Thursday, August 12, 2010

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AT&T on their LTE Backhaul Architecture Top
Backhaul is a topic that may be giving some operators nightmare. Picked up this slightly old article from Light reading via WirelessMoves . AT&T network architect Yiannis Argyropoulos addressed the Backhaul Strategies and Core Convergence for Mobile Operators event in New York City and had the following to say: The lines between wireless and wireline networks are blurring, as are the boundaries between access and core networks, driven by the need to carry the flood of wireless data traffic more efficiently. AT&T is aggressively deploying fiber to its mobile cell sites and migrating from Sonet to Ethernet, but more changes will be needed. AT&T started its fiber push in 2008, and it will take at least seven years to complete, said Argyropoulos. For the short term, today's metro Ethernet architecture will support LTE, but longer term, the network architecture needs to have less operational complexity, noted the AT&T man. The carrier is in the process of testing new approaches, based in part on work being done by 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) and the Broadband Forum . AT&T also is looking for coordination of policy control between its wireline and wireless networks, so that the core network services are the same for end-users, regardless of how they connect to the network. It is no longer adequate for quality-of-service to be delivered piecemeal, within different segments of the network, Argyropoulos stated: "There is a lot of work going on right now to harmonize these." The early 3GPP scheme for QoS on 3G UMTS networks was too complicated to be implemented, but newer LTE QoS plans from the 3GPP, with nine QoS classes and a smaller number of individual class attributes, look more practical. The growing volume of data traffic is having an impact on other areas of the carrier's operations, too. The widespread use of bandwidth-hungry smartphone devices is creating new traffic patterns that, among other things, eliminate traditional maintenance windows traditionally scheduled in the early hours of weekend mornings, Argyropoulos pointed out. "Data traffic peaks at the same time as voice, but it has multiple peaks, and it doesn't ever really subside," he said. That, in turn, is putting pressure on wireless network operators and their vendors to do hitless network upgrades and to build more resiliency into their networks. AT&T is looking to other means of offloading traffic, including routing optimization that will use gateways strategically placed in the network to direct traffic onto the Internet, and not carry it through the metro and core networks first. "Most of the mobile data traffic is coming from the Internet and going to the Internet." It will also be important to offload subscriber traffic generated in the home onto a domestic Internet connection, he added. To get an Idea of the mobile backhaul load, see my earlier post here . Along with Fiber, Microwave is also an option and you can read more about it in Daily Wireless blog. Also came across this blod dedicated to mobile backhaul, that is available here .
 
Tablets Prescribed for Verizon Top
 
Telecom Italia launches final round of tests on the Fourth Generation mobile Network Top
Source: Telecom Italia press release The second phase of testing on the LTE network gets underway with a series of integrated tests with leading industry technology partners. Turin city-centre cabled with 17 new 4G sites. The Ministry of Economic Development authorizes the use of two 20 MHz blocks in 2500-2690 MHz frequency band.
 
Verizon's Killian: Customers will pay a premium for LTE Top
Source: FierceWireless
 
LTE will not be a competitive differentiator, says NSN exec Top
Source: telecoms.com Consumers are unlikely to buy 4G mobile services based on speed of throughput and operators' LTE deployments will even out so quickly that LTE in itself will not be an effective competitive differentiator, according to Mark Neild, head of business transformation, Western Europe, at Nokia Siemens Networks.
 
Synopsys Adds TDD Support to LTE Model Library Top
Source: Synopsys press release Synopsys, Inc., a world leader in software and IP for semiconductor design, verification and manufacturing, today announced the availability of the Time Division Duplex (TDD) mode in its Long-term Evolution (LTE) Model Library for physical layer system simulation. The addition of the TDD mode to the proven LTE Model Library enables developers of semiconductors for LTE network equipment and devices to quickly and reliably extend their designs to support this important version of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) LTE standard.
 
Startup Challenges AlcaLu's Single-Vendor LTE Top
 
Will BT demonstrate the femtocell MVNO business case? Top
 
Mobile Device Management Evolves as OSes Multiply Top
 
Device rental as a mechanism for mitigating roaming rip-offs Top
I had a meeting in a London hotel this morning, and saw a leaflet from this company at the concierge's desk. It was titled "Free Unlimited Internet - Rent an iPhone 3GS", with rates at between £12 and £18 per day, including £5 of outbound calling credit. The devices come pre-loaded with the London Lonely Planet and assorted other useful apps. It follows on from another article I read recently about MiFi rental (£19 for 3 days), with the device sent to your hotel. Both of these are welcome examples of a concerted push-back against the still-ridiculous prices for mobile data roaming (and of course the continued premium for roaming voice). It is ridiculous that in many places, data roaming still fails my "taxi test" - Can you walk from point A to point B across a city, using Google Maps on your phone, with the data costs lower than the price of just jumping in a cab instead? It still astonishes me that mobile operators can, on one hand, profess to being interested in "customer advocacy" to drive "loyalty", while on the other, they will blatantly charge roaming fees so egregious that they constitute contempt for their own customers. (Or, by proxy, charging ridiculous wholesale rates for inbound users, so their home operators have little choice but to scalp them in turn). Over time, I expect these type of arbitrage opportunities to proliferate - easier-to-obtain SIMs (perhaps pre-registered by your hotel, as they have your ID and passport details). Cheap Android or other smartphones provided by the tourist agency or local stores. Clever call-forwarding options for voice, and so on. I've been expecting the operators themselves to start developing more intelligent, transaction-based deals ("One week & 1GB for 15 Euros") to address this latent need, but thus far they've abdicated that marketspace. I expect to see a thriving community of service providers such as the ones I've mentioned to fill the gap - although it wouldn't surprise me if Google or Nokia decided to consolidate the space and offer an international managed-service version of this themselves. In a way it's ridiculous, but I could easily see myself renting a second iPhone or MiFi when I travel, and switching off the roaming on my normal one. I'm sure I won't be alone.
 
