Introduction to 3G Systems - Information Technology - Lecture Notes, Study notes of Information Technology

Download Introduction to 3G Systems - Information Technology - Lecture Notes and more Study notes Information Technology in PDF only on Docsity! Introduction to 3G Systems The telecommunications world is changing as the trends of media convergence, industry consolidation, Internet and Internet Protocol (IP) technologies and mobile communications collide into one. Significant change will be bought about by this rapid evolution in technology, with Third Generation mobile Internet technology a radical departure from that that came before in the first and even the second generations of mobile technology. Some of the changes include: • People will look at their mobile phone as much as they hold it to their ear. As such, 3G will be less safe than previous generations- because television and other multimedia services tend to attract attention to themselves- instead of hands-free kits, we will need eyes-free kits! • Data ('non-voice') uses of 3G will be as important as and very different from the traditional voice business • Mobile communications will be similar in its capability to fixed communications, such that many people will only have a mobile phone • The mobile phone will be used as an integral part of the majority of people's lives- it will not be an added accessory but a core part of how they conduct their daily lives. The mobile phone will become akin to a remote control or magic wand that lets people do what they want when they want As with all new technology standards, there is uncertainty and the fear of displacement. Third Generation (3G) mobile is topical and contentious for several reasons: • Because the nature and form of mobile communications is so radically changed, many people do not understand how to make money in the nonvoice world, and do not understand their role in it • 3G licenses have been awarded around the world, in many cases at huge cost, necessitating that existing mobile communications companies in the 2G world think about and justify their continued existence • 3G is based on a different technology platform- Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)- that is unlike the Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) technology that is widely used in the 2G world. GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) was based on TDMA technology • The US, Japanese and European mobile players all have different technology competences and are now unified in this single standard- the separate wireless evolution paths and European wireless leadership are thereby challenged Docsity.com • Japanese network operators will be the first to implement 3G networks in the year 2001, and Japanese terminal manufacturers, who have not had much market share outside their home market, will be first with 3G terminals • Many industry analysts and other pundits have questioned the return on an investment in 3G technology- questioning whether network operators will be able to earn an adequate return on the capital deployed in acquiring and rolling out a 3G network. • Many media and Internet companies have shown a strong interest in using 3G technology as a new channel to distribute their content, opening the opportunity for new entrants and new partnerships and value chains. 2. Summary of Mobile Lifestreams' View on 3G As detailed in its full 'Yes 2 3G' report, Mobile Lifestreams believes relating to 3G: • 3G can be thought of as 2.5G services such as GPRS plus entertainment (games, video, mobile multimedia) plus new terminals. 3G brings with it significantly more bandwidth. Whereas GPRS terminals will have the same range of form factors as today's 2G phones do, many 3G terminals will be video centric. • There is a clear business case for investing in 3G for existing network operators that are facing congested 2G networks. Voice traffic over 3G networks will be the cash cow that supports and ensures the 3G business case can pay for itself. The main positive (rather than defensive) reason for mobile network operators to secure 3G network licenses is to solve capacity issues in terms of enabling far greater call capacity than today's digital mobile networks allow. • Nonvoice (data) traffic will also be huge, with new mobile multimedia applications such as mobile postcards, movies and music driving new applications and services along with corporate applications. Applications and services available through the Internet, intranet and extranet will drive the interest in and traffic on 3G networks. • Providing that network operators adopt an open model to all Internet traffic, the business case for 3G fuelled by both greater data and voice traffic is clear and Mobile Lifestreams is confident that the business case for winning and rolling out a 3G network is compelling. If the network operator insists upon a closed model in which data traffic is funneled primarily through its own in-house portal or limits access to its customers for eCommerce and other Internet services, the business case is endangered. • Third Generation technology is essential- think about the huge change that will happen in the next five years from today's rudimentary and crude text based if elegant services such as Short Message Service to moving video clips. Docsity.com 3G Air Interface Modes The proposed IMT-2000 standard for Third Generation mobile networks globally is a CDMA-based standard that encompasses THREE OPTIONAL modes of operation, each of which should be able to work over both GSM MAP and IS-41 network architectures. The three modes are: Mode Title Origin Supporters 1 IMT DSWCDMADirect Spread FDD (Frequency Division Duplex) Based on the first operational mode of ETSI's UTRA (3G Terrestrial Radio Access) RTT proposal Japan's ARIB (Association of Radio Industries and Businesses, the Japanese standards setting body) and GSM network operators and vendors.To be deployed in Japan and Europe. 