. In these mobile networks, the Radio Commander acts as the core data broker interfacing to a modular family of SIMON tool products. Typical tasks comprise network planning, configuration and testing, network status and configuration information, network inventory management, quality, performance and alarm monitoring, expert-system-based problem management and trouble ticketing. Various subtasks can generally be aligned in cycles within the big task categories.
Radio Commanders graphical user interface (GUI) is designed to flexibly accommodate most operator requirements. It can be customized to adapt to the operators specific work routines, offering complete user-defined GUI structure and windows.
An operators servers and workstations are reused, which protects those investments. There is also continuity in terms of software features. Retaining well-known GUI look-and-feel patterns minimizes training costs.
Continuity is as much about looking forward as looking back. For the mid- term evolution phase of 3G, the key requirement is scalability in hardware and software for network extension. Looking beyond that, the Radio Commander architecture builds on open system characteristics such as CORBA bus technology. Further, third-party application programming interfaces are creating new paths for evolving requirements and technologies.
X TOPIC 6 3G WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS 164 Time to Market In the highly competitive 3G market, time to market for new services will be a key factor for success. By supporting integrated and automated management processes on an open system platform, the Radio Commander helps speed the introduction of new services. This is essential as the classic borderlines between call-processing/bearer-oriented services and pure O&M dissolve, as in a so-called self-optimizing network environment. The self-optimizing network, in which Siemens has taken a leadership role, automates network handling and transforms manually interactive O&M tasks into network-internal functionality. This affects low-layer call- processing mechanisms and determines integral network behaviour. So O&M is becoming a primary factor from both operator-process and technical points of view.
Emerging applications like corporate network services emphasize the growing importance of O&M in network evolution. As noted, O&M is beginning to move out of the pure operations realm and is becoming a foundation for business strategy. To answer customer needs, service providers may find various O&M scenarios existing in parallel. O&M functions for some customers may be strongly centralized. In other cases, O&M might be distributed throughout the network of a customer willing to handle their own O&M directly. Again, flexibility is the message, and situations like these highlight the strong need for open-system designs.
Convergence and diversity is a challenge, but not a paradox. Service providers who realize that O&M evolution to 3G can be built on the foundation of 2G, yet move forward through open systems and interfaces, will enter the new mobile age with an immediate advantage in terms of cost, flexibility and business strategy.
Dr Andreas Dietermann is product manager for O&M in 3G mobile radio networks at Siemens AG. He can be reached on Andreas.Dietermann@icn.siemens.de
[Source: <http://www.telecomsmag.com/issues/200005/tci/diversity. html>] TOPIC 6 3G WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS W 165 DEVELOPMENT AND FIELD TRIAL OF 3G SYSTEMS Hong Kong Hong Kong is in the leading position in providing wireless communications services. A summary of the development of 3G systems in Hong Kong can be downloaded from the OFTA homepage.
After reading through the above presentation, you should have an idea of the development status of 3G systems in Hong Kong.
Although the licensing process for 3G services is still not finalized in Hong Kong, a number of system operators have already done some field trials on the 3G system.
Have a quick look (do not spent more than an hour) at the field trial reports from SmarTone and New T&T.
Read the article Regulators perspectives & roles: transition to 3G mobile services in Hong Kong, which can be downloaded from: <http://www.ofta.gov.hk/speech-presentation/cter-20000824.pdf> READING 6.7 Have a quick look at the report on Evaluation Report for Wideband CDMA Field Trial, which can be downloaded from: <http://www.ofta.gov.hk/report-paper-guide/report/smartone- wcdma-trial-report.pdf> READING X TOPIC 6 3G WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS 166
After reading through the above reports, you should have an idea of the service quality of the W-CDMA system. Japan Japan is in the leading position in conducting research and development activities in 3G systems. Starting from 1996, NTT DoCoMo signed agreements with Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia and other countries in conducting joint projects in developing 3G systems.
A summary of 3G services provided by DoCoMo can be downloaded from <http://www.nttdocomo.com/news/contents/01/whatnewof26.html> and is reprinted below.
NTT DoCoMo to Launch FOMA 3G Introductory Service
TOKYO, JAPAN, April 26, 2001 NTT DoCoMo, Inc. (NTT DoCoMo) announced today that it will launch an IMT-2000 third-generation (3G) mobile communications on an introductory basis for a limited number of users in Japan between May 30, 2001 and September 30, 2001.
The full-scale commercialization of NTT DoCoMos 3G services, branded FOMA (Freedom Of mobile Multimedia Access), is now scheduled for October 1, 2001. Since this will be the worlds first commercial launch of IMT- 2000 services, NTT DoCoMo has decided that the Introductory Service is warranted to ensure reliable operation.
