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WiMAXFRIEND OR FOE?
I S S U E 4 2
T E C H N I C A L I N S I G H T F O R W I R E L E S S P R O F E S S I O N A L Sw i r e l e s s . i o p . o r g
D E C E M B E R / J A N U A R Y 2 0 0 6
HSDPA offers good value Operators must control backhaul TDD interference revealed
L E A D E R 9US pulls ahead on 3.5G
U P F R O N T 10HSDPA launches in the US
N E W S 13Staccato pushes for UWB in Europe
A N A LY S I S 15Core networks: Cellular must plan for IPv6
O P I N I O N 19Mark PaxmanFPGAs offer base-station designers price, performanceand flexibility benefits over the traditional ASIC.
W I M A X 2 0WiMAX: friend or foe?WiMAX will revolutionize the fixed-wireless accessmarket, but what is its relationship with 3G? WirelessEurope spoke to some key players.
T D D W- C D M A 2 4TDD interference needs close examinationCould interference between TDD and FDD preventthe collocation of the two UMTS technologies?
C E L L P L A N N I N G 2 7Distributed cell sites ease UMTS deploymentDeploying base-station equipment and antennas at thesame location is an expensive and out-dated practice.
B A C K H A U L 3 0Operators must gain control of backhaulMobile operators are looking to build out their owntransmission networks to support data-rich services.
P R O D U C T F O C U S 33SDR offers benefits and challenges to handset makers ● Dynamic optimization eliminates the wait between the clicks
P R O D U C T S 3 6Infrastructure ● Handset components
T H E F U T U R E 3 8HSDPA delivers benefits for incremental costJohn Diehl of Freescale explains that operators areembracing HSDPA because it offers exceptional value for money.
5C O N T E N T S
DECEMBER/JANUARY 2006ISSUE 42
Institute of Physics Publishing Ltd,Dirac House, Temple Back, BristolBS1 6BE, UK.Tel: +44 (0)117 929 7481Editorial fax: +44 (0)117 925 1942Advertising fax: +44 (0)117 930 1178Web: wireless.iop.orgE-mail: [email protected]
EDITORIALEditor: Hamish Johnston;[email protected]: Paul JohnsonArt director: Andrew GiaquintoTechnical illustrator: Alison Tovey
ADVERTISINGSales manager: Simon Allardice;[email protected] co-ordinator: Jayne Boulton;[email protected]
MARKETING AND CIRCULATIONProduct manager: Angela Peck;[email protected]
PUBLISHERSarah Chilcott; [email protected]
PUBLISHING DIRECTORRichard Roe
ISSN 1471-3888
SUBSCRIPTIONSFree to qualifying readers (see subscription cardenclosed or register online at the above Webaddress). Subscriptions £96/7139 ($147 in theUS and Canada) for six issues to readers who donot meet qualifying criteria. Orders to WirelessEurope, IOPP Magazines, WDIS Ltd, Units 12 &13, Cranleigh Gardens Industrial Estate, Southall,Middlesex UB1 2DB, UK. Tel: +44 (0)20 86067518; fax: +44 (0)20 8606 7303; e-mail:[email protected]
©2005 IOP Publishing Ltd
The contents of Wireless Europe do not representthe views or policies of the Institute of Physics, itscouncil or officers unless so identified.
Printed by Warners (Midlands) plc, Bourne,Lincolnshire, UK.
BPA Worldwide Business Publication Auditmembership applied for January 2005
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IMS conference disagrees over IPv6. p15.
Laptop modems bring HSDPA to US. p10.
Backhaul: building versus leasing. p30.
On the cover:Dispelling someWiMAX myths. p20. Image: AndrewGiaquinto.
WiMAXFRIEND OR FOE?
9L E A D E R
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N E W S I N B R I E F
UK in-building spectrum auction is imminentThe UK telecoms regulator Ofcom is expected to auction a significant slice ofRF spectrum at 1800 MHz in March 2006. A maximum of 12 licences couldbe sold, each having a bandwidth of 200 kHz. Aimed at in-building services,the licences are for low-power operation with maximum in-band emissions inthe 200 mW to 1 W range depending upon the air interface. Licensees will beresponsible for ensuring that interference between services is controlled.Outdoor antennas may not be located higher than 10 m from ground level.Ofcom is taking a technology-neutral approach to spectrum use and thereforelicences could be awarded to GSM, CDMA or TETRA operators. Ofcom is alsoconsidering the auction of one licence at 400 MHz, which could be used toprovide wide-area cellular services via GSM or CDMA.
Radioplan launches North American divisionGermany’s Radioplan has opened a North American division in a bid toexpand the uptake of its network-optimization products in that region. Basedin Reston, Virginia, the division will be headed by Tim Brooks, who joinsRadioplan from PCTEL’s RF Solutions Group. The company, which recentlylaunched an automatic mobile network optimization system for HSDPA,counts several major North American 3G operators as customers.
Ericsson will manage 3’s UK networkUK operator 3 has handed over the management of its UMTS network and ITinfrastructure to Ericsson, while retaining ownership and strategic control ofthe equipment. Ericsson will also supply equipment, additional technologyand related services as part of the deal. The 3G equipment was originallysupplied by Nokia and NEC. Ericsson already manages 3’s networks inAustralia and Italy and is keen to grow this aspect of its business.
IMS is the key to profitabilityEuropean network operators are embracing IP Multimedia Subsystems (IMS)as the standard network architecture for deploying new services across bothmobile and fixed networks – claims a study by the analyst firm IDC. The firmpredicts that sales of IMS equipment and related technical services inWestern Europe will total $5.6 million in 2010. However, it also warns thatIMS is still in the early stages of development, with major equipment vendorsstarting to announce IMS strategies and product roadmaps. The study isentitled Western European IMS 2005–2010 Forecast and Analysis.
Qualcomm joins the WiFi AllianceQualcomm has strengthened its commitment to non-cellular wirelessbroadband technologies by joining the WiFi Alliance, which is a tradeorganization that promotes the use of the IEEE 802.11 wireless local areanetwork standard. Qualcomm, which focuses on the development of chipsand related technologies for CDMA and other cellular standards, recentlyannounced that it will add dual-mode WiFi/cdma2000 and WiFi/UMTSchipsets to its line of MSM chipsets for mobile phones.
InterDigital and Lucent settle patent dispute Lucent Technologies and InterDigital have settled a patent dispute involvingtechnology used in Lucent’s cdma2000 infrastructure equipment. Lucent hasagreed to pay InterDigital approximately $14 million over five years to licenseseven US patents owned by Tantivy, which is a wholly owned subsidiary ofInterDigital. In a statement to the US Securities and Exchange Commission,InterDigital said that it would cooperate with Lucent on advanced technologyprogrammes and the two companies would begin negotiations regardingpatents not covered in the licensing agreement.
Cingular’s launch of commercial HSDPA services has takenthe US from cellular backwater to the cutting edge of UMTStechnology in a few short years (see page 10). The USoperator has also managed to make good use of EDGE –something that its European cousins have yet to do in anymeaningful way. Indeed, it seems that Cingular has created atextbook example of what a multigenerational UMTSnetwork should look like, with GPRS, EDGE, UMTS andHSDPA all working together to deliver data services at theright place and ahead of schedule.
While the UMTS industry should be proud that this mostEuropean of technologies has been embraced by a major USoperator, it must be slightly embarrassed that HSDPA did notmake its commercial debut on this side of the Atlantic – evenif the Cingular launch only involves two HSDPA data cards.One could argue that Cingular got there first because it rolledout its 3G network later than many European outfits, andtherefore could benefit from newly available HSDPAequipment. This is unlike many European networks, whichwill have to upgrade equipment that is already installed.
However, it is the commercial pressures of cdma2000EV-DO and the Centrino effect that ultimately droveCingular to HSDPA. Unlike Europe, where UMTS is theonly 3G game in town, Cingular competes with live EV-DOnetworks, which can offer higher data rates than old-fashionedUMTS. Thanks to Intel and a proliferation of WiFi hotspots,Americans are used to high-speed wireless data services forlaptops and PDAs. It would have been sheer folly for Cingularto launch its 3G network in the half-hearted way that we havecome to expect in Europe. And with early launches ofWiMAX possible later in 2006, keep your eyes peeled acrossthe Atlantic for the first implementations of HSUPA.
WiMAX friend or foe?Of course, WiMAX is still in its infancy compared withHSDPA and it’s not clear what impact, if any, it’ll have on thecellular industry. Its supporters have taken great pains to playdown the potential for WiMAX to compete with 3G cellularservices. They describe the early 802.16d incarnation of thetechnology as an alternative to wireline broadband services (seepage 20). Later versions of WiMAX, however, are expected tooffer full mobility and will also include two technologies thatmany see as defining features of 4G cellular: pure IPtransmission and an OFDMA air interface. Be it friend of foe,the cellular industry has taken notice of WiMAX, and majorplayers throughout the supply chain are busy evaluating thetechnology. After several years of relative quiet, the wirelesstelecoms market can look forward to more exciting times.
Hamish Johnston, Editor
US pulls ahead on 3.5GE D I T O R I A LN E W S
1 0 U P F R O N T
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Cingular Wireless has launchedcommercial HSDPA services inthe US. The service is deliveredto laptop computers via HSDPAmodem cards and is currentlyavailable in 16 major cities. Thisis the world’s first commerciallaunch of HSDPA and the firstsimultaneous launch of 3G and3.5G technologies.
Called BroadbandConnect,the service can also be accessedvia UMTS and GPRS/EDGE.Cingular claims that the HSDPAlink can achieve typical downlinkdata rates of 400–700 kbit/s. Theoperator already has a nation-wide EDGE network in placethat can deliver data rates ofabout 100 kbit/s.
Subscribers have a choice oftwo modem cards: the MerlinU730 from Novatel Wireless, orthe AirCard 860 from SierraWireless. Both cards operate onUMTS/HSDPA and GPRS/EDGE networks at 850, 900,1800 and 1900 MHz, whichmeans that they can be usedworldwide – at least for GPRS.Both cards are based onQualcomm’s MSM6275 chipset.Cingular’s UMTS/HSDPA net-work was supplied by LucentTechnologies, Ericsson andSiemens. Cingular has promisedto launch new services – includ-ing high-quality video and audiostreaming – that take advantageof HSDPA data rates.
HSDPA launches in US
HSDPA is being delivered to US customers via laptop modems from Novatel Wireless(left) and Sierra Wireless (right).
ZTE has joined forces withFrance Telecom and BharatSanchar Nigam in separate col-laboration deals. The Chinesetelecoms equipment supplier hassigned a long-term R&D agree-ment with France Telecom cover-ing a wide range of technologysectors. The first collaborativeeffort will focus on the develop-ment of a Linux-based clientinterface for 3G smart phones.
The agreement furthers ZTE’sambitions to become a majorplayer in the European marketand France Telecom’s desire toincrease its presence in China,
where it already operates anR&D facility and collaborateswith China Telecom.
ZTE’s chief executive YinYimin said: “This agreementstrengthens ZTE’s strategy inEurope. It will enhance ZTE’scompetitive position.” FranceTelecom owns Orange, a pan-European GSM/UMTS operator.