Scanbuy's New CEO Talks Mobile Bar Codes Top
 
Ericsson Presentation: Cognitive radio in Europe Top
Cognitive radio in Europe [John Holland] View more presentations from Keith .
 
Grab-A-Phone for 29 Euros Top
Every now and then I see something that reminds me in an impressive way of how quickly the mobile industry is changing. Not too long ago, even electronic stores sold mobile phones (the word 'phone' used intentionally here) in a way where you would have to ask an assistant to give you the box of a phone you wanted to buy out of a locked shelf. Usually the store had a couple or a few dozen of each model in stock. These days are over. Take a look at the picture on the right (click on it to enlarge). Low end phones are sold from the rummage table now. Just take a box for 29 euros and stick in a SIM card of your choice inside. Even higher priced touch phones up to about 110 Euros were sold in the store this way. Incredible, I think the word 'mass market' is not quite adequate anymore to describe how pervasive mobile communication has become in everyday life now.
 
T-Mobile Looks to Lag in Offering 4G Service Top
Source: BusinessWeek As AT&T and Verizon prepare fourth-generation LTE networks, the Deutsche Telekom unit says it can rely for now on its HSPA+ 3G technology.
 
Avago Technologies' ACMD-6007 is Industry's First 4G/LTE Band 7 Duplexer Top
Source: Avago Technologies press release Avago Technologies, a leading supplier of analog interface components for communications, industrial and consumer applications, today announced the industry's first 4G/LTE Band 7 duplexer1 to its growing line of high isolation, 2 x 2.5 mm Film Bulk Acoustic Resonator (FBAR) duplexers for mobile handsets and data terminals. This FBAR duplexer will allow manufacturers to build handsets for the emerging 4G/LTE standard that are optimized for quality of voice service and battery life.
 
Siterra Supports LightSquared's Nationwide LTE Network Rollout Top
Source: BusinessWire Siterra, the leading provider of web-based software designed to manage the complete lifecycle of wireless network sites today announced that the company's flagship product – Siterra+ – was chosen by LightSquared to manage the deployment, installation, operation and maintenance of LightSquared's new 4G LTE network.
 
Google's New Slogan: 'Don't be Naive' Top
 
T-Mobile's HSPA+ Rivals Clearwire, US LTE Speeds Top
 
Femtocell-enabled home energy management solution Top
ip.access and AlertMe.com have created a demonstration showing how femtocells can be integrated into smart home energy management solutions . With femtocell integration, the AlertMe Energy service can automatically detect when phones enter or leave the house and can therefore power down lights, televisions and other home appliances automatically when the house is empty. The femtocell powered service also enables mobile phones to control electrical devices in different parts of the house using a series of commands and automatic triggers. Tagged: AlertMe , Femtocell , femtocells , ip.access , smart home energy management
 
'Femtocells' or 'Small cells' ? Top
Recently, while browsing, I ended up on Wilson Street . I have been noticing it since earlier this year that Alcatel-Lucent have rebranded their Femtocells as Small-cells. I have blogged earlier about Femtocell variations but the term 'small cell' could be used to cover different sizes and capacity of cells. Here are some interesting things i found from a recent ABI research blog : Indoor residential grade Femtocells have an output power of 10mW-100mW. Enterprise grade or Metro femtocells have an output power of 200-300mW. Rural femtocells (a.k.a. Super Femtocells, Greater Femtocells ) 200mW-1W. Some people refer to them as picocells as well . Compact base stations use femtocell silicon efficiencies and multi-core chipset platforms to build a base station on a SoC - but are meant to be higher output power base stations (1W and higher). Compact base stations are scalable platforms, which can fit into picocell, microcell or even macrocell form factors. The emergence of compact base station can be traced to the need for multifrequency, multimode, low power consumption, low-cost, pizza-box type base station platforms that can de deployed within different site classifications especially in metro metrozone overlays. The capacity crunch in networks is likely to drive operators to deploy compact base stations as in-fills initially with compact base stations being a part of future network blueprints. Current microcell or macrocell platforms are too bulky or costly to deploy in clusters and in large numbers. Compact base stations are also meant to take advantage of backhaul relay techniques making it easier to deploy in small clusters. Small cells on the other hand could be the umbrella under which compact base stations (portion of), picocells, microcells, residential, enterprise, rural/metro femtocells exist. We are already seeing vendors like Alcatel Lucent change their marketing message from femtocells to 'small cells' covering a wider range of products and deployment types. They have also included features like SON and value-added applications into the small cell base category. To avoid confusing the end users who are just interested in better coverage and data rates, it would make sense to brand the Femtocell as something approprite (like Vodafone has done for Sure Signal ). Small cells do sound good too.
 

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