Topic 6

X OVERVIEW
In this topic, details of third generation (3G) wireless communication systems

will be discussed. This topic consists of three sections.

The first section discusses:
1. characteristics and standardization of 3G systems;
2. evolving from 2G to 3G systems;
3. International Mobile Telecommunications 2000 (IMT-2000); and
4. Universal Mobile Telecommunications Systems (UMTS).

The second section identifies opportunities and challenges of 3G systems.
Specific applications of 3G systems, such as 3G personal services, mobile
commerce and wireless Internet are discussed in this section.

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LEARNING OUTCOMES
After completing this topic, students should be able to:
1. Identify the characteristics and standardization of 3G wireless
systems.
2. Describe the evolution from 2G to 3G systems.
3. Justify opportunities and challenges of 3G wireless systems.
4. Illustrate the development of 3G wireless communication systems
in the Asia-Pacific region.
X
3G Wireless
Communications
TOPIC 6 3G WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS W 135
The final section of the topic illustrates the developments and field trial results of
3G systems. Particular reference will be made to Hong Kong, Japan, Australia,
and China.

As in previous topics, you will be asked to read a number of online readings and
activities. It should be noted that these readings and activities are essential for
this course and you should not skip them.
X INTRODUCTION
We have discussed in previous topics that there has been an exponential increase
in the growth of mobile and Internet services in the past ten years. According to a
recent prediction by the UMTS Forum as shown in Figure 6.1, the very strong
growth in mobile users will continue. It is also predicted that there will be about
3 billion mobile users by the Year 2015 and that future mobile growth will be
predominantly in Asia and the developing countries.

Figure 6.1 Predicted growth of mobile users
[Source: UMTS Forum]

We have mentioned earlier in other topic that frequency spectrum is a scarce
resource and spectrally-efficient systems are required to cope with the
exponential growth in the demand of system capacity. In the 1992 World Radio
Conference (WRC92), additional frequency spectrum in around the 2000 MHz
band was allocated to the FPLMTS (Future Public Land Mobile
X TOPIC 6 3G WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS 136
Telecommunications Systems). The FPLMTS is currently known as IMT-2000
(International Mobile Telecommunications 2000) and commonly referred to as
the third generation (3G) system. 3G is the future generation of wireless systems
that provides enhanced multimedia capability to users. Details of 3G systems
are discussed in this topic.
THIRD GENERATION (3G) WIRELESS
COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS
Wireless communication systems can be broadly classified into 1G, 2G and 3G.
All analogue cellular phones are considered to be 1G systems. The use of digital
technologies in 2G systems dramatically improves the quality and security of the
systems. In addition to the use of digital technologies, 3G systems also provide
enhanced multimedia services to users.
Characteristics of 3G systems
The ITU summarizes the characteristics of 3G systems in the following
paragraphs, which is reprinted from the ITUs web page.

The characteristics of the third-generation handsets will mainly consist of three
points: a very high bit rate, enhanced communications and multimedia enabled.
Third-generation mobile communication will provide the mass-market with:
high quality, efficient, and easy-to-use wireless mobile multimedia services.

Third-generation systems will provide support for:
high data rates: (minimum) 144 kbit/s in all radio environments and 2 Mbit/s
in low-mobility and indoor environments.
symmetrical and asymmetrical data transmission. In fact, the data rate isnt
the same, and doesnt have to be, when transmitting information from a
server to a terminal or from a terminal to a server.
circuit-switched and packet-switched services, such as Internet Protocol (IP)
traffic and real-time video.
good voice quality (comparable to wire-line quality).
greater capacity and improved spectrum efficiency.
several simultaneous services to end-users and terminals, for multimedia
services.
the seamless incorporation of second-generation cellular systems, in order not
to have any discontinuity between the second- and the third-generation
systems.
global, i.e. international roaming, between different IMT-2000 operational
environments.
economies of sale and an open global standard that meet the needs of the
mass market.
Source: International Telecommunications Union, http://www.itu.int/imt
/what_is/3rdgen/index.html>

The ITU vision of global wireless access in the 21st century is shown in Figure
6.2. International Mobile Telecommunications 2000 (IMT-2000) is the 3G system
that will be discussed in more detail later in this . However, it can be seen that in-
building, urban, suburban and global coverage are covered by picocell, microcell,
macrocell, and satellite, respectively.

Figure 6.2: The ITU vision of global wireless access in the 21st century
[Source: <http://www.itu.int/imt/what_is/imt/]

To support enhanced multimedia services, the outlook of 3G phones is different
from that of 2G phones. For example, 3G phones should:
provide a large colourful screen with touch screen facility
have a built-in video camera
have the ability to access the Internet
be lightweight with long battery life, etc.

Some concept phones proposed by a leading mobile phone manufacturer are
shown in Figure 6.3.

Figure 6.3 Concept phones for 3G services
[Source: <http://www.nokia.com>]

Having seen the advantages and some applications of 3G systems, we are now going
to discuss the standardization of 3G systems and the pathway from 2G to 3G.
Standardization of 3G systems
As mentioned earlier in other topic, 3G systems will provide the potential for a
whole range of mobile multimedia services, such as Web surfing, access to
corporate LANs and Intranets, and financial transactions from a mobile terminal.
To provide global compatibility of mobile terminals, standardization of 3G
systems is an important topic in deploying 3G systems and services.