Meanwhile it has beenreported in the Indian andChinese media that ZTE willform a joint venture with India’sBharat Sachar Nigam (BSNL).BSNL provides a range of tele-com services including cellular
and also manufactures infrastruc-ture equipment. The deal isreported to include the manufac-ture of one million CDMAhandsets at BSNL’s facility inKolkata. Technology andmachinery will also be trans-ferred between the companies,which will each own 50% of thejoint venture.
Earlier this year ZTE openeda facility in Delhi that manufac-tures CDMA and GSM infra-structure equipment and mobilephones. ZTE currently suppliesCDMA wireless local loopequipment to BSNL.
Fujitsu makes PAbreakthroughsFujitsu Laboratories has devel-oped gallium nitride (GaN) andcarbon nanotube technologiesthat could improve the perfor-mance of the power amplifiersused in base stations.
Fujitsu has unveiled a GaNtransistor that promises to lowerthe power requirements of next-generation base stations. Basedon a high electron mobility tran-sistor (HEMT) with insulatedgates, the device is capable ofoutput power levels in excess of100 W.
Traditional GaN HEMT des-igns do not use insulated gates,which results in high leakage cur-rents and prevents the devicesbeing run efficiently at powerlevels greater than 100 W. Thedevice was used with digital pre-distortion circuitry to demon-strate that it can amplify aW-CDMA signal without leak-ing significant power into adja-cent channels. The devicedelivered 110 W and 13 dB of lin-ear gain at 2.14 GHz.
The device was unveiled byFujitsu researchers at the recentIEEE International ElectronDevices Meeting in Washington,DC. The company also pre-sented a paper on the use of car-bon nanotubes as heat sinks fortransistors used in base-stationpower amplifiers.
Fujitsu researchers developeda technique to grow carbonnanotubes as long as 15 µm onthe wafer substrate by using aniron catalyst coating. Accordingto Fujitsu, these are long enoughto be used as a bump in the flip-chip process. A technique to con-nect the bump to the flip-chiphas also been developed.
The nanotubes have a muchhigher thermal conductivity thantraditional metal bumps and canbe located near to heat generat-ing elements. The improved heatdissipation allows the transistorto be run at frequencies of up to5 GHz and an increase of at least2 dB in gain.
Agilent spins outAvago Technologies Agilent Technologies has spun-out its semiconductor division ina long-awaited deal worth$2.7 bn. The new AvagoTechnologies is privately ownedby Kohlberg Kravis Roberts &Co. and Silver Lake Partners. Itwill have headquarters in bothSan Jose, California, andSingapore. It has 6500 employeesand major facilities in eightcountries worldwide. Avago’sproducts include RF componentsand customers include Nokia,Sony Ericsson and Samsung.
Hewlett-Packard and Agilentveteran Dick Chang is Avago’spresident and chief executive. Hesaid the company will “driveprofitability through a highlyvariable, low-cost operatingmodel”.
China’s ZTE collaborates in France and India
HP veteran Dick Chang will have a go atrunning the new company.
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Staccato Communications hasopened a European office thatwill focus on the development ofultra-wideband (UWB) stan-dards and regulatory frameworkswithin the region. From its officein London, the US-based UWBchipmaker will work with theEuropean Computer Manufac-turers Association, EuropeanTelecommunications StandardsInstitute (ETSI), the Inter-national TelecommunicationsUnion (ITU) and the UK’s tele-coms regulator Ofcom.“Regulatory and standardizationwork on [UWB] in Europe has
intensified in recent months,”said Staccato’s chief executiveRick Cornfield, adding “we arecommitted to ensuring thatEuropean UWB policy enablesthe commercialization of thetechnology as soon as possiblewhile providing protection forincumbent spectrum services.”
UWB is a very-short-rangeand low-power wireless commu-nications technology that pro-vides high-speed data linksbetween electronic devicesincluding mobile phones. Thetechnology is currently approvedfor use in the US and Japan.
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Staccato pushes for UWB in Europe Smart Telecom andHuawei buy lastIrish 3G licenceThe Irish telecoms operatorSmart Telecom has boughtIreland’s remaining 3G licencefor 6114 million. Smart’s bid wasbacked by the Chinese equip-ment maker Huawei, which willsupply network infrastructureequipment. This is a majorbreakthrough for Huawei, whichis very keen on breaking into thewestern European market.
Ireland has four 3G licences,three of which were bought in2002 by 3 Ireland, VodafoneIreland and 02 Ireland. Theremaining licence received nobids and has been in limbo untilthe Irish regulator Comreg re-opened the auction earlier thisyear. The licence was offered for afixed price and Smart Telecomwas chosen over other bidders(Eircom and Meteor) on thequality of its business plan.
Smart and Huawei must cover53% of the Irish population with3G by 2011. This is expected tocost as much as 6400 million.
Equipment vendor Alcatel willdesign and roll-out a TD-CDMA network in Jakarta,Indonesia, that will deliver com-mercial broadband data services.Services will be delivered via adesk-top modem or PC card.Base-station and user equipmentwill be supplied by US-basedIPWireless and the network will
be operated by the Indonesianbroadband operator PT SolusiAksesindo Pratama. The threecompanies currently operate atrial TD-CDMA network inJakarta and the commercial ser-vice is expected to launch inJanuary 2006.
Meanwhile in Europe, Alcatelwill supply assisted-global posi-
tioning system (A-GPS) technol-ogy to Orange as part of a trial oflocation-based services. TheA-GPS will be based on Alcatel’s8608 A-GPS server and sub-scribers will be supplied with theiPAQ hw6515 Mobile Messen-ger personal digital assistant,which has GSM voice, EDGEdata and GPS capabilities.
Rick Cornfield of Staccato wants Europe toembrace UWB sooner rather than later.
Qualcomm defendspatent licensingprogrammeQualcomm has defended its con-troversial intellectual-propertylicensing policies after a Koreannewspaper described its royaltiesas being prohibitively high.Qualcomm has issued a statementsaying its licensing programme“has promoted worldwide com-petition and rapid growth ofCDMA services”. On 1 Decem-ber the Korean Times claimedKorean handset makers pay up to5.75% of the price of each phoneto Qualcomm, which declined tocomment on specific royalties.
Qualcomm – which owns alarge portfolio of CDMA-relatedpatents – also stated that it willcontinue to charge royalty fees
for an indefinite period and thatit does not expect to suffer reduc-tions in licensing revenues as itsearly patents begin to expire.“We have, for the most part,
extended our agreements withlicensees to include our laterpatents that apply to new stan-dards, such as cdma2000 1X,1XEV-DO, W-CDMA/UMTS[and] HSDPA,” said Qualcomm.
Qualcomm has also beenaccused recently of violatingEuropean Union competitionlaw by Broadcom, Ericsson,Nokia, NEC, Panasonic andTexas Instruments. In separatesubmissions to the EuropeanCommission, the companieshave accused Qualcomm of “try-ing to exclude competing manu-facturers of chipsets for mobilephones from the market and pre-venting others from entering”.Qualcomm is also accused of“charging royalties for itsW-CDMA essential patents thatare excessive and disproportion-ate”. Nokia’s lawyer MauritsDolmans estimated that handsetmakers are paying about $1 bil-
lion in excess fees. Qualcomm has responded with
a statement calling the allegations“factually inaccurate and legallymeritless”. Chief executive PaulJacobs defended the company’spatent licensing programme bysaying it “has enabled many newentrants to design innovativewireless devices and compete inthe 3G marketplace”. Qualcommlicenses its intellectual property toabout 90 companies includingNokia, NEC and Panasonic.
In a separate move, Qual-comm has filed a patent infringe-ment suit against Nokia. Theaction is related to GSM patentsowned by Qualcomm and awholly owned subsidiary Snap-Trak. In a statement Qualcommsaid “the lawsuit includes patentsthat are essential to the manufac-ture or use of equipment thatcomplies with the GSM, GPRSand EDGE cellular standards”.
Alcatel promotes TD-CDMA in Asia and A-GPS in Europe
Qualcomm’s Paul Jacobs said thecompany’s intellectual-property policieshave “enabled many new entrants todesign innovative wireless devices andcompete in the 3G marketplace”.
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1 5A N A LY S I S
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Steve Rogerson reports fromthe IMS Global Congress inBudapest, where networkoperators were warnedagainst delaying themigration to IPv6.
While most cellular operatorsagree that they should migratetheir networks to Internet proto-col version six (IPv6), IPv4 workswell today and operators haveenough on their plates alreadywithout worrying about makingthe transition. Indeed, IPv6 hasbeen around for 10 years and hasyet to enjoy any significant appli-cation – despite the endlessdebate that surrounds its imple-mentation.
This conflict came into sharpfocus at the recent IMS (IPMultimedia Subsystems) GlobalCongress, which was held inBudapest, Hungary. Karim ElMalki, a consultant with the IPv6Forum, found himself preachingto a room of sceptical operators.He said that operators should notlook at IPv6 simply as a technol-ogy that is either good or bad.Instead operators should consider how IPv6could make life easier for application devel-opers. “That is why IPv6 was developed,”said El Malki. “There is a lot to be gainedfrom new applications with IPv6. I see IPv6as a service enabler.”
IMS without IPv6While some operators are wary about makingthe move to IPv6, they still want to introducenew services that IMS can provide.Operators see IMS as the way to fulfil thepromise of 3G by bringing integrated and
easy-to-use data services to subscribers.Günther Pospischil, the IMS lead archi-
tect at Mobilkom Austria, said that IMScould be introduced on the 3G operator’sexisting infrastructure. “The standards say weshould use IPv6 – but we haven’t got IPv6,”he said. Pospischil said that he did not knowwhether IPv6 will be necessary for IMS,adding “we will have to wait and see”. Hesaid that Mobilkom may implement IPv6,“but not for the time being”. Instead,Pospischil is focused on implementing IMSon IPv4, although he admits, “some parts of
IMS don’t fit with IPv4”. Thisdoes not worry Pospischil becausethese services will not be mass-market over the next few yearsand therefore there is no rush tomove to IPv6.
Pospischil believes that thisreluctance to move on IPv6 isrelated to the fact that operatorshave set IMS as a more urgentpriority. Ultimately, both tech-nologies must be embraced – butthey are both large projects andoperators simply could not doboth in parallel. Clearly, operatorsare not rushing into IPv6 becausethey fear that the transition couldcause serious upheaval and therisk of network downtime.Pospischil explained: “The infra-structure has to be ready to sup-port IPv6 – and you do need amigration strategy.”
Transition strategyKarim El Malki believes that theseproblems can be avoided if mobileoperators develop an appropriatetransition strategy for IPv6 soonerrather than later. He argued thateventually all networks will bebased on IPv6 without legacy sup-port for old standards – and that
could cause conflicts. “We have to thinkmobile for the future,” he said. “We can’tthink fixed. Mobile has already passed fixedon the number of subscribers.”
Although mobile subscriber numbers con-tinue to increase, voice revenues are experi-encing downward pressure thanks to stiffcompetition. Operators are therefore lookingto data services as a way to boost their income.To do this effectively, more IP addresses willbe needed and IPv4 is unlikely to be able todeliver the required number – although somebelieve that it could. El Malki says that IPv6
C O R E N E T W O R K S
Cellular must plan forthe transition to IPv6
Mobilkom Austria’s Günther Pospischil is focused on delivering IMS via IPv4, not IPv6.