The Introductory Service will be used to assess system performance and provide customer feedback for the full-scale launch in October. Users will be provided with free handsets and will be exempted from paying basic monthly fees, but not actual communication charges, in return for filling out Have a quick look at the Report on the trial of a WCDMA experimental system, which can be downloaded from: <http://www.ofta.gov.hk/report-paper-guide/report/ntt-wcdma- trial-report.zip> READING TOPIC 6 3G WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS W 167 questionnaires about the 3G services and offering comments and suggestions regarding possible improvements.
The Introductory Service will be part of a phased rollout of IMT-2000 commercial services. NTT DoCoMo believes that its step-by-step approach will effectively support the popularization of FOMA services, which will offer customers a full range of useful broadband communications and advanced applications.
In accordance with this decision, the company has applied with the Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications to amend the dates of its IMT-2000 service operation license. DoCoMo has already completed the installation of 200 base stations, related networks and other facilities within the Introductory Service area.
Further details about the Introductory Service are provided in the attachments.
FOMA Introductory Service: background information Specifications of the IMT-2000 international communications standard are being revised every three months as a result of ongoing discussions within the 3GPP. With an aim to launch the service on May 30, 2001, NTT DoCoMo has been working to add essential specifications from the September 2000 and December 2000 versions to the fundamental June 2000 version.
DoCoMo has already checked a vast number of items in order to launch its new service. However, the number of items requiring verification has increased, mainly due to a need to reflect the March 2001 version of the specification. Thus, NTT DoCoMo decided to upgrade the stability of the system even after May 30, although the quality of normal service has been secured.
NTT DoCoMo believes that further testing is needed in order to guarantee an even higher level of system stability. Accordingly, it has decided to offer the Introductory Service to a large number of people who will use it under various using conditions.
The trial also will enable users to provide user feedback on the utility of the new IMT-2000 service early in the service period.
[Source: <http:// www.nttdocomo.com/new/contents /01/whatnew0426.html >] X TOPIC 6 3G WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS 168 Australia Similar to Hong Kong, an industrial consultation paper on 3G licensing has been issued in Australia in May 2000. The consultation paper can be downloaded from the UMTS forum. Pay particular attention to the options in spectrum allocations.
China We have mentioned at the beginning of the topic that the future mobile growth will be predominantly in Asia, particularly in China. Now, lets read the development progress of 3G systems in China, which was published by the ITU.
Major progress in Beijing on standardization of IMT-2000
Role of the International Telecommunication Union as one-stop shop for 3G global standards reaffirmed Geneva The 17th meeting of the International Telecommunication Union group of radio experts on IMT-2000 (ITU-R Task Group 8/1) which closed on Friday in Beijing after two weeks of work endorsed the harmonization efforts made by the Operators Harmonization Group (OHG)1 for the CDMA component of the IMT-2000 standard2. The harmonized proposal tabled in Beijing which provides a blueprint of agreed-upon technical issues to consider and implement in the context of IMT-2000 was also supported by the ITU IMT-2000 Joint Experts Meeting of network3 and radio experts which met in Beijing on 10 June.
The proposal follows the appeal made to operators by the ITU after the 16th meeting of Task Group 8/1 last March in Fortaleza4 to provide information on their requirements, based on their various operational scenarios, with a view to maximizing the commonality between the various building blocks within the IMT-2000 standard. The Fortaleza meeting key decisions provide essentially for a single flexible standard Read the attached Australian consultation paper on 3G services, which can be downloaded from: <http://www.umts-forum.org/brochures/ACA_Australian_ invitation_to_comment_ May_2000.pdf> READING 6.8 TOPIC 6 3G WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS W 169 with a choice of multiple access methods to meet the many different mobile operational environments around the world.
Participants strongly urged the Third Generation Partnership Projects (3GPPs) and Standards Development Organizations (SDOs) involved in IMT-2000 related activities, to ensure that the OHG recommendations are adopted and incorporated in their inputs to the 18th meeting of the Task Group 8/1 in Helsinki (25 October5 November, 1999).
We welcome the initiative of the operators in having harmonized the two CDMA approaches to third generation, thus greatly facilitating the remaining harmonization efforts, Mr Y Utsumi, ITU Secretary-General said in Geneva. This represents one more step to maximize the ability of customers to roam across regions, networks and systems seamlessly while providing a gradual and compatible evolutionary path from existing infrastructures, he added.