1. Explain why 3G is said to be the most important revolution
since the industrial revolution; and
2. Explain what 3G is going to mean for a user.
SELF-TEST 6.1
It has been discussed quite a number of times that all existing cellular systems
are 2G (or 2.5G) systems. The three most important 2G systems are:
GSM (widely adopted throughout the world)
TDMA/IS-136 (mainly adopted in North America)
cdmaOne/IS-95 (mainly adopted in North America and some Asian
countries).
Since there already exist a huge number of 2G users, a smooth transition from 2G
systems to 3G systems is absolutely required. To ensure such a smooth transition,
a roadmap has been defined by the ITU, as shown in Figure 6.4.

Figure 6.4 Roadmap from 2G to 3G
[Source: <http://www.itu.int/imt/what_is/roadto/index.html>]

It can been seen from Figure 6.4 that six organizations are involved in the
standardization of 2G systems.

For GSM, the GSM Association (<http://www.gsmworld.com>) and ETSI (The
European Telecommunications Standards Institute, <http://www.etsi.org>) are
involved.

For TDMA/IS-136, UWCC (The Universal Wireless Communications
Consortium, <http://www.uwcc.org>) and T1 (Committee T1, <http://
www.t1.org>) are involved.

For cdmaOne (IS-95), CDG (CDMA Development Group,
<http://www.cdg.org>) and TIA (the Telecommunications Industry Association,
<http://www.tiaonline.org>) are involved.
Figure 6.4 also illustrates three leading 3G network proposals, namely:
W-CDMA (Wideband Code-Division Multiple Access)
UWC-136 (Universal Wireless Communications 136)
cdma2000 (cdma2000 is a TIA standard for 3G technology that is an
evolutionary outgrowth of cdmaOne).

Major organizations that are responsible for standardizing these proposals
include:
3GPP (The 3G Partnership Project, <http://www.3gpp.org>) for W-CDMA;
3GPP2 (The 3G Partnership Project 2, <http://www.3gpp2.org>) for
cdma2000; and
UWCC for UWC-136.

3GPP and 3GPP2
Information about 3GPP and 3GPP2 can be downloaded from
<http://www.3gpp2.org/text/background.cfm>, which is reprinted below.

Background:
Third-generation (3G) wireless technology is of great interest to the
telecommunications industry and 15 contributions were submitted by the June
30, 1998 deadline to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) for
proposed radio transmission technologies (RTTs) under the International Mobile
Telecommunications 2000 (IMT-2000) process. Concurrent with the ITU process,
TIA has been addressing domestic issues associated with 3G technologies
through two major efforts: TIA has become an active proponent of the Third-
Generation Partnership Project number 2 (3GPP 2); and TIA also is urging
convergence of technology through its 3G ad hoc group under the Wireless
Communications Division.

3GPP 2 is an effort spearheaded by the International Committee of the American
National Standards Institutes (ANSI) board of directors to establish a 3G
Partnership Project (3GPP) for evolved ANSI/TIA/EIA-41, Cellular
Radiotelecommunication Intersystem Operations networks and related RTTs.
The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) initiated the
concept for a 3GPP at the beginning of 1998. ETSI approached TIA and
Committee T1, sponsored by the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry
Solutions (ATIS), in March of this year with an initial proposal to join the 3GPP
effort.

Members of the ANSI board were concerned that the ETSI proposal was too
limiting, and as a result, established a 3G ad hoc committee to examine how all
standards development organizations (SDOs) could be involved. In June, a
meeting was held between this ANSI ad hoc group and a delegation from ETSI in
Seattle to further discuss how the 3GPP could accommodate all industry
participants. The original ETSI proposal focused on global system for mobile
(GSM) communications technology. After a July 10 follow-up meeting in London,
ETSI announced its unwillingness to include other non-GSM technologies in its
proposal. As a result, the ANSI ad hoc group recommended a similar proposal
for the creation of 3GPP 2 and then presented it to TIAs Wireless
Communications Division 3G ad hoc group. The 3GPP 2 proposal was presented
to a larger audience in August, and the position was refined.

It was decided that ANSIs ad hoc committee needed to present the 3GPP 2
proposal to both TIAs and Committee T1s standards-formulating groups and to
other regional SDOs. A presentation and explanation of the 3GPP 2 proposal was
made by the ANSI ad hoc delegation to the Telecommunication Technology
Committee (TTC) and the Association of Radio Industries and Business (ARIB) in
Japan and the Telecommunications Technology Association (TTA) in Korea,
September 13.

Both Japan and Korea SDOs were receptive to the proposal and announced that
they will consider joining the effort. In early September, TR-45, Mobile and
Personal Communications Committee, reviewed the presentation and decided to
endorse TIAs involvement in the effort. Subsequently, TIA and ANSI met with
ETSI on September 25 and presented its proposal for 3GPP 2.

The 3GPP proposal, originally presented by ETSI to Committee T1 and TIA and
other national SDOs, encourages the development of a joint technical committee
at the international level which would handle pre-ITU and interregional
specification work for IMT-2000 RTTs and related network specifications.

ANSIs response to the ETSI proposal was the creation of the 3G partnership as a
multilateral collaboration among national and regional SDOs to facilitate the
development of globally applicable technical specifications for 3G mobile
systems based on the evolution of the two globally deployed mobile
architectures: GSM/Mobile Application Part (GSM/MAP) and ANSI/TIA/EIA-
41. The work is to be accomplished cooperatively to facilitate the development of
timely ITU IMT-2000 recommendations.