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will eliminate any problemsrelated to address scarcityand will deliver oneaddress per device.Unique addresses are seenas essential to the emer-gence of personal areanetworks (PANs). A PANwill link a collection ofdisparate devices to theiruser – and ultimately tothe wider Internet. Thesedevices could includePDAs, mobile phonesand even householdgoods such as set-topboxes or appliances suchas a refrigerator.
Rather than using agateway device (such as a mobilephone) to connect to other appliances,each device would be assigned its own IPaddress. This would provide the user withremote access to all their devices via theInternet. Although security is an obviousconcern in such a scenario, the ability to con-nect just about everything to the Internet isone of the key advantages of IPv6. “It isabout being easier to connect to users that aresomewhere on the Internet,” said El Malki.“It will also enable the introduction of loca-tion-based applications where users can makecontact with others in the same areas.”
Key challengeA key challenge for the cellular industry is thedevelopment of an IPv6 transition strategythat will suit all mobile operators. There aredifferences in the nature and number ofapplications that are used – or being devel-oped by – different operators and these arelikely to cause transitional problems.
El Malki was keen to point out that thetransition does not have to occur in one giantstep. “Users can try out IPv6 without disrupt-ing the existing IPv4 network – you don’thave to do it in one go,” he said. He believesthat network mechanisms that are invisibleto the user can be migrated immediately toIPv6. This, claims El Malki, requires littleinvestment, but opens the door to the earlydevelopment of advanced applications.
While IPv6 is inevitable, it is importantnot to throw away IPv4 because some userswill continue to use non-IPv6 hardware.While IPv6 is backwards compatible, opera-tors must ensure that services are also trans-parent to users who are on either system.
If an operator does not migrate, it mayfind itself dealing with subscribers thatattempt to use IPv6 tunnels through the net-work. El Malki points to the next version of
Windows, which is expected to have IPv6enabled by default, as something that willbring many users into the fold. Mobile-phone makers are also coming out with IPv6products, which will create a demand forenabled networks. Indeed, the emergence ofSkype, which provides peer-to-peer voice-over-IP (VoIP) calls, has reminded operatorsof how quickly IP-based technologies cancatch on with consumers. El Malki believesthat IPv6 has the potential to deliver morereliable VoIP with better quality of servicethan currently offered by Skype.
There are several ways that IPv6 can beintroduced into a mobile network. One wayis to run both IPv6 and IPv4 on the samepoint-to-point protocol (PPP) link.Alternatively, IPv6 can be tunnelled throughan IPv4 network. The latter strategy involvessome losses in transport efficiency but thisshould not make that much difference to endusers. Perhaps the easiest route to IPv6 is abox that converts IPv6 to IPv4 and vice versa.Though this could work in the short term, itis not likely to be an appropriate long-termsolution because it suffers from scalability,reliability and security problems. A lesspainful method is a dual stack, whereby thenetwork is gradually migrated to supportboth versions. According to El Malki, thisstrategy allows operators to continue to offer
existing services on IPv4 while putting newservices on IPv6.
While El Malki conceded that the difficul-ties in deploying IPv6 should not be under-stated, they can be overcome if operatorsdevote sufficient time to put a proper planin place. For example, one operator took sixmonths to develop a strategy and then foundthe transition relatively easy, said El Malki.He believes that success will come to opera-tors that make an early move towards therapid introduction of IPv6. “Start deployingand experimenting,” he said. “Think aboutthe personal area networks. The killer appli-cations will come from third-party develop-ers, so let’s give them the chance to startdeveloping. And then we can get the newrevenues that are out there. There are notechnology barriers – we just need to workout the business models.”
Don’t hesitateOperators that hesitate face the danger ofbeing left behind. Fixed operators in Japan,where IPv6 video phones exist, are alreadyusing IPv6. China has a nationwide effort inplace to migrate fixed and mobile operatorsover to IPv6. In Europe, TeliaSonera and NTThave started using IPv6. Some operators arenow providing IPv6 tunnelling services andthe US Department of Defense has decidedto purchase only IPv6-compatible equipment.
“Europe tried to take a lead with [IPv6],”said Malki, “but saw it as a risk and is nowstarting to lag behind. The danger is theoperators will face a difficult transition if theydon’t start to move over quickly. Those whohaven’t started planning will lose out and fallbehind the rest of the industry.” ■
Steve Rogerson is a freelance technologyjournalist.
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M A R K P A X M A NFPGAs offer base-station designers price, performanceand flexibility benefits over the traditional ASIC.
Field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) play a crucial role in the early phases ofbase-station development and production. But recent improvements to FPGAtechnology will see the chips used throughout the lifetime of a base-station design andultimately make base stations more flexible.
A FPGA is a configurable chip that is used widely in the verification of application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) as well as in product prototypes. Traditionally, theultimate goal was to use ASICs in base stations – but not before the design wasthoroughly tested. This is done by transferring the ASIC design in software to theFPGA before mass production begins. Within certain limits FPGAs can mimic thebehaviour of the final ASIC – which is crucial because producing ASICs requires asignificant investment.
FPGAs can also be used as an ASIC substitute in situations where mass-producingan ASIC would be too expensive. While ASICs are relatively cheap to manufacture,they have large development costs. By contrast a FPGA is much more expensive topurchase than its equivalent ASIC, but has little or no up-front cost. Thus FPGAs are
much more cost effective for small production runs.Another benefit of FPGAs is short time-to-market. AFPGA can be re-programmed on the bench inminutes whereas an ASIC can take many months toplan, produce, debug and revise.
So FPGAs have always been the choice for first-generation low-volume products as well as fordemonstration units and prototypes – and basestations are no exception. First-generation productsare usually produced in small volumes and time-to-market is more important than absolute lowest cost.Engineers will use FPGAs for functions that could use
an ASIC if time or budget allowed but the ultimate goal is to phase out the FPGAand replace it with an ASIC whenever possible (but often this never happens!).
This is changing as the FPGA price/performance point improves compared toASICs. FPGAs now offer credible performance in applications where only a few yearsago it would not have been a contender. And rather than being a temporary measure,FPGAs are becoming an accepted part of the long-term base-station technologyroadmap from the prototype stage all the way through to mass production.
Designers will also take full advantage of the field-programmable nature of FPGAs.Base stations using FPGAs can be reconfigured after manufacture to fix bugs, add newfeatures or ultimately to perform a completely new function. FPGAs could beexploited to develop software-defined base stations that support a range of current andfuture wireless standards.
So the future looks bright for FPGAs. Better price and performance mean that theyare appearing in volume products and long-term roadmaps. Their greater flexibilitycan be exploited to develop differentiated products in which they’re embedded.FPGAs are a hot topic among manufacturers wishing to make better, cheaperproducts faster and with lower risk. ■
Mark Paxman is a managing consultant at PA Consulting’s Wireless Technology Group.He can be contacted at [email protected].
Rather than beinga quick fix, FPGAsare becomingpart of the long-term base-station roadmap
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WiMAX: friend or foe?While there is no doubt that WiMAX willrevolutionize the fixed-wireless access market, itsrelationship with 3G is less clear. WirelessEurope spoke to various key players (see below),but first, Paul Senior of Airspan explains how therelationship between cellular and WiMAX serviceswill evolve in the future.
As WiMAX establishes itself as the next generation of wirelessbroadband, the telecoms industry is beginning to consider busi-ness models that would maximize the commercial exploitationof the technology. Above all, mobile operators are being forcedto decide whether WiMAX is friend or foe. With the first certi-fied fixed WiMAX products becoming available, it is increas-ingly clear that the new standards-based technology willcomplement rather than compete with emerging 3G services.
The emergence of WiMAX under the IEEE 802.16 standardtakes the broadband wireless access industry to a new stage ofmaturity, allowing it to address mass markets at last. The firstWiMAX products are now undergoing testing and certificationand many vendors have already begun bilateral interoperability
tests to accelerate this process. As a result, leading players expectto have WiMAX Forum Certified products commercially avail-able by the end of 2005.
The 802.16 standard for fixed broadband wireless is loweringthe barriers for entry into the WiMAX space for both handsetmakers and operators. All Korean WiBro products will even-tually be certified as mobile WiMAX and both Samsung andLG have committed to launching products. Indeed, almost allmajor telecoms equipment manufacturers are developing aWiMAX product.
Although WiMAX is set to make a major impact on thebroadband market, it has also been touted for several applica-tions that it is not really suitable for. Much has been spoken ofWiMAX as a backhaul solution for 3G networks, but as it isoptimized to shift IP packets, WiMAX is not suitable for back-hauling this generation of 3G’s circuit-switched traffic. As 3Gshifts to become more IP-centric with HSDPA and HSUPA, thesituation will improve.
Another popular myth is that WiMAX will debut as an any-time, anywhere broadband technology.While mobile WiMAX for laptops andother devices is certainly part of theindustry roadmap, the first commercialWiMAX services will be fixed – a moremundane, but far more commerciallyviable application.
Faster data ratesWiMAX achieves greater upload anddownload data rates than HSDPA/UMTS (up to 10 Mbit/s) but it is notreally appropriate to indulge in a battlebetween 3G and WiMAX. Likewise,although WiMAX can allow carriers to
Mobility offersa route to 4GWireless Europe spoke to several players in theWiMAX supply chain to discover how thetechnology is progressing – and the implications forthe cellular industry. Naturally we began with Intel,WiMAX’s most fervent and powerful supporter.
Intel’s Gilles Karolkowski told Wireless Europe that inter-operability tests for the fixed flavour of WiMAX (802.16d) aregoing well. Intel launched a WiMAX chipset earlier this year
and the company is claiming that 24WiMAX networks will be up and run-ning by the end of 2005. Karolkowskibelieves a major challenge facing theindustry is reducing the cost of customerpremises equipment (CPE).
According to Karolkowski, a pre-WiMAX fixed-wireless broadband CPEcosts about 6700. The cost of installing an outdoor line-of-sightantenna brings the total cost closer to 61000. He is confidentthat Intel’s chipset will bring the price below 6400 and, per-haps more importantly, 2006 will see the launch of indoor CPEsthat can be installed by the customer.
Indoor coverage is a tricky issue in Western Europe, whereWiMAX is currently restricted to the 3.5 GHz band, which hasvery limited in-building penetration. Karolkowski believes thatin the short term this problem will be overcome by implement-ing antenna diversity on the CPEs.
However, 3.5 GHz will not be suitable for mobile WiMAX(802.16e) if the technology is to deliver its promise of full mobil-ity. “The preferred band for mobile and nomadic WiMAX inmost of Europe is at 2.5 GHz,” said Karolkowski, “but this is
WiMAFRIE
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provide broadband in rural areas where DSL cannot reach, itshould not merely be seen as a niche supplement to fixed broad-band for incumbent operators.