Further harmonization work will focus on other aspects of the IMT-2000 standard such as time division duplex which uses unpaired spectrum. The aim is to minimize the impact of the flexibility within the IMT-2000 standard on users through maximizing commonality and ease of digital implementation in a hand-held mobile unit. The standard will allow IMT- 2000 operators to select appropriate radio access methods and core networks to flexibly implement their systems subject to the regulatory, market or business requirements for each region or country.
Accordingly, users are expected to be able to roam among the various networks and radio environments because of intelligent dual or multiple mode handsets that would be able to determine the network and the radio environment it is accessing or in which it is operating and select the appropriate mode transparently and automatically. There are already many multi-mode/multi band mobile units appearing on the market to meet the evolution needs of todays systems and, by early next century, there should be negligible impact in areas such as power consumption, size or cost due to the flexibility defined within the IMT-2000 standard if harmonization efforts during the more detailed definition stage are strongly focused towards the needs of the end user.
I hope that the success of the OHG in harmonizing the Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) aspects of the CDMA proposals submitted to the ITU those using paired frequency bands will be followed with a similar rationalization of the TDD proposals stated Mrs Li Mofang, Chief Engineer of China Telecom Mobile Bureau who chaired the OHG. X TOPIC 6 3G WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS 170 Mrs Li Mofang pointed out that China Telecom operates the largest GSM network in the world with over 30 million users growing at more than 1 million per month. China Telecom and China Unicom plan to support a 3G mobile system field trial by the end of the year 2000, based on the Chinese TD-SCDMA proposal submitted to the ITU. This proposal, she explained, uses a single frequency band on a time-shared basis for transmit and receive (Time Division Duplex) and is currently being harmonized with the TDD mode of UTRA in the 3G Partnership Project (3GPP).
Looking ahead, participants of the Beijing meeting agreed on the next steps for the future development of mobile systems. The meeting specified further studies required within the Radiocommunication Sector of the ITU (ITU-R) on the future development of IMT-2000, including preliminary studies of the requirements for future mobile systems beyond IMT-2000, said Mr Mike Callendar, Chairman of Task Group 8/1. The proposed future studies will be submitted to the full Study Group dealing with Mobile Communications (ITU-R Study Group 8) at its next meeting in early November 1999, he also said.
The ITU has asked the OHG to build upon their successful CDMA achievements by considering harmonization possibilities in other aspects of IMT-2000, IMT-2000 enhancements and the requirements for systems beyond IMT-2000.
Another key decision of the Beijing meeting has been to endorse the proposal to harness all resources available in the industry to complete the work needed to finalize a global IMT-2000 standard by the end of 1999. Participants reaffirmed the role of ITU as the one-stop shop for 3G global standards to ensure that the radio recommendations for IMT-2000 meet industry needs worldwide, making maximum use of the work carried out by other team members through references where appropriate.
To this end, the meeting defined cooperative working arrangements necessary between the members of the global standards team involved in the standardization of the third generation systems namely ITU, 3G Partnership Projects (3GPPs) and Standards Development Organizations (SDOs).
The IMT-2000 standard being developed by the ITU is very important for global communications in the 21st century and China is pleased to be able to play a major role in these developments, said Wen Ku, Chinas Deputy TOPIC 6 3G WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS W 171 Director-General of Science and Technology Department of Ministry of Information and Industry who hosted the meeting. Mrs Cao Shumin, Deputy Director of Research Institute of Telecommunications Transmission and Chairperson of the China Wireless Telecommunication Standards Group, chaired the working group in ITU-R Task Group 8/1 that defined the key characteristics of the IMT-2000 radio interfaces. She is currently chairing the ITU working group developing detailed IMT- 2000 radio recommendations.
With the progress made both at Fortaleza and in Beijing, the IMT-2000 standard is holding its promise to deliver the many benefits of the next generation of mobile systems in the 21st century including: improved handset costs through economies of scale in R&D and manufacturing a wide array of multimedia services delivered at megabit data rates in suitable radio operating environments improved global roaming in all regions of the world a unified environment for service application developers to focus on what they do best without requiring them to accommodate a variety of radio technologies.
Qualcomm and Ericsson both submitted formal statements concerning the resolution of the Intellectual Property Rights problems on CDMA2000 and W-CDMA technologies which indicate that all disputes are globally resolved between the two companies. The statements also confirm the companies commitment to license their essential patents for a single CDMA standard or any of its modes on a fair and reasonable basis, free from unfair discrimination.
Information about the latest developments of 3G systems in other countries can be obtained from the ITU at: <http://www.itu.int/imt/10_fld_trials/ index.html>
What features were tested in Smartones field trial on W-CDMA? SELF-TEST 6.5 X TOPIC 6 3G WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS 172 When the commitment to the information superhighway was made in the US more than ten years ago, it was believed that with the huge bandwidth available, it would be possible to download an entire database across the network. Of course that never happened, because when we have more bandwidth, there will always be some other ways to make use of it and the network will always be congested, no matter how much more bandwidth we add.