2 IMT MCcdma2000Multi- Carrier FDD (Frequency Division Duplex) Based on the cdma2000 RTT proposal from the US Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA). Consists of the 1XRTT and 3XRTT components cdmaOne operators and members of the CDMA Development Group (CDG). Likely to be deployed in the USA. 3 IMT TCUTRA TDD (Time Division Duplex) The second operational mode of ETSI's UTRA (3G Terrestrial Radio Access) RTT proposal. An unpaired band solution to better facilitate indoor cordless communications.Harmonized with China's TD-SCDMA RTT proposal. Probably will be deployed in China. TABLE 2: SOURCE MOBILE LIFESTREAMS Having three different modes, one for Europe and Asia, one for Japan and one for the US is not all that different from the existing 2G situation. The main change is that Japan has joined the European GSM community and based WCDMA. As can be seen from the table above, there are several different names for each of the air interface modes, and furthermore, new names are regularly introduced! For the sake of this book, we refer to WCDMA, cdma2000 and FDD wherever possible, and refer to UWC 136 and 3G separately. In fact, strictly speaking, the final ITU recommendations for IMT-2000 stipulated five terrestrial radio interface standards when DECT (IMT FT) and EDGE (IMT SC or IWC 136) are included. EDGE and DECT will NOT be the topic of this introduction to 3G. There are three radio interface modes with two (existing) major core network standards- GSM MAP and TIA IS-41 (from Telecommunications Industry Association, a US standards setting body). The core network is the physical network infrastructure to which the radio access network is connected in a mobile network. A radio access network is the portion of a mobile network that handles subscriber access, including radio base stations and other nodes. Docsity.com 3G Data Rates The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) has laid down some indicative minimum requirements for the data speeds that the IMT-2000 standards must support. These requirements are defined according to the degree of mobility involved when the 3G call is being made. As such, the data rate that will available over 3G will depend upon the environment the call is being made in: High Mobility 144 kbps for rural outdoor mobile use. This data rate is available for environments in which the 3G user is traveling more than 120 kilometers per hour in outdoor environments. Let us hope that the 3G user is in a train and not driving along and trying to use their 3G terminal at such speeds. Full Mobility 384 kbps for pedestrian users traveling less than 120 kilometers per hour in urban outdoor environments. Limited Mobility At least 2 Mbps with low mobility (less than 10 kilometers per hour) in stationary indoor and short range outdoor environments These kinds of maximum data rates that are often talked about when illustrating the potential for 3G technology will only therefore be available in stationary indoor environments. 4. 3G Network Nodes 3G networks will require new radio and core network elements: Radio Network A new air interface is needed for 3G. This will require new Base Station Systems (BSSs). Specifically, the BSS changes needed are: The 3G radio access network will comprise a RNC (Radio Network Controller) and Node B. Radio Network Controller A Radio Network Controller (RNC) will replace the Base Station Controller. The RNC will include support for connection to legacy systems and provide efficient packet connection with the core network packet devices (SSGN or equivalent). The RNC performs radio network control functions that include call establishment and release, handover, radio resource management, power control, diversity combining and soft handover. Node B A Node B is equivalent to a Base Station in the 2G network but also incorporates support for the 3G air interfaces. Cell Planning Docsity.com New cell planning methods will be needed to support the new frequency allocations for 3G and the radio interface changes- more 3G base stations will be needed compared to the comparable 2G coverage area. This gives an advantage to GSM 1800 and 1900 network operators whose cells already cover a smaller coverage area than those for GSM 900 networks. GSM 900 network operators will need to 'fill in' coverage in between existing cell sites. Core Network The 3G core network will be an evolution from GPRS or equivalent 2.5G core network systems. GPRS nodes such as the Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN) and Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN) are described in detail in 'Data on GPRS' from Mobile Lifestreams. Upgrades to the mobile and transit switching systems to deliver packets will also be needed. A new piece of network infrastructure for 3G is Media Gateways (MGW) that resides at the boundary between different networks to process end user data such as voice coding and decoding, convert protocols and map quality of service. The connectivity layer also provides access to backbone switches and non-mobile networks such as Cable Television. In some vendor solutions, MGWs are controlled remotely by the Mobile Switching Centre (MSC) and GSN servers by means of the Gateway Control Protocol. The ITU Study Group 16 and the IETF Megaco H.248 are working to ensure the GCP is an open standard protocol. Existing network operators can then upgrade their Mobile Switching Centre (MSC) and GSNs to implement 3G OR ALTERNATIVELY to implement a new standalone MGW that is controlled from the server part of an upgraded 2G node. Backbone Network The radio network will be connected to the core network by a backbone network allowing wideband access and interconnection of subscribers. The 3G backbone network can use any transport technology but is certain to be based on packet technologies such as Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) and Internet Protocol (IP). The backbone network is built as a mesh of IP routing or ATM switching nodes interconnected by point to point links. Technologies such as IP over ATM may be used that uses ATM switching to multiplex IP traffic. This IP over ATM architecture supports voice traffic alongside IP. Many vendors prefer a 'pure' end to end IP approach whereas others (such as Fujitsu profiled below) prefer an ATM/ IP hybrid to guarantee quality of service. Alternatively, IP over SONET/ SDH is a different backbone network solution that eliminates the ATM layer by establishing point to point links between IP routers directly over SONET/ SDH rings which run over a Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) layer that enables Terabits per second (Tbits/s) of aggregate network bandwidth. Support System Changes Of course, platforms and systems such as the value added service centers, gateways, billing systems, customer service elements, Intelligent Network systems and the like will also need to be upgraded. Once again, this is likely to be an evolution from 2.5G data centric services such as GPRS where packet charging elements and so on where introduced. Docsity.com Still images such as photographs, pictures, letters, postcards, greeting cards, presentations and static web pages can be sent and received over mobile networks just as they are across fixed telephone networks. Two variables affect the usability of such applications- bandwidth and time- and they are inversely related. The faster the bandwidth, the less time is needed to transmit images, and vice versa. This is the reason why transmission of image based rather than textual information has not been a popular nonvoice mobile application until now- it takes too long given the slow data transmission speeds that were available prior to the introduction of mobile packet data. Once captured, images can then be sent directly to Internet sites, allowing near real-time desktop publishing. The size of the file for a picture depends on the resolution and type of compression. Typically each picture is between 50K and 100K in the JPEG format. This can be transmitted quickly using mobile packet data. Still image transmission is a much touted application for lower packet data services such as GPRS and beyond. Many people see still images as a killer compelling applications for GPRS. Whilst a picture paints a thousand words, and this amount of text can easily be handled by GPRS, we expect the single image to be used instead! Moving Images Sending moving images in a mobile environment has several vertical market applications including (monitor sensor triggered) monitoring parking lots or building sites for intruders or thieves, and sending images of patients from an ambulance to a hospital. Videoconferencing applications, in which teams of distributed sales people can have a regular sales meeting without having to go to a particular physical location, is another application for moving images that is similar to the document sharing/ collaborative working applications reviewed below. Skeptics argue that vertical markets don't need video and consumer s don't want it. However, with the Internet becoming a more multimedia environment, 3G will be able displaying those images and accessing web services. The transmission of moving images is one of the applications that GPRS and 3G terminal and infrastructure vendors routinely and repeatedly tout as a compelling application area that will be enabled by greater data rates. And they are not incorrect to do so. However, it must be noted that even demonstrations of one megabyte of data over the air using Microsoft NetMeeting to perform a video conference facility do not deliver smooth broadcast quality video images. However, improving compression techniques should allow acceptable quality video images to be transmitted using 64 kbps of