For wireless equipment makers and operators, the fundamen-tals are these: WiMAX is an alternative to DSL and cable, buthas the critical advantage of being an all Internet protocol (IP)wireless technology. WiMAX supports WiFi, voice-over-IP(VoIP) and is capable of delivering multiservice bundles – thelatter referring to the triple play of voice, video and broadband.WiMAX offers any telecoms operator, mobile or otherwise, thechance to break into the residential broadband market with acompetitive and elegant mass-market offering.
WiMAX will also enable operators to add value to their busi-ness customers by delivering high-bandwidth services in addi-tion to existing 3G and WiFi services. In other words, WiMAXis simply another part of the technology mix.
WiMAX will only break into the mass residential market ifreasonably priced retail equipment becomes available. A hand-ful of WiMAX vendors are already offering self-install plug-and-
play units, which are similar to WiFirouters in terms of installation and oper-ation. These devices will act as hubs forWiFi and more in the home, deliveringVoIP and, ultimately, Internet television(IPTV).
A handful of wireless broadbandequipment vendors will dominate themarket and manufacturing agreementsare already in place within familiar lead-ing telecoms players such as Ericsson,Marconi and Nortel. While today’sWiMAX devices are stand-alone unitsthat act as hubs, within two years Intelwill deliver WiMAX laptop cards that
will make the technology a standard option for a wide range ofenvironments from the home to large campuses.
WiMAX in the home3G vendors must look carefully at WiMAX because it offers aviable route into the fixed residential broadband market. Today’s3G data technology is optimized for handsets and applicationsthat work well on them. While HSDPA holds many promises for3G services, it will not support the transparent delivery of themajority of IP applications that consumers are demanding frombroadband services – such as VoIP and multi-user Internet gam-ing. Indeed, HSDPA will struggle to deliver the 2 Mbit/s down-load speeds that consumers expect from today’s fixed broadbandexperience. Only when HSUPA arrives will 3G finally be an all-IP system and that is clearly several years from today.
At the same time, mobile markets for voice are reaching thesaturation point in many markets and operators must consideralternative revenue opportunities that play to their strengths.WiMAX will provide mobile operators with a golden opportu-nity to exploit their retail channel and consumer knowledge.Mobile operators also have a wealth of experience in designing,installing and operating wireless networks. Indeed, the provisionof pre-pay broadband via self-installed user equipment is acornerstone of any mobile business model.
While many may talk about mobile WiMAX as a 3G-disruptive technology, the reality is that it is the fixed broadbandmarket that is currently dominated by telecoms incumbentsworldwide that will be transformed. When the first certifiednetworks go live, it will become clear that WiMAX is a naturalpart of the operator’s technology and opens up a new market toa mobile industry in search of new revenues. ■
Paul Senior is Vice President of Marketing and ProductManagement at Airspan Networks.
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currently reserved for other services.” Aswell as improving in-building andmobile services, Karolkowski said thatmoving to a lower frequency wouldallow the cell sites to be much largerthan at 3.5 GHz and the cost of base sta-tions and CPEs would be lower.
However, the key to WiMAX successwill be whether Intel can ensure that in two or three years timevirtually every laptop and PDA comes with WiMAX as a stan-dard feature – something that the company’s Centrino prod-ucts have achieved for WiFi.
Laptop integration“We are looking to reproduce the success of Centrino for lap-tops,” said Karolkowski. He expects WiMAX cards to be avail-able in 2007 and by 2008 it will be fully integrated into laptops.He stressed that WiMAX will not replace WiFi, but rather thetwo will complement each other. Looking further into thefuture, Karolkowski believes that by 2009 or 2010, WiMAXhandsets will be available operating at 2.5 and 2.3 GHz.
This, of course, should be a matter of concern for cellular
operators, many of which have been caught off-guard by thesudden interest in WiMAX. Carlton O’Neal of the broadband-equipment supplier Alvarion, however, sees WiMAX as a nat-ural evolution of the broadband fixed-wireless industry: “Wehave been deploying pre-WiMAX equipment for almost 10years now, so the sudden interest is no surprise to us.”
O’Neal believes that the fixed-wireless industry is at a keyjuncture, moving from proprietary technologies to the WiMAXstandard. “This never happened in cellular because roamingrequired standards from the beginning,” he said. O’Nealbelieves that this standardization will transform fixed wirelessfrom being a niche product to being a complementary technol-ogy for broadband service providers. “The current fixed-wirelessequipment market is about $500 million, but standardizationwill take it to, say, $5 billion over the next couple years.”
O’Neal conceded that fixed WiMAX is not likely to unseatincumbent wireline technologies such as DSL: “WiMAX willalways have a radio component and therefore the cost willalways be higher.” However, he believes that the WiMAX mar-ket will fundamentally change with the introduction of indoordesktop modems, which will make WiMAX a nomadic tech-nology. “It’s not the mobility that is crucial,” said O’Neal. He
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believes that this nomadic feature will encourage people to con-nect all of their electronic devices: “This takes us to the realmof personal broadband.”
This is good news for the cellular industry: “I don’t think thatthere will be a battle between 3G and WiMAX, because per-sonal broadband will span so many applications that 3G andWiMAX will struggle to support them all.” O’Neal also pointedout that WiMAX will be deployed later than 3G – or even 4G– and therefore WiMAX operators will be racing against theclock to get services to customers.
Reza Ahy of the broadband-equipment supplier Apertobelieves that 3G operators have shown a significant surge ininterest in WiMAX for two distinct reasons. Some 3G operatorsare looking at WiMAX as a complementary technology to futurecellular technologies such as HSDPA, HSUPA and EV-DO.“We are engaged with several large 3G operators and one is eval-uating our technology as an overlay to EV-DO,” he said. Othersare interested in using WiMAX as a backhaul solution and Ahysaid WiMAX is an attractive backhaul technology because it isnon-line-of-sight and can emulate one or more E1 Links.
WiMAX offers different benefits to 2G operators – particu-larly those that must choose whether to buy a 3G licence or haveno access to 3G spectrum. “WiMAX gives them a way of gettinginto high-speed data services,” said Ahy, pointing out that cur-rent broadband 3G services are nomadic rather than mobile.
ChipmakersThe challenges surrounding the development of WiMAX hand-sets are immense and many rest on the shoulders of chipmakerssuch as SiGe Semiconductor, which has an RF transceiver in pro-duction. SiGe’s Andrew Parolin told Wireless Europe: “All ourcustomers are designing fixed CPE equipment for either indooror outdoor antennas.” According to Parolin, many companiesthat produce WiFi user equipment are moving into WiMAX.
Parolin believes that compatibility issues remain for thosedeveloping dual-mode WiFi/WiMAX CPEs if WiMAX is oper-ating at 2.5 GHz. “It will be challenging for filter manufactur-ers,” he said, but he believes that any obstacles will soon beovercome. “It’s really no different than WiFi and UMTS oper-ating on the same platform.”
“The industry has progressed in the development of chipsfor mobile WiMAX,” said Parolin. “Our chipset is definitelyportable – it has low power consumption, about half a watt inreceive mode.” Parolin also noted that many WiMAX basebandchips are also meeting size and power requirements for portableapplications. He predicts that WiMAX PCI cards will debut inlate 2006 and will cost about twice as much as a WiFi card.
Parolin sees truly mobile WiMAX appearing in 2008 or 2009and, beyond that, he believes that WiMAX or a similar tech-nology will form a good basis for a 4G standard: “The cellularindustry thinks WiMAX is a good technology.” He believesthat most major equipment makers are looking to supportWiMAX in their base stations. “They see its potential as a 4Gtechnology and the cellular industry will try to steer the futuredevelopment of WiMAX,” he warned. However, Parolinreported that there is currently very little infighting at IEEE802.16 standards meetings, with all participants focused on get-ting the technology to work as quickly as possible.
Michelle Pampin of HarrisMicrowave told WirelessEurope that WiMAX itself is arapidly evolving concept.“Initially WiMAX was definedas a point-to-point technology,but in the last 18 months totwo years it has changed com-pletely into an access technol-ogy,” she explained. WiMAXis now generally seen as apoint-to-multipoint technol-
ogy, which Pampin said is not ideal for cellular backhaul: “Ifthe hub goes down, several cells are taken out with it.”
Harris makes point-to-point backhaul equipment, so it is notsurprising that Pampin is pleased with the shift to point-to-multipoint access systems. WiMAX base stations will have veryhigh backhaul requirements and she believes that they will notbe able to backhaul themselves. “They will need point-to-pointradio,” because backhauling with leased lines would be veryexpensive, particularly in Europe.
Like many in the industry, Pampin believes that the first gen-eration of WiMAX – 802.16d – will be short lived. “Many chipvendors have stated that they will do one revision of the d chipand then go straight to e.” She pointed out that some majorplayers such as Motorola are skipping d altogether and goingstraight for e. This means that significant economies of scalemay not be achieved until 2007/08 when the mobile version ofWiMAX arrives.
Some believe that mobile WiMAX will arrive much soonerin South Korea – in the form of WiBro. Rupert Baines of base-station chipmaker PicoChip was adamant: “WiBro is the firstdeliverable of 802.16e. It is incredibly important and is verymuch the leader.” He described WiBro as only marginally dif-ferent from WiMAX: “WiBro is to WiMAX what FOMA is toW-CDMA.” Baines said that WiBro will have forward com-patibility with WiMAX.
Baines believes the WiBro standard has advanced much fur-ther than 802.16e, which he described as “an awful documentthat needs major editing”, whereas “the English translation ofthe WiBro specification is actually much clearer”. WiBro wasexpected to go live in April 2006, “but that has slipped a fewmonths but it will be next year”.
Baines is adamant that WiBro is “truly mobile in the sense ofa cellular service” and agreed that it is a stepping stone to 4G:“WiMAX matters because of 4G and that is why major playerssuch as Samsung and Intel are taking it very seriously.” WiMAXcould be a precursor to 4G cellular for two reasons. There is cur-rently a general consensus within the wireless community thatany 4G air interface will be based on OFDM or OFDMA,which are the very technologies being developed for WiMAX.In addition, 4G will most certainly be an all-IP network, whichis also the plan for WiMAX. However, Baines stressed thatWiMAX is not 4G: “In theory, 4G should deliver data rates of1 Gbit/s for static users and 100 Mbit/s for mobile users andthe current version of WiMAX won’t do anything like that.” ■
By Hamish Johnston, editor of Wireless Europe.
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Economies of scalemay not beachieved until2007/08 when themobile version ofWiMAX arrives.
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Could interference between TDDand FDD prevent the collocationof the two UMTS technologies?Peter Relph investigates.
As 3G systems and services slowly grows inpopularity across Europe, the prospect thattime division duplex (TDD) W-CDMAtechnology could enjoy widespread deploy-ment moves closer to reality. For many, par-ticularly in Europe, the TDD system isthought of as supplementary – providingadditional 3G bandwidth or hotspot dataservices that are similar to 802.11 WiFi.
Others see TDD as a true alternativeto frequency division duplex (FDD)UMTS systems, which already provide3G services. This is true in East Asia,where the TDD flavours TD-CDMAand TD-SCDMA – along with variantsof 802.16 and 802.20 – are under seri-ous consideration as real alternatives tomainstream 3G technologies.