This cooperation may result in either complete specifications or in agreed
technical elements, which the participating SDOs may submit to the ITU through
their normal national or regional processes. This latter form of cooperation builds
on the agreements and history of pre-ITU standardization cooperation in the
development of network recommendations on signalling, transmission and
maintenance subjects fostered by the Global Standards Collaboration (GSC) and
has been expanded on in GSC and Radio STandardizaion (RAST) agreements
and resolutions among many of the Participating Standards Organizations now
discussing the formation of 3GPs.

Participating SDOs will have the right to submit 3GP technical specifications for
approval and publication as standards, or parts of standards within their home
national or regional processes. The partnership is a new way of working among
the existing organizations. It addresses the industrys need to produce globally
applicable specifications without altering the national or regional scope of
existing standards organizations.

The proposed 3G partnership is structured into two projects:
x 1.3GPP 1: Global specifications for GSM/MAP network evolution to 3G and
the UTRA RTT.
x 2.3GPP 2: Global specifications for ANSI/TIA/EIA-41 network evolution to
3G and global specifications for the RTTs supported by ANSI/TIA/EIA-41.

Additionally, it is recognized that related work spanning the two families is
being undertaken outside of the partnership projects:

Harmonization and consolidation of similar wideband code division multiple
access air interface specifications as pre-standardization work to feed into ITU
Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) Study Group (SG) 8 Task Group (TG) 8/1;
and Network-network interface specifications The 3GP will support the
resolutions of the May 1998 GSC ad hoc meeting with ITU-Telecommunication
Sector (ITU-T) SG11 on IMT-2000 calling for collaboration in the area of
networking 3G mobile systems. However, it is expected that the actual
specification will be developed in ITU-T SG11.

ANSI initially proposed the establishment of one 3GPP as an overall umbrella
activity, but the ANSI 3G ad hoc recognized that ETSI has led global discussions
for work focused on item 1 above. TIA in the United States is the home
organization for ANSI/TIA/EIA-41, and TIA has already moved to open global
discussions focused on item 2. Even if not done under a single organizational
structure, these two efforts have agreed to cooperate in the development and
support of the technical objectives in the above bulleted items and have similar
operating procedures so future convergence of work activities is facilitated.

The ANSI group believes the definition of 3GP rules and procedures, whether
through one organizational structure or two independent but interconnected
activities among many of the same participants, should be developed with
agreement of all participating SDOs. These rules and procedures should address
the development of specifications and of other candidate input to the ITU for the
four work areas defined above. In a separate document, the ANSI 3G ad hoc
group provided its suggested additions and modifications to the procedural
framework suggested by ETSI. This procedural framework includes clarification
of voting procedures, information-sharing rules, common criteria for evaluation
of resultant specifications, intellectual property rights, etc.

3G Ad Hoc Group
The TIA WCD 3G ad hoc group has met frequently since the board of directors
approved it to continue to facilitate harmonization of technologies in the United
States. The 3G ad hoc group has three task groups: TG 1, Harmonization; TG 2,
Government Partnership; and TG 3, Spectrum Issues. TG 1 continues to identify
potential areas of harmonization for 3G by examining the output documents of
the standards-formulating groups. TG 2 had a successful first meeting in which
representatives from seven government agencies attended and agreed to bring
their questions about 3G to the group. TG 3 is developing a position on how the
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) could provide additional spectrum
for IMT-2000. Additionally, TG 3 will provide input to the FCC on how new
spectrum could be allocated in the future for 3G use.

[Source: <http://www.3gpp2.org/text/background.cfm>]

In addition to the above brief introduction to 3GPP and 3GPP2, online
Powerpoint (viewer can be downloaded from Microsoft at
<http://www.microsoft.com/downloads>) presentations on the operation of
3GPP and 3GPP2 are available for downloading. When you study the
presentations, pay particular attention to the following items:
definition, scope, and characteristics;
contributions to the ITU;
internal structure; and
responsibilities of 3GPP and 3GPP2.

In addition to 3GPP and 3GPP2, brief information and objectives about UWCC
can be downloaded from UWCC.

About UWCC
The Universal Wireless Communications Consortium (UWCC), founded in 1996,
is a Bellevue, Washington-based international consortium of more than 100
wireless carriers and vendors supporting the TDMA-EDGE & WIN technology
standards. TDMA-EDGE network operators currently serve over 65 million
TDMA-EDGE and Analogue subscribers within their networks. The TDMA-
EDGE Taking Wireless Beyond the Call technology brand (Time Division
Multiple Access - Enhanced Data Rates For Global Evolution) represents not only
second generation enhanced services but also 3G compliant high-speed wireless
data and Internet access technology to be available any time, anywhere.

The purpose of this cooperative, non-profit organization is to promote TDMA-
EDGE & WIN as an integrated global wireless communications technology,
providing operators and subscribers with a flexible, compatible service that can
evolve into additional enhanced voice and data services.

Members of UWCC are working to deliver an enhanced portfolio of global
mobility services across all spectral, market, and subscriber bands. Member
companies serve customers worldwide and have the proven capability and
experience to offer expert assistance to new operators and subscribers in the
development and deployment of wireless services.