bandwidth. Docsity.com Whilst videophones have failed to alight the public's imagination on fixed networks, this could be a function of the fact that a videophone is only as good as the number of other people who have one too. Corporations with several people with video capable mobile phones could easily hold virtual remote sales meetings between all their regional sales representatives. As such, whilst we are confident that still images such as pictures and postcards will be a significant application for GPRS, moving images may not be of high enough quality initially to elevate the communication above the medium. Users could spend all their time adjusting the size of the image on their screen and trying to work out what they are seeing. This is where 3G comes in- once again, the bandwidth uplift it enables allows for high quality image transmission over the mobile network. As such, we see all moving video and image transmission application migrating to the 3G bearer as soon as it becomes available. By the time 3G is here, full length moves could be downloadable from Internet sites. Virtual Home Environment A Universal Mobile Telephone Service (3G) service that is often mentioned in the vendor's brochures is so called Virtual Home Environment (VHE), a service that simply lets customers have seamless access with a common look and feel to their services from home, office or on the move and in any city as if they were at home. VHE is therefore aimed at roamers (a small subset of total mobile phone users). VHE could also allow some other more useful services by placing their Universal Identity Module (UIM) into ANY terminal- and those terminals could be something other than mobile devices if smart cards are more widely supported than they are today. Virtual Home Environment could hardly be described as a killer application though, especially since email and other services are increasingly available worldwide as the Internet becomes more widespread and services migrate to the Internet and can therefore be accessed from any Internet browser- with or without a smart card! In general, smart cards are hyped beyond their usefulness. They have very limited storage capability (64 K counts for being the state of the art) but are useful in switching devices (users are likely to have multiple devices in different form factors in the 3G world) and for non-mobile applications such as identification and security for mobile banking and the like. Electronic Agents Electronic agents are a technology that Mobile Lifestreams' believes will pay an important role for mobile working in the future- as agents are dispatched to carry out Docsity.com searches and tasks on the Internet and report back to their owners. This is an efficient way to get things done on the move. Electronic agents are defined as "mobile programs that go to places in the network to carry out their owners' instructions. They can be thought of as extensions of the people who dispatch them." Agents are "self-contained programs that roam communications networks delivering and receiving messages or looking for information or services." Certainly, 3G terminals will give their owners much more control over their lives than today's mobile phones. They will be eAssistants, eSecretaries, eAdvisors and eAdministrators. This kind of control is what Home Automation applications anticipate. Indeed Orange in the UK has a vision expects that within ten years, our mobiles will be waking us up, reading out our emails, ordering our groceries, telling us the best route to work, reminding us and translating our conference calls. The key question is the extent to which these processes are human initiated or computer generated and controlled and the extent to which devices can 'learn' individual preferences and act accordingly. Downloading Software In the twenty-first century, software will increasingly be downloaded electronically from the Internet rather than purchased as boxed product in stores. This is a like file transfer applications that involve downloading the software itself. You might for example need WinZip or Abode Acrobat to read a file- and can download that over the 3G network to your 3G terminal. Downloading software has several advantages because it is: • Environmentally friendly: there is no packaging to throw away or store. • Quick and convenient: downloadable products are delivered direct to your computing device. It arrives in minutes, not days. • Value for money: you pay no delivery charges. Download Times Download times vary depending on the speed of your modem and the size of the application. Typical download times vary from 10 minutes to two hours. Here are download times for a 5 Megabyte (MB) application: Connection Speed Download Time Very fast corporate type connection (e.g. T1) 30 seconds Corporate type connection (e.g. ISDN) 12 minutes Typical home modem (e.g. 28.8 modem) 104 minutes Sites such as beyond.com and Mobiledatashop.com from Mobile Lifestreams offers many software products for immediate electronic download. Additionally, the Application Service Provision (ASP) market in which software platforms and server software is being hosted by third parties and accessed by client software mimics this 'thin client' world in Docsity.com