TDD systems offer several wellknown advantages. A single carrier frequency is employed forboth the uplink and downlink connections – the connectionsbeing split in the time domain. The time allocated to the up anddownlinks can vary according to traffic requirements. Thismeans that TDD can provide asymmetric data services such asInternet browsing without a loss in the spectral efficiency.Moreover, TDD protocols are adaptive, such that the relativeproportion of uplink and downlink time can change dynami-cally to meet the demand.
Interference problemsHowever, having the transmitter and receiver on the same fre-quency causes interference problems with the systems operatingwithin adjacent frequency bands. For example, if the adjacentfrequency is occupied by an uplink allocation, the receiving basestation can expect interference from a TDD base station that istransmitting. Similarly, if the TDD frequency is adjacent to adownlink, the receiver for the TDD system experiences the inter-ference. An identical argument is true for the mobile units.
Indeed, the situation for handsets isarguably worse, because there is no controlover the minimum separation betweenunits or the antenna orientation.
This interference issue is well under-stood and a great deal has been done to tryto quantify and solve the problem. Anexcellent example is the Third GenerationPartnership Project (3GPP), which hasdeveloped specifications for equipmentthat is used in the “same geographicalregion” or in “collocation with other ser-
vices”. These define progressivelymore demanding requirementsand equipment that is collocat-
able must achieve a level of per-formance that is almost
impossible, or uneconomical, toimplement.
Collocation specificationsCollocation specifications are derivedusing an interference calculation, whichconsiders the unwanted noise from theinterfering transmitter in terms of adjacent
channel leakage ratio (ACLR) or wide band noise. The receiver’sability to reject other signals that are not in the channel of inter-est are also considered in terms of adjacent channel selectivity(ACS) or blocking immunity. For the base-station equipment,the calculation must consider the coupling between the on-siteantennas. A more statistical approach is required for mobilephones in order to calculate the probability of coverage for aparticular service. There are many software tools available to dothis type of calculation, including Opnet and SEAMCAT.
The problem with such calculations is that they assume thatthe interference behaves as Guassian noise and is continuous intime. This is clearly not true for interference from a TDD sys-tem, where in practice the interference will either come from thebase station or the mobile, but not both at the same time.
It is also important to remember that most air interface pro-tocols such as W-CDMA are designed to be immune to bursterrors in order to protect the link against fading effects. This isachieved though the link-level coding, that interleaves (or re-orders) the data such that a burst of errors appears as random
TDD interference needsclose examination
The potential for interference between a FDD handsetand a TDD-equipped laptop is difficult to determinebecause the relative orientation of the two antennascannot be assumed to be fixed.
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errors in the data packet. The data are then encoded – usuallywith turbo or convolutional coding – which adds redundancy sothat errors can be corrected. As a result, the effect of interferencefrom a TDD system is not as severe as an equivalent continu-ous transmission system with the same average power.
Unfortunately, an accurate analysis of bursty interference isquite involved and ideally requires simulation at the link levelusing a tool such as Cadence’s Signal Processing WorkSystem(SPW). Intuition suggests that the interference effect will be astrong function of the coding performance for the victim’s link –in terms of data rate, data block length, coding rate etc – and theduty cycle of the TDD interferer. In practice the victim and inter-ferer systems will be asynchronous and therefore there will besome statistical element that must be considered. For a completeanalysis, a fading channel must be included to quantify the degra-dation of fading immunity in the presence of bursty interference.
Duty cycle effectsAs the duty cycle of the TDD system approaches 100%, theinterference model will approach the Gaussian noise model –but this special case is very unlikely. Conversely, as the duty cycleof the TDD system becomes small, the effect of the interfer-ence diminishes as the coding of the victim link corrects anyresulting errors.
This is particularly true for the case of the TDD mobiledevice, which is likely to be operating in an asymmetric man-
ner resulting in a low dutycycle. The device could beattached to a laptop computerthat is sitting next to a W-CDMA handset operating,say, a voice or video service. Inthis case it is probable that theW-CDMA user will experi-ence no degradation in service.This is good news for those
concerned with mobile-to-mobile interference. This can betroublesome because of the uncontrolled nature of the environ-ment and the fact that handsets are subject to severe size andcost constraints, which limit their performance.
Fortunately for all concerned, the interference from a TDDsystem is likely to be less severe than a simplistic interferencecalculation predicts, thanks to the immunity provided by thecoding in the victim receiver. A detailed analysis is quiteinvolved and requires link-level simulation, which is dependenton the air interface protocols for both victim and interferer.However, the benefit of proving that interference is manageablemust be of enormous value to the supporters of the TDD stan-dards and could further increase the demand for the flexibilitythat TDD gives. ■
Peter Relph is a Principal Consultant at PA Consulting.
Interference is likelyto be less severethan a simplisticinterferencecalculation predicts.
PART OF THE
Presentations from over 35speakers covering:
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While base-station technology has evolved significantly inrecent years, many of the processes related to base-stationdeployment have changed at a much slower pace. However, theneed to boost coverage and capacity to meet growing demandsfor wireless voice and data services is causing operators to con-sider more efficient ways to deploy base-station equipment.
There are two major areas where efficiencies can be improved.The first involves the optimal utilization of the large amountof unused capacity that is often available in 3G networks duringthe first years of operation. The second, and more immediateissue, relates to the enormous challenge of site acquisition andon-going efforts to collocate as many new 3G base stations onexisting 2G sites as possible. Collocation is important becauseoperators are finding it very difficult to secure new locations thathave all of the required facilities for the radio equipment suchas electrical power, building space and air conditioning. It iseven more difficult to find sites that also offer an optimal loca-tion for the base-station antennas.
The long-established concept of distributed cell site architec-ture (DCSA) has recently reappeared as a way to address theseissues. DCSA extends the distance between a base station and itsantennas. This allows the antennas to be placed at optimalremote locations, while the base stations can be located at a con-venient location nearby (see figure 1). The immediate benefits ofDCSA are shorter time-to-operation and lower deployment andsite-hosting costs.
Transparent performanceThe system performance of a typical wireless DCSA is compa-rable to a conventional base station, and the equipment is trans-parent to the rest of the network. DCSA equipment is designedand developed by a range of companies including major wireless-network equipment vendors, companies that make related equip-ment such as repeaters and distributed antenna systems (DAS)and firms that specialize in DCSA. Major wireless-networkequipment vendors provide remote RF modules and remote RFheads. These units usually include a radio module that is placedin a remote location where it is connected to a set of remoteantennas. The connection between the radio unit and base sta-tion is normally done over fibre-optic cable using a proprietarycommunications protocol. Other companies have developedequipment that transports the RF signals from one location toanother, while others employ optical wireless technology, which
is a relatively new way of making the connection.Fibre-optic cable was once seen as the only way of making
the link, but today DCSA can be implemented using a rangeof technologies including laser-based optical wireless systems,microwave radio systems or various smart repeater systems.These provide RF engineers with more flexibility when trying tolocate antennas precisely where capacity and coverage is needed.
UMTS infrastructure can be rolled out in several differentways. In many cases the deployment of entirely new base-stationequipment is an overkill solution that is too expensive. A muchlower-cost strategy is the use of regular RF repeaters, which typi-cally re-broadcast selected radio channels from an existing basestation. Although RF repeaters are an attractive and cost-effectivesolution for 2G networks, they cannot achieve the appropriatelevels of noise immunity, pilot pollution and isolation requiredfor CDMA-based networks such as UMTS. A DCSA based onoptical or microwave wireless links is much more suitable foruse in 3G networks because the links between the base stationand antennas offer much greater isolation than RF repeaters.
In the past wireless DCSA installations employed wireless RFdistribution systems, which often suffer performance degrada-tion related to in-band interference and RF isolation. However,several recent and successful commercial deployments of opticaland microwave transport links have not suffered from these
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Distributed cell sitesease UMTS deployment
Deploying base-station equipment and antennas at the same location is an expensive and out-datedpractice argues Ilan Ofir: distributed cell site architectures offer UMTS operators a better alternative.
Fig. 1. DCSA allows base-station antennas to be installed in optimal locationswhile the other equipment is placed in a more convenient location. Thisexample illustrates how 3G base-station equipment can be collocated with 2Gequipment in one building, while the 3G antennas are sited elsewhere.
remote 3G site donor site
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problems. This means that the link equipment and serviceantennas can be located very close together. This is unlike RFdistribution equipment, which required a distance of severalmetres between the link and service antennas to achieve therequired isolation.
As well as easing the deployment of new base-station equip-ment, DCSA allows operators to get the most from existingbase-station facilities. For example, DCSA can be used to col-locate base-station equipment or to utilize spare capacity inexisting base stations. Such strategies have been demonstrated toincrease significantly the network efficiency in terms of the uti-lization of available capacity. And because they can be achievedin a much simpler cell-site deployment process, these strategieshave been shown to reduce dramatically the time-to-operationof base-station equipment.
DCSA also allows operators to minimize and consolidate theirbackhaul transmission requirements by collocating base-stationequipment and eliminating the need to backhaul remote anten-nas. Backhaul is a major operating expense and a reduction in thenumber of required connections provides a significant cost saving.
Power savingIn many cases it is not possible to route the RF cable directly tothe antennas. This is especially true in UMTS networks, whereRF losses reduce performance as cable distances increase. A wire-less or fibre-optic DCSA deployment allows the power ampli-fiers to be located closer to the transmitting antennas. Whencompared with a traditional deployment – with the base-stationequipment located indoors at ground or basement level andantennas on the roof or a tower – savings of up to 12 dB in out-put power can be achieved by taking this approach.
By using an existing base-station location to serve antennasin new remote locations, mobile operators can reduce – or eveneliminate – various conventional costs. These costs are related tothe provision of backhaul connectivity to the new location aswell as much of the leasing, construction and facilities-upgradecosts associated with the installation of base-station equipment.
Capacity sharing is an important way that DCSA can beemployed by operators. For example, the sectors of an existingbase station can be redistributed among two locations to maxi-mize the use of its capacity. A single sector can also be divided to
provide capacity for two locations. An illustration of the capac-ity sharing scenario is shown in figure 2.
Operators continue to struggle with the collocation of UMTSand GSM base stations and DCSA can be used in a configura-tion that delivers great flexibility. In the initial deployment,DCSA can be used to distribute antennas to remote sectors toreduce the initial number of base stations. This allows the oper-ator to deploy UMTS antennas in optimal locations based oncoverage and capacity needs rather than being restricted to thelocations of existing GSM antennas. An example of a base-station collocation configuration is shown in figure 1.
In-building coverageProviding adequate in-building coverage and capacity is one ofthe more difficult RF challenges facing operators. In many casesit is too costly or not even possible to provide the appropriate in-building coverage with a conventional base-station deployment.In these situations, an operator may use DCSA to exploit anexisting base station to provide coverage and capacity to an in-building location. This is a good solution both for a wide rangeof building types and sizes from shopping malls and sports are-nas to smaller office buildings. A DCSA can be connecteddirectly to an in-building DAS; a typical in-building applicationis shown in figure 3.