[Source: <http://www.uwcc.org/about/about_index.html>]

UWCC Objectives
Dedicated to providing the best global wireless communications service to
operators and consumers, UWCC is focused on the following objectives:
To develop standards for enhanced TDMA-EDGE & WIN services;
To create partnerships for providing anywhere, anytime products and
services;
To promote the global deployment of TDMA-EDGE & WIN products and
services;
To expedite TDMA-EDGE & WIN technologies worldwide;
To stimulate the global growth of TDMA-EDGE & WIN use and optimize
terminal costs; and
To provide products and information that spur global conversion to TDMA-
EDGE & WIN.
[Source:<http://www.uwcc.org/about/objectives.html>]

Having discussed the organizations that are responsible for standardizing the 3G
standards, we are going to discuss the evolution from 2G to 3G.

Evolving from 2G to 3G
As already mentioned in the previous section, GSM, IS-136 and IS-95 are the
three dominant 2G standards. Since both GSM and IS-136 employ TDMA
technology and IS-136 employs CDMA technology, GSM and IS-136 are grouped
together as TDMA systems and IS-95 is treated as a CDMA system.

Now, lets read a technical article on the cdma2000 and W-CDMA networks. In
the following article, five sections are discussed, which include:
an overview of packet mode data transfer in cellular networks
GSM GPRS and IS-95B cellular networks
architecture and protocol layers in two leading third-generation cellular
network proposals, cdma2000 and W-CDMA
mobile IP support in various cellular networks.

In the following sections, IMT-2000 and UMTS will be introduced.
Read the article Packet mode in wireless networks: overview of
transition to third generation, IEEE Communications Magazine,
September 2000: 164172.
After you have read the article, complete the following self-test before
proceeding to the next section.
READING 6.1
1. Explain the two steps in the evolution to higher data rates and
more advanced services to be supported in the near future.
2. What is the main difference between IS-95B and IS-95A? Hence,
what are the leading advantages?
SELF-TEST 6.2
IMT-2000 and UMTS
According to the ITU, International Mobile Telecommunications 2000 (IMT-2000)
are 3G mobile systems which are scheduled around the year 2000. Details of the
ITU are covered in other earlier topic, which will not be repeated here. The
Universal Mobile Telecommunications Systems (UMTS), on the other hand, is a
member of the IMT-2000 family of 3G systems. The UMTS Forum is responsible
for the standardization of the UMTS. A short introduction to the UMTS Forum
can be downloaded from the UMTS Forum, which is reprinted below:

The UMTS Forum is an international and independent body, uniquely
committed through the building of cross-industry consensus to the successful
introduction and development of UMTS/IMT-2000 third generation mobile
communications systems.

Uniquely focused on the delivery of market-focused recommendations and
creating an environment for the successful commercial realization of
UMTS/IMT-2000 globally, the Forum is engaged in a wide range of activities to
increase awareness and understanding of third generation opportunities and
issues.

Established in 1996, The UMTS Forum is a non-profit making global organization
that currently has 250 member organizations drawn from the mobile operator,
supplier, regulatory, consultant, IT and media/content communities.

The UMTS Forum works as a catalyst with other specialist organizations to
examine issues such as technical standards, spectrum, market demand, business
opportunities, terminal equipment circulation and convergence between the
mobile communications and computing industries. We enjoy links with other
established worldwide and regional organizations, standards bodies and
recognized operator and industry communities including: ITU, GSM Association,
GSA, UWCC, 3GPP (and its constituent Standards Development Organisations
ETSI, ARIB, T1, TTA, TTC and CWTS), IPv6 Forum, CEPT and ETNO.

As a member of the UMTS Forum, you can become a key player in realizing the
vision of tomorrows wireless Information Society. By joining 250 organizations
of 40 countries from all continents, as an active member of the UMTS Forum you
can enjoy these unique benefits:
Be a participant not an observer with a unique perspective and insight
into UMTS 3G mobile issues
Share new learnings and dialogue with industry leaders
Leverage alliances with leading trade, regulatory and technical bodies
Capitalise on tomorrows global mobile market opportunity
Contribute to extend the UMTS vision

[Source: <http://www.umts-forum.org/who_are_we.html>]

A brochure that introduces the UMTS Forum can be downloaded from its
homepage.

Having been given an introduction to the UMTS Forum, lets read a concise
article about the IMT-2000, which can be downloaded from the ITU homepage.
When you read the article, pay more attention to the history, standardization and
harmonization of IMT-2000.

After reading the above presentation, watch the short video on IMT-2000 from
ITU.

The UMTS will be discussed in the following sections. A short introduction to
UMTS can be downloaded from <http://www.umts-forum.org/what_is_umts.
html>, which is reprinted below:
What is UMTS?
UMTS stands for Universal Mobile Telecommunications System

UMTS is a part of the International Telecommunications Unions IMT-2000
vision of a global family of third-generation (3G) mobile communications
systems.
Read the brochure produced by the UMTS Forum, which can be
downloaded from: <http://www.umts-forum.org/brochures/
UMTS.pdf>
READING 6.2
Read the presentation IMT-2000 standardization, presented at
Telecom99, which can be downloaded from: <http://www.itu.int/
imt/imt2kstd.doc>
READING 6.3
UMTS will play a key role in creating the future mass market for high-quality
wireless multimedia communications that will approach 2 billion users
worldwide by the year 2010.
Why UMTS?
UMTS will enable tomorrows wireless Information Society, delivering high-
value broadband information, commerce and entertainment services to mobile
users via fixed, wireless and satellite networks.