So right now, people and researchers are speculating on how to make use of the bandwidth that 3G is going to offer. Some of these ideas will succeed and others will fail. After completing this topic, you should be able to complete the following activity.
What kinds of services will succeed and fail during the initial stage (say 18 months) of 3G deployment? Discuss your answer with your tutor and/or classmates during tutorial classes and/or our course BBS. ACTIVITY 6.3 From a customer viewpoint, evaluate whether to use your GPRS mobile phone or desktop computer (with 1.5 Mbps broadband modem) to connect to the Internet for Web browsing. 1. Identify four requirements and their weighting. 2. Allocate a reasonable score for an ideal and the two candidate technologies (give supporting reasons). 3. Identify a threshold and construct a table to evaluate the final score for each technology. 4. Make a recommendation (based on the evaluation result). SELF-TEST 6.6 TOPIC 6 3G WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS W 173
In this topic, details of third-generation (3G) wireless communication systems were discussed. In the first section, characteristics and standardization of 3G systems and the evolution from 2G to 3G systems were explained. This section also introduced IMT-2000 and UMTS. In the second section, opportunities and challenges of 3G systems were identified. Mobile commerce and wireless Internet were explained. In the final section, the latest developments and field trials of 3G systems were discussed. Particular reference was made to Hong Kong, Japan, Australia and China.
Since 3G is an emerging wireless technology, new acronyms are introduced in a rapid manner. To keep yourself up-to-date, regular browsing of the Internet is absolutely required. Two useful links are included for your reference. The first one is from Nokia and the other is from the ITU. <http://www.nokia.com/3g/acronyms> <http://www.itu.int/imt/7_faqs/index.htm>
It should be noted that 3G is not the only solution to many services discussed in this topic. This is because 2G (or 2.5G) systems can still achieve a data rate of up to 384 kbps through the implementation of EDGE.
It is also worth mentioning that active research work has been done on 4G systems, which provide a much higher data rate (over 10 Mbps) over wireless environment and are expected to be available in the market in about ten years time. Some of the latest development of 3G/WLAN are discussed in the recent 30th Meeting of the APEC Telecommunications and Information Working Group (APEC TEL 30) in Singapore. <http://apectel30.ida.gov.sg/index.asp>. You can keep yourself updated by looking through a few of those WLAN/Broadband Access related powerpoint presentations.
In the next two topics, Internet applications (include e-commerce) will be discussed.
X TOPIC 6 3G WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS 174
[6.1] <http://www.itu.int/imt/what_is/3rdgen/index.html> [6.2] <http://www.itu.int/imt/what_is/imt/> [6.3] <http://www.nokia.com> [6.4] <http://live1.sonera.se/meta/ondemand/erbuco/3GBBC.ram> [6.5] <http://www.ericsson.se/3g/mediafiles/3g_bbc.mov> [6.6] <http://www.itu.int/imt/what_is/roadto/index.html> [6.7] <http://www.gsmworld.com> [6.8] <http://www.etsi.org> [6.9] <http://www.uwcc.org> [6.10] <http://www.t1.org> [6.11] <http://www.cdg.org> [6.12] <http://www.tiaonline.org> [6.13] <http://www.3gpp.org> [6.14] <http://www.3gpp2.org> [6.15] <http://www.3gpp2.org/text/background.cfm> [6.16] <http://www.3gpp.org/About_3GPP/3GPPdesc_copenhagen.ppt> [6.17] <http://www.uwcc.org/about/about_index.html> [6.18] <http://www.uwcc.org/about/objectives.html> [6.19] <http://www.umts-forum.org/who_are_we.html> [6.20] <http://www.umts-forum.org/brochures/UMTS.pdf> [6.21] <http://www.itu.int/imt/imt2kstd.doc> [6.22] <http://www.itu.int/imt/4_news_arch/Slide_video/ Video/imt2000videoclip.rm> [6.23] <http://www.umts-forum.org/what_is_umts.html> [6.24] <http://www.umts-forum.org/reports/report2.pdf> [6.25] <http://www.ericsson.se/3g/mediafiles/Ericsson2.mov> [6.26] <http://www.nokia.com/3g/mark.html> [6.27] <http://www.nokia.com/3g/tianning.html> TOPIC 6 3G WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS W 175 [6.28] <http://www.nokia.com/3g/hanna.html> [6.29] <http://www.nokia.com/3g> [6.30] <http://singapore.cnet.com/Ebusiness/Ecommerce/ Mcommerce/index.html> [6.31] <http://singapore.cnet.com/Ebusiness/Ecommerce/Mcommerce /ss01.html> [6.32] <http://singapore.cnet.com/Ebusiness/Ecommerce/Mcommerce /ss02.html> [6.33] <http://singapore.cnet.com/Ebusiness/Ecommerce/ Mcommerce/ss03.html> [6.34] <http://www.nokia.com/investor/presenta/3g_business_seminar /disclaimer.html> [6.35] <http://www.nokia.com/investor/presenta/disclaimer_gsm.html> [6.36] <http://www.telecoms-mag.com/issues/200005/tci/diversity.html> [6.37] <http://www.ei-channel.com/event/wi_06092000.ram> [6.38] <http://www.ofta.gov.hk/speech-presentation/cter-20000824.pdf> [6.39] <http://www.ofta.gov.hk/3g-licensing/main.html> [6.40] <http://www.ofta.gov.hk/report-paper-guide/report/smartone-wcdma- trial-report.pdf> [6.41] <http://www.ofta.gov.hk/report-paper-guide/report/ntt-wcdma-trial- report.zip> [6.42] <http://www.nttdocomo.com/new/contents/01/whatnew0426.html> [6.43] <http://www.umts-forum.org/brochures/ACA_Australian _invitation_to_comment_May_2000.pdf> [6.44] <http://www.itu.int/newsarchive/press/releases/1999/99-07.html> [6.45] <http://www.itu.int/imt/10_fld_trials/index.html> [6.46] <http://www.umts-forum.org/brochures/3G_licensing_April20.pdf> [6.47] <http://www.nokia.com/3g/acronyms> [6.48] <http://www.itu.int/imt/7_faqs/index.htm> X TOPIC 6 3G WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS 176 SOLUTIONS TO SELF-TEST QUESTIONS Self-test 6.1 1. It is explained in the video that nearly everyone will be affected by 3G services. 2. i Freedom to access any sevice anytime and anywhere. ii Freedom to be online all the time and pay for the services while you are actually using them. Self-test 6.2 1. The first step is the emergence of 2G + systems in which 2G systems such as GSM and IS-95 are extended to provide high-speed data communications either without changing the air interface or by using improved coding techniques. The second step is to provide higher capacity, data rates, and multimedia services. WCDMA standard proposals such as the cdma2000 system include a greatly enhanced air interface to support wider bandwidths for improved capacity and higher data rates. 2. IS-95B is the packet mode version of direct sequence CDMA standard IS 95A. IS-95B also supports multiple codes per MS on both the downlink and uplink. The advantages of IS-95B over IS-95A are efficient support of Mobile IP in cellular networks, and seamless integration of cellular networks with the Internet. Self-test 6.3 UMTS offers: ease of use and low costs new and better services fast access packet transmission and data rate on demand different mobility and coverage spectrally efficient radio technology for all environments UMTS services available globally by satellite. TOPIC 6 3G WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS W 177 Self-test 6.4 1. Three possible items are: small screen small keypad limited processing capabilities. 2. In WRC2000, there are three alternative frequency bands (806960 MHz, 17101885 MHz, and 25002690 Hz) with a total of 519 MHz of spectrum about three times what was called for leaving it to further technical studies and national telecommunications authorities to decide what portions of which bands would be used for IMT-2000 applications, and where. Self-test 6.5 Tested features include: Active and idle mode coverage Cell selection criterion Softer/soft handoff Fast power control Inter-frequency handover, etc. Self-test 6.6 1. Four possible requirements and their weighting are: x Transmission speed (Essential) x Hardware cost (Nice to have) x Ease of use/User interface (Essential) x Flexibility (available anytime, anywhere) (Desirable)
X TOPIC 6 3G WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS 178 2. Typical scores for the ideal technology, mobile phone and desktop computer are:
Requirement Ideal Mobile phone Desktop computer Transmission speed 10 6 9 Hardware cost 10 8 6 Ease of use 10 3 9 Flexibility 10 9 4
Remark: although exact scores are not expected, the difference between the two technologies should be indicated.
3.
Requirements Need Weighting
Idea
Phone Computer Rating Score Rating Score Rating Score Speed Essential 5 10 50 6 30 9 45 Hardware cost Nice to have 1 10 10 8 8 6 6 Easy of use Desirable 5 10 50 3 15 9 45 Flexibility Essential Total 140 80 108 Cut off at 75% of ideal score = 105
4. Since the mobile phone technology scores below the cut-off, it should be rejected. The desktop computer is recommended because it has the highest score and its score is higher than the cut-off.