As DCSA technology continues to develop, it will be able tocover longer distances and will offer more features. For examplea feature called drop-and-insert will allow DCSAs to be deployedin star (point-to-multipoint) or chain (series of consecutive links)configurations. Drop-and-insert will help operators shareresources between several sites. It will also offer operators greaterflexibility when deploying microwave and optical wireless trans-port systems that require line-of-sight links. Today, the need forlines of sight limits where remote sites can be located.
In the future, DCSA systems will make it possible to installmore than two base stations at a single location. Wireless net-work equipment and radio technology have evolved to providenew capabilities, lower costs and increased efficiency for mobileoperators. The methods used for base-station deploymentshould also evolve to provide the same benefits. ■
Ilan Ofir is vice president of sales and marketing at Celerica.
D e c e m b e r / J a n u a r y 2 0 0 6 wire less. iop.org w i r e l e s s e u r o p e
Fig. 2. The capacity of an existing base station can be shared between twosites using DCSA.
Fig. 3. DCSA can be used to improve in-building coverage using spare capacity from existing base stations.
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To capture significant market share in the race for 3G cus-tomers, mobile operators must make substantial improvementsto their backhaul infrastructure. However, to remain competi-tive and profitable they must dramatically reduce their operat-ing costs and equipment expenditures. While these two goalsseem contradictory, they can both be achieved if operators movefrom leasing backhaul transmission capacity to building theirown transmission infrastructure.
In the early days of 2G roll out, most cellular operators leasedbackhaul transmission capacity from local fixed-line providers.The move from analogue to digital required more base-stationsites and a need to extend the existing infrastructure. Leasingbackhaul transmission facilities – rather than building out net-works from scratch – allowed operators to get 2G services tomarket as quickly as possible and in a cost-effective manner.
Fixed-line operators already had terrestrial transmission net-works in place so leasing backhaul provided mobile operatorswith a low-risk solution during a period of rapid growth. Byoutsourcing transmission requirements, mobile operators couldleave maintenance to the fixed-line operator and concentrateon building their specialized mobile networks and deployingnew services. Today, however, the leased lines connecting basestations to mobile switching centres are a significant operationalexpenditure for mobile operators. And these costs will rise as 3Gdata services put increased demand on cellular networks.
While 3G promises to boost revenues by introducing a widerange of data services, operators must develop a robust and flex-ible network architecture that can deliver 3G at the relevantservice and performance levels. In particular, the evolution to3G requires a further increase in base-station density in anygiven geography. To support high-speed data services, each basestation requires more backhaul capacity.
The backhaul requirements of 3G are putting increasingstrain on the capital and operational expenditure of mobileoperators. To ensure long-term scalability and profitability ofthe network, this growth must be achieved using a cost-effectivebackhaul architecture that meets capacity requirements whilecarrying all traffic types in an optimal manner. And operatorsmust expand 3G backhaul capacity without jeopardizing exist-ing revenue streams coming from 2G networks.
Transmission networksThese requirements have encouraged operators to begin build-ing wholly owned transmission networks. By owning the trans-mission part of the backhaul connection, mobile operators havegreater control over their network infrastructure. It also allowsoperators to ensure that they have the capacity needed to deliverdata-intensive 3G services, especially when networks areupgraded to support HSDPA, which will further increase 3Gdata rates in the downlink.
Taking control of radio access network (RAN) backhaul trans-mission can be a costly exercise for mobile operators, and anydecision to take backhaul transmission in-house must be dri-ven by two main factors: economics and capacity. In recentyears, the installation of transmission backhaul infrastructurehas become a much more cost-effective exercise because theprice of equipment has stabilized and fibre infrastructure is morewidely available. As mobile operators rapidly approach the max-
imum capacity of current leased networks, they must either rentmore backhaul circuits or begin to build their own. Rentingclearly attracts an annual fee, which can be much more expen-sive than ownership in the long term.
Beyond the need for greater capacity, the nature of transmis-sion requirements is also changing. As Internet protocol (IP)becomes prevalent in 3G, it will become possible to build anaccess network based on packet technology. This will ensuregreat flexibility to support further growth and compatibility.Privately owned infrastructure will provide the mobile operatorwith significantly more control over their own IP transmission.
Although the initial investment may be expensive, the long-term benefits of ownership are extremely compelling. In order toenjoy a competitive edge, a mobile operator must maintain up-to-the-minute services, competitive tariffs and, perhaps mostcrucially, subscriber interest. Service quality and differentiationare also crucial to success because they generate revenue andboost the reputation of the mobile brand.
The ability to provide a range of service packages is dependentupon the quality of the backhaul network. A 3G service thatallows several video downloads per month will require more net-
Operatorsmust gaincontrol ofbackhaulKevin Martin explains why mobile operators arelooking to build out their own transmissionnetworks to support data-rich services.
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work capacity than traditional 2G voice services. Mobile oper-ators must be able to support all voice and data services simul-taneously, while also ensuring that new services can be broughtto market ahead of the competition.
As data services take off, it is important to guarantee enoughbandwidth to handle the fluctuating levels of mobile content.The operator must also ensure that they retain a high level ofcontrol over the network. And of course they must continue tofocus on time-to-market. In short, mobile operators need to beable to access bandwidth and quickly accommodate and controlany service changes that might affect the network. If they arerenting a leased-line, making these time-sensitive changes isnot always possible because permission and assistance is neededfrom the fixed-line operator.
Building their own transmission networks provides operatorswith a greater control of the entire infrastructure and the oper-ating costs. The operator can also gain competitive advantageby building a next-generation network that is more advanced andfuture-proof than legacy leased-line networks. Next-generationnetwork architectures will be based on Ethernet and/or IP/MPLStechnology and will allow the operator to deploy revenue-gener-
ating services as well as handlea wide range of data traffic.
Owning the entire networkinfrastructure also provides themobile operator with directcontrol over network uptime.Operators can respond morerapidly to demands forincreased coverage in a mannerthat suits its business prioritiesand can more easily deployproducts based on geography.
Another key benefit of ownership is that operators can performmore detailed analysis of network traffic. This makes it easierto identify patterns of usage and forecast shifts in bandwidthdemand – which is more difficult on an outsourced network.
As HSDPA handsets appear on the market, operators willneed to support increased data throughput. Owning the trans-mission network will allow mobile operators to respond quicklyto demands for significantly more bandwidth and ease the over-all burden that data-intensive services will place on the network.
Ownership also strengthens the mobile operator’s positionwith regards to fixed-mobile-convergence (FMC), which isbecoming available across Europe. FMC links mobile and fixed-line services and will ultimately allow subscribers to access voiceand data services regardless of their location, access technologyor terminal type. If a mobile operator outsources its transmis-sion network to a fixed-line operator, then it is less able tochoose partners in the provision of FMC.
Managing convergenceOnce an operator has decided to build their own transmissionnetwork, they must ensure it supports the technologicaldemands of evolving 3G networks as well as existing 2G net-works. This migration from 2G circuit-switched TDM net-works to 3G packet-switched networks raises new challenges forthe mobile operator. In particular, the cost, suitability and avail-ability of platforms must be evaluated with regards to theexpected increases in capacity and their ability to manage thecomplexities of converged voice and data.
There is a risk that mobile operators could end up with severaldifferent RAN architectures, each supporting a specific type oftraffic. This can be avoided if operators implement core net-works that can aggregate simultaneously 2G and 3G backhaultraffic. This architecture offers flexibility, scalability, efficiency,resiliency and economics that will help mobile operators meettheir customers’ rising expectations while converging the voiceand data services of 2G and 3G.
By developing a converged network architecture that supportsTDM and packet technologies, operators can move forward intheir bid to offer the latest data-rich content services while con-trolling costs. There are significant benefits in building out back-haul transmission networks to increase service offerings. However,due to the complexity of convergence and the migration to packetinfrastructure, mobile operators will need to carefully review theirbackhaul strategies before making strategic investments. ■
Kevin Martin is director of solutions for Ciena.
w i r e l e s s e u r o p e wire less. iop.org D e c e m b e r / J a n u a r y 2 0 0 6
Leasing backhaul transmission was sensible in the early days of 2G. However,as mobile networks and services become more data intensive, operatorsshould consider building their own transmission networks.
Another benefit ofownership is thatoperators canperform moredetailed analysis ofnetwork traffic.
Antonio Viana-BaptistaChairman & Chief Executive Officer
Telefónica Móviles
Arun SarinChief Executive Officer
Vodafone Group
Steve BallmerChief Executive Officer
Microsoft
Olli-Pekka KallasvuoPresident & Chief Operating Officer (Chief Executive Officer Elect)
Nokia
Mun Hwa ParkPresident & Chief Executive Officer
LG Electronics Mobile Communications
Peter BazalgetteChief Creative Officer
Endemol
Barcelona13-16 February
2006
The world’s leading
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SDR offers benefitsand challenges tohandset makersBy Guenter Weinberger of SandbridgeTechnologiesIt is becoming increasingly clear that the con-vergence of future wireless data services willnot involve a single global network standard.Instead, convergence will be driven by flexi-ble user devices that can access a continu-ously evolving patchwork of wirelessnetworks, which are optimized for specificapplications. These networks include variousflavours of 2.5G, 3G and 3.5G; WiFi,WiMAX, 802.20 as well as audio and videobroadcast networks. All of these technologieswill combine to deliver a wide range of appli-cations and features – and will ultimately cre-ate the “convergent lifestyle” of the future.
Network-agnostic terminals will play acrucial role in delivering converged servicesand although such devices have yet to appear,the reward for their development will begreat. Convergent terminals will expand thebusiness opportunities for mobile operators,applications developers, content providersand other related industry sectors. A trulyconvergent device must support virtually anymode of connectivity. It must also run a widerange of applications including voice andvideo communication and messaging, gen-eral Internet access, music, video and games.Terminal makers must also overcome thechallenge of integrating new user interfacetechnologies. These could include verysophisticated speech recognition and virtualscreens that provide a big-screen viewingeffect using advanced video eyewear.
Semiconductor innovationConvergent terminals will also require signif-icant innovation at the semiconductor devicelevel. Hardware designs that employ soft-ware-defined radio (SDR) are getting a greatdeal of attention for very important reasons:because all features are implemented in soft-ware, SDR is a reusable platform that cantake advantage of future developments in sys-tem-on-a-chip (SoC) architectures.
Any credible SDR technology must firstmeet the two key requirements for use intoday’s handheld devices – low cost and lowpower. Only after meeting or exceedingindustry benchmarks in these two categorieswill it be considered for future applications.Power consumption is a difficult parameterto quantify because it is a proprietary char-
acteristic of an individual SDR implementa-tion. Cost comparisons, however, can bedone at a more generic level – and the flexi-bility enabled by SDR can also be quantified.
While industry incumbents like todescribe their GPRS/W-CDMA modems asmultimode systems, these are not the targetmarket for early SDR technologies. Instead,there are two independent areas of multi-mode development that will pave the way forSDR. One is the ongoing addition of new,complex features to handheld devices; theother is the increasing diversity of networkstandards such as cellular, WiFi, WiMAXand broadcast. The pressure to keep pacewith this accelerated evolution of features,systems and standards presents dauntingchallenges to handset manufacturers.