UMTS will speed convergence between telecommunications, IT, media and
content industries to deliver new services and create fresh revenue-generating
opportunities UMTS will deliver low-cost, high-capacity mobile communications
offering data rates up to 2Mbit/sec with global roaming and other advanced
capabilities.
When UMTS?
UMTS services will launch commercially from 2001

UMTS licenses have already been awarded in several European countries

UMTS experimental systems are now in field trial with leading vendors
worldwide
How UMTS?
UMTS builds on todays significant investments in second generation mobile
systems

UMTS has the support of several hundred network operators, manufacturers and
equipment vendors worldwide

UMTS is one of the major new third generation mobile communications systems
being developed within the framework which has been defined by the ITU and
known as IMT-2000.

The subject of intense worldwide efforts on research and development
throughout the present decade, UMTS has the support of many major
telecommunications operators and manufacturers because it represents a unique
opportunity to create a mass market for highly personalized and user-friendly
mobile access to tomorrows Information Society.

UMTS will deliver pictures, graphics, video communications and other wide-
band information as well as voice and data, direct to people who can be on the
move. UMTS will build on and extend the capability of todays mobile
technologies (like digital cellular and cordless) by providing increased capacity,
data capability and a far greater range of services using an innovative radio
access scheme and an enhanced, evolving core network.

The launch of UMTS services from the year 2001 will see the evolution of a new,
open communications universe, with players from many sectors (including
providers of information and entertainment services) coming together
harmoniously to deliver new communications services, characterized by mobility
and advanced multimedia capabilities. The successful deployment of UMTS will
require new technologies, new partnerships and the addressing of many
commercial and regulatory issues. The UMTS Forum is at the heart of all these
issues, and encourages you to join us as an active participant in making the
Information Society of tomorrow a reality.

[Source: <http://www.umts-forum.org/what_is_umts.html>]

After this brief introduction to the UMTS Forum, read the following detailed
report produced by the UMTS Forum on The path towards UMTS. It is a
concise and informative report that covers the wide breadth of UMTS technology
rather than dealing in details. Three major areas are covered in this report:
aspects of how the technology benefits the user, the community, the
providers and the industry
the steps and time-scales for introducing the UMTS technology
technologies that will be essential for UMTS at its introduction and those
which are likely to be required for its continuing evolution.

Read the 19 page report, The path towards UMTS technologies
for the information society, produced by the UMTS Forum:
<http://www.umts-forum.org/reports/report2.doc> OR
<http://www.umts-forum.org/reports/report2.pdf>
READING 6.4
After you have read the article, complete the following self-test.

The introduction to 3G systems is now complete. In the next section,
opportunities and challenges of 3G systems will be identified.
OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES OF 3G
SYSTEMS
Opportunities of 3G systems
At the beginning of this topic, we briefly discussed the prediction on the growth
of the cellular market made by the UMTS Forum. The ITU also made a similar
prediction on the growth of the cellular market (as shown in Figure 6.5). If we
compare Figure 6.1 and Figure 6.5, it is easy to notice that both predictions are
close to each other, which means strong growth is expected in the next ten years.

Figure 6.5: Growth of the cellular market.
[Source: <http://www.itu.int>]

What does UMTS offer to users?
SELF-TEST 6.3
In addition to the growth of the cellular market, the ITU also made predictions
on the growth of the fixed market. Results are shown in Figure 6.6.

Figure 6.6: The growth of fixed and mobile terminals

It can be seen from Figure 6.6 that the number of mobile terminals is predicted to
exceed the number of fixed terminals by the Year 2010.

Now, lets move to the opportunities of 3G systems. Since the data rate in 3G
systems can be boosted up to 2 Mbps in a picocell environment, traditional
applications that can only be supported by a wired system can now be
implemented in a wireless environment.

Finally, lets read about the animated 3G personal services provided by Nokia.

Marks experience
Mark is a busy man, travelling from place to place for both business and
pleasure. His company is trying to get established in the Far East, and so he
spends a lot of time in China and at headquarters in Europe. News and financial
information are a priority for him, as is staying in touch with his wife and kids
when hes on the other side of the world.

http://www.nokia.com/3g/mark.html

Tiannings experience
Thirty years old and currently tending a bar in Hong Kong, Tianning has just
returned from Canada, where he lived for three years teaching Chinese. Always
up for adventure, Tianning doesnt stay put in anywhere for long. He needs his
3G terminal to keep in touch with his large group of friends around the world
and to keep up on his favourite sports: football and ice hockey.

<http://www.nokia.com/3g/tianning.html>

Hannas experience
Hanna spends most of her time with books and lecture notes as she tries to finish
up law school at Australian National University. Her 3G terminal comes in
handy when she needs to reserve a book from the library or pay for photocopies.
She is applying for internships and uses her terminal to keep track of her
schedule and cheap student flights to Hawaii, where her boyfriend lives.

<http://www.nokia.com/3g/hanna.html>

Lauras experience
Laura is both a fun-loving teenager and a dedicated figure skater. Although she
doesnt have a lot of free time, she makes the most of it with her 3G terminal,
making dates with friends, listening to the latest pop music, and even using it to
help with her homework.

<http://www.nokia.com/3g/laura.html>

[Source: <http://www.nokia.com/3g>]

After a number of video clips and computer animated graphics, the two most
important applications for 3G services, namely mobile commerce and wireless
Internet, are now discussed in the following sections.