Figure 1 illustrates the benchmarking ofthe cost-effectiveness of SDR compared to atraditional hardware-based application-spe-cific integrated circuit (ASIC). The plotshows the cost (in terms of chip area) as afunction of the number of features supported
by both traditional hardware ASICs and flex-ible ASICs such as Sandbridge’s SB3010 flex-ible baseband processor. The intersection ofthe two plots shows where the SDR device ison a par with a typical hardware ASIC.Beyond this point it is cheaper to implementadditional features on the SDR platformthan on the hardware ASIC. This inter-section point is a key parameter describingthe cost-competitiveness of a SDR deviceand it is a major advantage for cross-over tooccur at the lowest possible cost. The maxi-mum cost-benefit is realized by using ahighly flexible architecture that allows for thecomplete reuse of resources for entirely dif-ferent processing requirements.
Scalability is also an important issue sur-rounding SDR because the wireless world ismoving rapidly towards higher bandwidthinterfaces such as WiMAX and HSDPA andthe implementation of multiple-input mul-tiple-output (MIMO) antenna diversityschemes. Creating a multimode system basedon these technologies will be challenging forany technology – but is essential to establishfuture-proof credibility.
Flexibility must also be a key feature of anySDR implementation. While total softwareflexibility is desirable, other approaches offerpartial flexibility based on reconfigurablehardware architectures. In theory, very lowpower consumption is the primary benefitof a reconfigurable-architecture approach.This is because the data-path structures usedare similar to those implemented in the hard-ware-based ASIC approach. This, however,has yet to be demonstrated in a real chip, and
SDR
Fig. 1. While software-defined radio is not really appropriate for GPRS/W-CDMA handsets, it will achieve significant costsavings in feature-rich terminals that support a wide range of wireless technologies.
+HSDPA
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SB3011
flexible ASICscan offer morefeatures at afixed cost
traditional ASICsincrease cost/chiparea with each feature
feature richness
cost
(chi
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The pressure to keep upwith the evolution offeatures, systems andstandards presentsdaunting challenges tohandset manufacturers.
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questions remain about the reconfigurationspeed and its potential impact on the actualreuse. And given the large bandwidthrequirements of typical applications such ascommunications, multimedia, speech recog-nition and gaming, it may turn out that ahardware reconfigurable design carries toomuch overhead to cover all different applica-tions in a hardware-like data flow.
Another benefit of SDR is the short leadtime required to ready the platform for the
next function. Complete software flexibilityoffers a great advantage because it requiresonly a function call and a few clock cycles toload the first lines of software from memory– effectively reconfiguring itself on-the-fly.By contrast, hardware-reconfigurable archi-tectures must load the entire configurationfile before any execution of new algorithmsmay start. Furthermore, more than one hard-ware block may be involved in implementinga new feature, adding to the lead time.
The software-development environmentfor designing complete implementations isan important facet of the SDR approach.Communication systems are usuallydesigned using a top-down approach thatemploys the C programming language at anearly stage in the development process. WhileC is an industry standard that is highly desir-able for design-level programming, it doesnot enjoy widespread use in SDR develop-ment. The implementation of efficient andintuitive C programming environments isessential because the fundamental benefitsof a flexible platform can only be realized ifit can be programmed with relative ease –particularly by third-party developers.
Finally, the most challenging – and alsomost important – benchmark parameter forSDR is low power consumption, which mustbe met regardless of the other benefits that a
particular SDR technology offers.Sandbridge Technologies has pioneered thedevelopment of SDR silicon that can achieveindustry-benchmark power consumptionlevels for battery-powered devices. The US-based company’s SB3010 system-on-a-chiparchitecture is a homogeneous multi-processor system based on a proprietaryeight-way multithreaded processor. Itemploys a single-instruction-set architectureto execute DSP, RISC and Java instructionsin a highly parallel approach. The technologycan also be reprogrammed on-the-fly usingindustry-standard ANSI-C.
SDR technologies hold great promises forenabling the development of convergenthandheld devices and other players are sureto enter the market. However, the emergenceof new products may also lead to some inter-esting discussions about intellectual propertyrights (IPR) because early and essential IPRhave already been granted.
Whatever the technology of choice will be,the wireless industry is moving towards thecreation of a new platform device that willbring a broad range of communication andentertainment features into the pockets ofwireless subscribers. Advanced technologiessuch as SDR will enable more features to bedelivered at lower cost and ultimately eventhe low-end phone market will benefit. www.sandbr idgetech.com
SDR
SDR holds great promisefor enabling thedevelopment of convergenthandheld devices.
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By David Nowicki of BytemobileDelivering data services to any mobile deviceis fraught with challenges and cellular hand-sets present unique problems – and uniquebusiness opportunities. As well as deliveringdata services that are valuable or useful to thesubscriber, successful operators must alsooffer readily available network capacity anda consistently high-quality user experience.
Dynamic data optimization serves boththese requirements. Optimized data con-serves bandwidth, which extends networkcapacity and helps to smooth out over timethe need to expand network infrastructure.And if done correctly, dynamic data opti-mization increases data rates and reducestransmission latencies – both of which areimportant to a high-quality user experience.
Mobile data subscribers have long beenfrustrated by excessive waiting times betweenclicks as data are slowly rendered on thescreen. While 3G and 3.5G technologies arereducing waiting times, there will still bemuch work to be done long after these tech-nologies are widely deployed and high-endhandsets become commonplace. The reasonis that most data services are based onInternet protocols such as HTTP and TCP.
These protocols were not designed formobile networks and are inherently ineffi-cient. When used to deliver wireless servicesto mobile devices, delays are magnified withevery click. While designers of handset userinterfaces (UIs) are working hard to reducethe number of clicks required to get to use-ful content, little has been done to reduce thetime delay between the clicks.
User frustrationUsers are also frustrated by the actual utilityof browsers and Web-based applications onhandsets. Beyond small screens and inappro-priate UIs, Web portals that are supposedlyoptimized for the mobile user fail to deliverany real benefit. The disadvantages of portaloptimization often outweigh the benefitsbecause too much utility must be sacrificedin the interests of performance. And if sub-scribers are forced to endure an unsuitable UIfor too long, the quality of the user experi-ence will plummet. This approach also forcesmany content providers to slim down their
content so that it can be delivered over vari-ous wireless networks. As well as beingexpensive, this practice discourages the devel-opment of services with richer content.
One of the greatest challenges facing oper-ators is that the demand for mobile-data ser-vices is not a simple linear function ofquality. Recent studies in Germany suggestthat demand increases dramatically whentransmission latency declines and data ratesincrease to certain threshold levels. Greaterdemand can be a good thing, but problemscan arise if it is not easy to predict when thesemajor increases will occur. Sudden increasescan severely stress network capacity, whichcan be very difficult to expand on shortnotice due to capital constraints. And radiospectrum is a finite and regulated resource,which puts an ultimate limit on the band-width available for mobile data services.
Full-featured dynamic data optimization isan important real-time core network toolthat can help operators address latency andcapacity challenges. It allows operators tomake much more efficient use of existingnetwork capacity, buying them more time toconsider major decisions about adding infra-structure and bandwidth.
However, the greatest benefit of dynamicdata optimization is that it creates a muchbetter experience for mobile device users. Notonly does it increase access speeds and reducelatency – essentially solving the frustration
problem – but it also makes mobile browserstruly usable, opening the door to true Internetaccess. Such significant improvementsencourage greater usage and boost revenues.
Bytemobile has developed dynamic dataoptimization products for wireless networksthat employ a portfolio of state-of-the-artdata-reduction and protocol-accelerationtechniques. The techniques have alreadybeen deployed worldwide in the company’sOptimization Services Node (OSN) server,which optimizes data traffic for laptop access.The company has released the new OSNMonaco Edition software, designed specifi-cally for a wide variety of mobile devices.
Less data, faster transferMonaco improves the speed of access onmobile handsets, reducing the amount of datatransferred by two to five times and increasingthe data transfer rate by up to ten times forportal browsing. OSN Monaco employsBytemobile’s Macara Dynamic Interleaving(MDI) technology, which is available in bothclientless and client formats. MDI allowsOSN Monaco Edition to ensure the very fastdownloading of site content in a range of for-mats including WML, cHTML, xHTMLand HTML. In most cases, data rates can beincreased without adding any additional soft-ware to the handset.
The Monaco software operates simultane-ously in both clientless and client-servermodes. The clientless mode does not requirethe deployment of software on handsets andcan therefore be used in the rapid develop-ment of services using phone-based contenton mass-market feature phones. Client-serveroperation offers opportunities for greaterspeed when using full HTML sites, but theBytemobile Monaco Client must bedeployed on the end-user device.
The success of handset-based data servicesis linked strongly to dynamic optimizationsolutions that provide truly useable access torich web content – at speeds and in ways thatusers are accustomed to. As operators con-tinue to roll out optimization-enhanced net-works and provide a user experience onhandsets similar to that on a laptop or PC,data usage and revenue growth will follow. www.bytemobi le .com
Dynamic optimization eliminatesthe wait between the clicks
NETWORK OPT IMIZAT ION
Bytemobile’s Optimization Client speeds access to mobiledata services by optimizing the quantity of data transferred.
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INFRASTRUCTURE
Direct-conversion modulatoroffers high linearityA new high-performance quadraturemodulator from Linear Technology isoptimized for use in 850–965 MHz GSMand cdma2000 base stations. The LT5568accepts in-phase (I) and quadrature-phase(Q) baseband signals and modulates themdirectly to the RF transmission frequency.
The modulator has a zero-IF(intermediate frequency) transmitterarchitecture, which enables base-stationdesigners to attain high performance whilereducing the component count. www.l inear.com
FPGA core enables MIMOThe ChannelCore64 allows designers toreplace up to 16 specialist digital downconverter (DDC) ASIC devices with asingle proprietary core running on a field-programmable gate array (FPGA). Releasedby RF Engines, the core is said to allowdesigners to reduce both the size, cost andpower requirements of their base stations.
The company also claims that theirtechnology will increase the flexibility ofbase stations, leading ultimately tointeroperability between different radioaccess technologies. The use of FPGAs willallow the dynamic reconfiguration of band-plans, which could allow base stations to bereprogrammed to operate according to newstandards.
The core offers 64 independent down-conversion channels, which may beconnected to either of two 16-bit analogue-
to-digital converters (ADCs). The corecould therefore support future technologiessuch as multiple-input multiple-output(MIMO) antenna diversity. www.rfe l .com
Base station saves 70%Nokia claims that the use of its FlexiW-CDMA base station can lead to costsavings of up to 70% during the installationand operation phases. Described as a small,modular but high-capacity platform, theFlexi base station is said to allow operatorsto make more efficient use of their basestation sites. As a result, the base station canbe installed quickly with less siteconstruction work than traditionalequipment. The Flexi also has low powerrequirements and can be installed bothindoors and out.
The platform supports distributed base-station architectures. It can form part of amulti-radio network because its modulescan be fitted inside existing Nokia UltraSiteEDGE base-station cabinets.www.nokia.com
Portfolio maximizes datathroughput on 3G networksNew from Horsebridge Network Systems,the Next Generation Sync portfolio ofproducts promises to reduce dropped callsand packet-data losses in cellular networks.