Mobile commerce
Mobile commerce means being able to pay for goods, services or information
with a mobile terminal (e.g., a mobile phone, PDA, , etc.). The mobile phone is
a uniquely powerful distribution channel, available anytime, anywhere, in the
palm of the consumers hand. With high-speed and secure wireless
communication protocols, mobile commerce applications have become much
easier to implement and to use. It is believed that consumers who use mobile
commerce applications will come to value their mobile phone as much as they do
their wallets today.

Now, lets read a concise document about mobile commerce from CNET. The
document consists of four html files, which can be downloaded from CNET.

Mobile commerce: Brave new wallet
By Juniper Foo
June 18, 1999

Those days of being labeled beng for wearing a cellular on your hip or back
pocket are now lost in the mist of antiquity.

The buzz phrase, have mobile, will transact, sums up the prevailing sentiment
over a growing sector that is fast gaining currency with customers, telecom
operators and content providers. Remember Citibank and Motorolas mobile
banking promotion a while ago? Baby steps.

What Logica, a major global player in the wireless arena, calls the mobile
commerce revolution, will see calls being paid with electronic cash held in the
phone; loyalty points being displayed on your handphone screen as these are
being awarded; bank systems automatically downloading the latest account
information overnight onto your phone

In the wireless utopia, you can kiss goodbye to long queues as public transport
tickets get delivered electronically into your mobile on request. Once in the
phone, your e-ticket will be read by smart card ticket barriers. Simply swipe
your handphone across a card reader, and youre off to destination X.

Logica has forecast a massive growth across Europe in mobile commerce by the
year 2000. It also predicts that within three years, the delivery of e-commerce
capability into the hands of users (literally and figuratively), using wireless
technology, will reach 5.1 million Europeans. It is estimated that they will by
then be spending a cool 2.7 billion per year through mobile services.

Mobile commerce is already twining its vines tightly into Asia where we appear
to value our mobile as much as we do our wallets. And the twain shall surely
meet in the coming m-commerce revolution.

CNET Asia cornered Robert Leonardi, principal consultant and eBusiness creator
for Logica, and inventor of the worlds first secure mobile payment system for
mobile banking, the MobilSmart.

His latest innovation, Application Smart Card, has just been specified, which
allows customers to have different applications on separate smart cards to use for
the second slot of a dual-slot mobile phone.

In town recently, he gives answers to mobile commerce, its challenges and
concerns, and where it is heading in the new e-commerce playground.

[Source: <http://singapore.cnet.com/Ebusiness/Ecommerce/Mcommerce/index.
html>]

The new wireless age

This may sound like a stupid Q. But what exactly is m-commerce?
Mobile commerce is wireless e-commerce. It can be done with just a mobile
phone, a PDA connected to a mobile phone or even a portable PC connected to a
mobile phone.

Mobile commerce is the delivery of electronic commerce capabilities directly into
the consumers hand, anywhere, via wireless technology and putting a retail
outlet in the customers handanywhere.

I usually say that mobile commerce means that for the first time you can reach
the consumer directly; not his fax machine, his desk, his secretary or his mailbox,
but your consumer, regardless of where he is.

Everyone talks about e-commerce whenever the Net is brought up. So when did the
phrase mobile commerce suddenly creep into the vocabulary. Who coined it?

The phrase was coined by Kevin Duffey, Logicas Group Telecom director, in
February 1997. It has since gained much momentum. Logica formed and is
working with the Global Mobile Commerce Forum towards making mobile
commerce an open standard that is freely available to application developers.

How do we know that m-commerce will deliver? And what does Duffey mean
when he said m-commerce will help e-commerce become a reality. Isnt
e-commerce already a reality?

Mobile commerce makes it possible for your customers to reach you wherever
they are and whenever they need your services, whereas Internet commerce
demands that you are attached to your desk. M-commerce lets you purchase, do
banking, download cash or tickets when you need them wherever you are,
simply by using a mobile phone.

Yes e-commerce is a reality although its still in its early stages. Mobile commerce
is part of e-commerce, just user-friendlier. In almost all countries the penetration
of mobile phones is much larger than the penetration of Internet access. Many
people dont use a PC outside the office but keep their mobile phones by their
side at all times. Mobile commerce is perfect for this group.

Are there market figures to show how large this sector will eventually grow to
be?

In Europe we have estimated the market size of five million mobile commerce
customers by the year 2000. By 2002, Logicas goal is to serve 5 percent of
humanity, globally, with m-commerce.

[Source: <http://singapore.cnet.com/Ebusiness/Ecommerce/Mcommerce/ss01.
html>]

Measuring your wallets IQ

Are there any m-commerce applications currently in use?
The first mobile banking service started in Finland in 1993, in which customers
could perform banking transactions over GSM via text messages.

Postgirot Bank in Sweden presented in September 1997 their solution called
MobilSmart, which I invented. The SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) of a
customers GSM phone secured real transactions from the users bank account to
any other account at any Swedish bank.

Barclaycard and Cellnet in the U.K. launched a series of services in late 1995.
Today I estimate they have about 250,000 customers who conduct mobile
banking and download e-cash to a smart card inserted into their phone.
A number of banks in Asia have also recently launched mobile banking services.
Other services provide stock exchange quotes to your phone on demand or when
triggered by certain trading levels, in addition to credit rating information on
demand whenever you need it.

Swedens largest newspaper, Aftonbladet, recently launched an m-commerce
edition where the subscribers get text messages of important news.