Aimed at cellular operators and network-equipment manufacturers, the products areclaimed to improve the quality of datatransmission and resulting services across
3G networks. Next Generation Syncmaximizes traffic throughput and providesoperators with a reliable and robust networksynchronization technology. According toHorsebridge, the system also increases theaccuracy of call handover between 2G and3G networks.
The Next Generation Sync productportfolio delivers synchronization across 3Gand HSDPA mobile networks, WiMAXnetworks, cellular backhaul links and tripleplay services. It is available as a stand-alonesystem for mobile operators or as a card fornetwork-equipment manufacturers. www.horsebr idge.net
RF synthesizer on two chipsTexas Instruments has launched a high-performance radio frequency (RF)synthesizer that is designed to maintainsignal integrity in wireless infrastructureapplications. Described as highly integrated,the TRF3761 RF synthesizer is a two-chipsolution that occupies 6 × 6 mm of boardspace, which is about one-third thefootprint of comparable modules.
The TRF3761 eliminates the need forcustomized modules that integrate phase-locked loop (PLL) devices with voltage-controlled oscillators (VCOs), buffers andpassive circuitry. Available for operation inthe 400–2500 MHz frequency range, thecomponent can be used in 2G, 2.5G and 3Gbase stations. At an output frequency of1.9 GHz, the TRF3761 delivers –138 dBc/Hzphase noise when measured at a 600 kHzoffset, and noise floor of –160 dBc/Hz whenmeasured at a 10 MHz offset.www.t i .com
Hybrid couplers supportantenna sharingMECA has launched a family of high-power3 dB hybrid couplers. Designed for use incombining two transmitters to share oneantenna, the H705 couplers are available inthree bands: 400–520 MHz, 800–1000 MHz and 1700–2200 MHz.
According to MECA, the couplers’unique air-line construction achieves thelowest possible insertion loss whiledelivering high isolation values of 30 dB.The H705 series offer a typical voltagestanding-wave ratio (VSWR) of 1.10:1 anda maximum phase balance of 3°. Thecouplers have a maximum power rating of500 W and are supplied with an N-femaleconnector. www.e-meca.com
3 7P R O D U C T S
Tri-band power amplifiereases handset designSilicon Laboratories has expanded its familyof CMOS power amplifiers to include a tri-band power amplifier (PA). The Si4300T isfor use in GSM/GPRS handsets and isclaimed to be the smallest, most highlyintegrated and most reliable PA available forthis application.
Unlike PA modules, which comprisemultiple chips and discrete components, theSi4300 family uses a single die on a smallsubstrate.
Based on a patented amplifierarchitecture, the Si4300T performs allfunctions between the transceiver and theantenna switch module. This includespower control, thermal and load mismatchprotection, harmonic filtering and inputand output matching networks.www.si labs.com
EDGE chipset delivers videoAgere has launched its Vision X115 chipsetfor use in EDGE handsets. This is the firstproduct to be based on Agere’s Visionmobile-handset architecture and OptiVersesoftware framework. Together thesetechnologies are said to allow handsetmakers to develop smaller and cheaperGPRS/EDGE smart phones.
According to Agere, the chipset’s multi-processor supports various services withoutthe need for extra applications processors ormultimedia companion chips. Supportedservices include CD-quality sound, cinema-quality video and a 2 megapixel camera.
When implemented, the chipset canreduce the overall component count of ahandset by more than 100, resulting in upto 20% savings in both bill-of-material(BOM) costs and board area.
The X115 comprises two chips: ananalogue baseband and a digital baseband.The analogue baseband includes a completepower management solution that alsohandles the analogue baseband processing,audio mixing and conversion. The digitalbaseband features three processor cores: anARM7TDMI-S for communicationsfuctions; an ARM926EJ-S for applicationsprocessing; and Agere’s DSP16000 core forphysical layer and audio signal processing.
The X115 chipset is combined withAgere’s OptiVerse software, which includesreusable and standardized applicationprogramming interfaces (API) that provideaccess to underlying communication andapplication functions. According to Agere,
the APIs simplify the development ofcustomized multimedia applications such asaudio and video. www.agere.com
HSDPA coprocessor is on ASICInterDigital’s UMTS Release 5 HSDPAcoprocessor is available for implementationon an application-specific integrated circuit(ASIC). The coprocessor is said to beoptimized to support all HSDPA servicecategories up to category 10.
Fabricated using 130 nm technology anddesigned to be process-independent, thecoprocessor complies with Release 5 of theUMTS specification. Other features includelow power and MIPS requirements and theability to support transmit and receivediversity. The coprocessor can be supplied astechnology blocks for use in existing UMTSRelease 99/Release 4 chips and is scalable tosupport HSUPA in Release 6.www.interdig i ta l .com
TI and DoCoMo samplechipset boosts videoTexas Instruments (TI) has produced samplequantities of the OMAPV2230 multimodeUMTS chipset, which was developed incollaboration with the Japanese operatorNTT DoCoMo. Aimed at the worldwide3G handset market, the chipset includes aUMTS dual-mode digital basebandprocessor. It also integrates an advancedapplications processor, which is based on TI’shigh-performance OMAP 2 architecture.
TI claims the integration of advancedapplications and modem functionality inthe same device has resulted in a system thatoffers high performance at low power. Thechipset supports worldwide operation onW-CDMA and GSM/GPRS/EDGE
networks. It also includes TI’s AdvancedImaging, Video and Audio Accelerator (IVA2), said to boost video performance inmobile phones by up to four times andimaging performance by up to 150%.www.t i .com
Extensions support HSDPAand EV-DO future standardsThe DO multicarrier multilink extensions(DMMX) and HSDPA multicarriermultilink extensions (HMMX) platformshave been announced by Qualcomm.
The extensions describe standards-basedenhancements to cdma2000 EV-DO andW-CDMA HSDPA. According toQualcomm, the techniques can be used toboost capacity and speed in ways that donot require changes to current or proposedstandards. The extensions also support thedevelopment of chips and software to enablethe concurrent operation of multiple radiolinks such as CDMA, TDM and OFDM.Multicarrier multilink technology involvesthe simultaneous use of multiple wirelesstransmission protocols in multiplefrequency bands. www.qualcomm.com
Quad-band EDGE transceiverintegrated on one chip
The Othello-Esingle-chip radiotransceiver forEDGE handsetsis new fromAnalog Devices(ADI). Based onADI’s Othellodirect-conversion radio
architecture, the new transceiver is said tointegrate virtually all the componentsnecessary to create a complete quad-bandEDGE radio design. These include voltage-controlled oscillators (VCOs), phase-lockedloop filters and power management. Thetransceiver operates in the 850, 900, 1800and 1900 MHz frequency bands.
To achieve the increased linearitynecessary for EDGE, the Othello-E employsa high-performance logarithmic RF powerdetector to enable a closed-loop polarmodulation transmitter design. According toADI, this is an improvement over open-looppolar designs that require the close matchingof the transceiver and power amplifier. www.analog.com
w i r e l e s s e u r o p e wire less. iop.org D e c e m b e r / J a n u a r y 2 0 0 6
HANDSET COMPONENTS
3 8 T H E F U T U R E
Why should operators deploy HSDPA?HSDPA increases the peak data rates by a factorof 10, but only increases the silicon area –which can be thought of as the ultimate cost –by less than 5%. A similar dynamic applies onthe base-station side and when we talk to oper-ators there is a universal refrain that they willdeploy HSDPA because it is such a small incre-mental investment for a large increase in capa-bility. HSDPA will follow wherever UMTS isdeployed and we expect HSDPA to be deployedin Europe in 2006.
HSDPA will be used to support standard 3Gapplications, because even operators will admitthat some of these services are lacking in termsof user experience. HSDPA should change thisand will deliver a user experience that is similarto the wireline Internet. The need to support services such asmusic downloads is why we have incorporated the ARM 11processor within our Mobile Extreme Convergence (MXC)architecture. This delivers quite a bit of processing horsepower.
How else is Freescale addressing HSDPA?Our i.300 platform supports HSDPA in a form factor and levelof integration that is similar to the most integrated 3G chipsetson the market today. The changes required to support HSDPAat the silicon level were made predominately in the digital base-band level. Sophisticated signal processing is required to han-dle the new modulation scheme. We also had to upgrade ourprotocol stack.
On the radio side, HSDPA uses the same RF chain and fre-quency band as UMTS. This allowed us to reuse much of thetechnology that we developed for UMTS. We were able todesign our devices in such a fashion that we would not have tore-engineer when we went to HSDPA – which is one impor-tant reason why we can deliver HSDPA in our chipset. Freescaleis one of a few in the world doing HSDPA, so it is a bit prema-ture to say if others will be able achieve this.
Does HSDPA boost power consumption?HSDPA does require significantly more processing power aswell as very sophisticated digital signal processing circuits thatare dedicated to HSDPA demodulation. We have updated ourprocess and some of our DSP core to reduce power consump-
tion. This has been done in general to improveour overall UMTS performance. We have alsoincreased the processing power that is availableon demand to ensure that HSDPA can bedelivered.
The other major architectural enhancementis our (MXC) platform, which moves all of thecommunications processing to a single DSPcore. This is an innovative departure from pre-vious architectures. Traditionally, the commu-nications processing has been distributed acrossa DSP and a microprocessor core. All of thecommunications processing on the MXC plat-form – including the layer 2 and 3 protocols –are done on the DSP core. This frees up poweron the microprocessor.
When will handsets be available?I am confident that handsets will be available for the mass mar-ket in 2006. Our technology is incorporated in prototypeHSDPA handsets that are being used today. There has beengreat interest in our HSDPA chips not only from our largestcustomer Motorola, but also from other handset makers. We arevery optimistic that in 2006 we will see handsets incorporatingFreescale HSDPA shipping in the market.
A commercial HSDPA launch will require a lot of coordina-tion between the operator, technology suppliers (such asFreescale) as well as handset makers. All of these pieces must bein place – but this won’t happen until operators feel that theyhave a sufficient diversity of devices available for a commerciallaunch. What we can say for certain is that Freescale is at theforefront of HSDPA development and we are working to expe-dite the commercial launch of the technology.
Will conformance testing be a problem?Conformance testing is always a challenge, but operators nowunderstand that a significant part of the solution lies with thechipset suppliers. There is an increasing level of interactionbetween the chip companies and the operators and as a result wedon’t expect HSDPA to have as many problems as UMTS. Theentire supply chain is working together and has learned fromprevious experiences to ensure a smooth launch. ■
Interview by Hamish Johnston, editor of Wireless Europe.
D e c e m b e r / J a n u a r y 2 0 0 6 wire less. iop.org w i r e l e s s e u r o p e
HSDPA delivers benefits for incremental cost
Operators are embracing HSDPA because it offers exceptional value for money, explains John Diehl, Director and General Manager of Freescale’s Platform Division.
Diehl: “HSDPA increases peak datarates by a factor of 10, but increasesthe silicon area by less than 5%.”
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With industry-leading 3G technology from TI, the wireless possibilities are endless. No wonder six of the seven leading 3G handset manufacturers use our technology in over60 3G handsets on the market today. Open and flexible hardware and software solutions
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