In general, there are four steps up the m-commerce staircase:
1. Information (push as well as pull);
2. Transaction (payments and purchase);
3. Downloads (tickets, e-cash or other valuables);
4. Relationship (we are working on this level).

What clear trends in m-commerce are expected for the near future/millennium?
We see a lot of banking and ticketing applications. Top-up of pre-paid phone
cards and cash cards is also another application. Take Singapores Electronic
Road Pricing (ERP) system for example. Imagine being able to top-up your cash
card on the move simply by slotting it into a smart-card reader on your mobile
phone and downloading cash from your bank account. No need to go to an ATM
or petrol station kiosk.

A new technology called WAP makes it possible for a mobile phone to access the
Internet. Logica very recently tested mobile banking in Europe using WAP
technology.

Whatever you do over the Internet can now be done on the road simply by using
your mobile phone. The difference is that mobile phones already have very
strong authentication features built in, unlike the Internet.

I also see companies communicating urgent messages to their staff this way, just
as Nokia currently sends press releases using text messages to GSM phones.

The Application Smart Card, my latest innovation at Logica, has just been
specified. This allows customers to have different applications on smart cards
which are inserted into the second slot of a dual-slot mobile phone. Just as you
may now carry 2 or 3 credit cards in your wallet, you would carry multiple smart
cards each carrying several complementary applications.

The card gives you the services you want. The great thing is that operators do not
need to program different SIMs with different applications as is the practice
today. Also, content providers do not need to have their applications developed
into a dozen different SIM cards to reach all customers who may subscribe to
different service providers, and hence have different SIM cards in their mobile
phones.

Best of all, the customer does not need to change SIMs when he changes service
from banking to betting to tickets to road tolls, for instance. It is as easy as
changing the game cartridges on a Nintendo Gameboy.

[Source: <http://singapore.cnet.com/Ebusiness/Ecommerce/Mcommerce/ss02.
html>]

Moving from cool ideas to reality
Is m-commerce suitable for every business? Can a regular business create a
profitable m-commerce division?

Yes, every business that wants to communicate with its consumers and give them
the option of buying or using the business services when the customer feels
the need can make use of m-commerce.

Who will m-commerce benefit the most?
In the beginning m-commerce will benefit the systems providers just as the
Internet did in its early days. But very soon after, consumers will benefit by being
able to consume when they want, where they want.

Content providers can reach their customers directly without interference from
competitors, when their customers want their services. And the telecom operator
will be able to differentiate with quality and content, and not just on price, as is
the case today.

What are some of the issues and concerns currently surrounding m-commerce?
And what about security?
The biggest issue is getting a working partnership together and forging
commercial arrangements. That is my role at Logica helping companies
globally with the business relationships of m-commerce.

Security is not a problem. Postgirot Bank in Sweden, for example, accepts
payments generated and secured by the mobile phone directly into their
production system. And Postgirot processes 3.5 times Swedens GDP in these
systems. Some customers use this security to transact as much as 100 million SEK
(about S$20 million) at a time.

Is there any de-facto standard for m-commerce at present?
There are not one but a lot of standards for doing mobile commerce today, and
Logica is working with the Global Mobile Commcer Forum to develop more
standards where needed. Over and over again, we have seen that open standards
are good for businesses and for consumers.

Applications will not necessarily standardize. There is currently no standard for
bill presentation and payment in the conventional banking environment, so such
a standard for mobile banking is probably not the first thing that will happen.
What do you think will be the most important skill sets and tools in m-commerce
over the next couple of years?

For tools WAP, dual-slot phones, Application Smart Card, Bluetooth. For skill
sets, the most important will be the ability to design business cases where
everybody wins, from the content provider to the telecoms operator, to the
consumer.

[Source: <http://singapore.cnet.com/Ebusiness/Ecommerce/Mcommerce/
ss03.html>]

Wireless Internet
The phenomenal growth of wireless systems and the Internet have clearly
indicated customer needs in interactive multimedia services anywhere and
anytime. A prediction of the growth of mobile Internet market is shown in Figure
6.7, which can be downloaded from the ITU.

Figure 6.7: The growth of the mobile Internet market
Thanks to the high-speed data transmission capability, access to the Internet
using mobile phones is no longer a dream application. Through the use of
WAP, it is possible to use 2G, 2.5G, or 3G systems to access the Internet.

Read the two concise and self-explanatory articles on wireless Internet that are
attached. When you read the two articles, pay more attention to the latest
developments in mobile handsets.

After you read the above articles, complete the following self-test.

Challenges of 3G systems
When implemented in an irresponsible way, some of the future application of the
3G technologies could create serious problems for society. For example, privacy
and personal security are still under hot debate.

On the technology side, there are many practical issues that still have to be
solved. For example, battery technology, terminal size and display and
processing capacity.
Read the article Handhelds duke it out for the Internet, IEEE
Spectrum, August 2000, pages 3541.
READING 6.5
Read the article Cell phones answer Internets call, IEEE Spectrum,
August 2000, pages 4246.
READING 6.6
1. Identify items that might seem to be crippling handicaps of
existing cellular phones for mobile commerce.
2. The frequency spectrum for IMT-2000 has been extended in the
WRC2000. Explain the details of the spectrum extension.
SELF-TEST 6.4
On the economical side, high 3G licence cost, high investment cost, large
uncertainty and unexpected returns are the major barriers for system operators.
A concise article that summarizes the operation and management (O&M)
challenges can be downloaded from <http://www.telecoms-
mag.com/issues/200005/tci/diversity.html> and is reprinted below.

Diversity within Convergence: The Wireless O&M Challenge

Broadband Solutions
The convergence of services, along with the proliferation of network
equipment, creates operations and management challenges especially for
wireless service providers transitioning to 3G.

Andreas Dietermann
The transition to third generation (3G) wireless networks creates a new set
of operations and management (O&M) challenges for service providers. At
the core of the issue is the dynamic tension created by a convergence of
services accompanied by a proliferation of network equipment.

This apparent paradox convergence of services amid greater diversity of
network systems along with the O&M needs of a hierarchical
management structure amid a flexible, flat-hierarchy network model,
creates headaches all around for network planners.

On closer look, of course, the challenge is less of a paradox than it seems.
From an O&M approach, perhaps its best to see convergence and diversity
as two sides of the same coin. Convergence fixed-mobile, voice-data,
computer-telephony is the end. Infrastructure diversity switches,
routers, gateways, servers, thin clients is the required means.

From the O&M perspective, it means using a flexible concept allowing
management integration on different levels, whether it is peer-to-peer at
the element level and up-and-down within the TMN network management
hierarchy.

The Continuity Challenge
3G systems will begin as islands in a sea of 2G. Because of this, service
providers from the start will want to see as small as possible change in
O&M between the two. Two networks and one management system will be
the order of the day. This rule means the creation of general requirements
such as common management for all 2G and 3G network components (e.g.,
switching, intelligent network devices, radio) down to very practical ones
such as re-use of existing resources such as operation and maintenance
centres (OMCs) and transmission lines.

To support common management for 2G and 3G, an O&M system has to
comprise the entire range of management functionality, such as
simultaneous display and handling of both networks alarms in a common
alarm list, as well as simultaneous display and handling of bi-technology
network topologies. This concentration function is important not only with
respect to individual network technicians, but even more so to network
mediation that must be done at an upper-layer network management
centre (NMC).

But theres a lot more to the O&M challenge than integration and mediation
of 2G and 3G. Considering the typical multi-supplier network scenario
GSM and universal mobile telecommunications service (UMTS) bring, there
already is a tremendous variety of equipment within an operators
network. 3G adds yet another layer of complexity. Remember, 3G is not one
standard, but a family of technologies within the IMT-2000 framework. In
short, 3G will see networks continue to diversify in terms of different
vendor equipment and specific formats defined by geography and region.

It is only realistic to acknowledge that even when you take standardization
as far as possible, blank spots always remain. The greater degree of
diversity, the more urgent the pressure will become to make O&M the
unifying factor in fixed and wireless networks.

The Technology Challenge
3G introduces various new technology characteristics, including: the
consistent separation in logical and implementation-specific O&M in the
UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRA); or, the multi-vendor
interface aspects that allow service providers to combine radio network
controllers (RNCs) and UMTS base stations (also known as Node-Bs) from
different suppliers within a radio sub-network. This particular
standardization issue the UTRAN RNC-Node-B interface has far
more significance to O&M as compared to 2G. But all can be viewed as
examples highlighting the need for flexibility and unification at the O&M
level.

As wireless markets continue to mature and begin to migrate to 3G, several
factors will decrease operators revenue margins, including ever increasing
competition and, in some areas, market saturation. This will lead operators
to look more than ever for cost-cutting opportunities. O&M is an
outstandingly sensitive field in that respect. O&M costs translate to staff
costs. And, as the number of network elements will steadily increase, the
goal will be to maintain the required O&M manpower while the network
grows in size.

However, as network size and complexity increase, O&M becomes a
strategic aspect of service provision. So while it may be necessary to
consider cost, this must be balanced against the strength and quality O&M
adds to the entire business model. O&M itself will prove to be one of the
key factors of success in the 3G networks market.

More Challenging Aspects
Its clear that there are both quantitative and qualitative challenges that 3G
imposes on network operators and equipment suppliers. Technological
diversification alone carries these two aspects. Quantitatively, it creates the
need for streamlined O&M for steadily increasing network sizes.
Qualitatively, it lays a foundation for management of new technologies, in
particular asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) and Internet protocol (IP), to
which wireless service providers are still largely unaccustomed yet are
much closer to integration than even some major telecom suppliers see.

Generally speaking, the quantitative aspects of 3G O&M requirements
follow the lines of system performance, flexibility and scalability. The
qualitative perspective mainly addresses technology-oriented topics, such
as what end-to-end management looks like in a 3G IP-based network. But
also the general issue of continuity is assigned an all-new qualitative
dimension with the introduction of the expected new technologies.

In short, the key requirements for wireless O&M to pave the way for
success in the 3G market are a smooth evolution concept, easy introduction
of new services support, the efficient reduction of costs of ownership in a
stabilization phase and future proof concepts that insure an operators
investments.

The Platform
Siemens Radio Commander platform is an element management platform
for 3G wireless networks. Merging O&M for 2G and 3G mobile radio
networks within a common hardware and software platform, it comprises
the key values for the introduction of 3G networks. Various radio access
technologies and types of equipment will have to be managed to pave the
way for a seamless introduction of 3G. The Radio Commander itself is
based on object oriented development tools, methods and technologies
such as UML, CORBA, IP, Java and HTML. It complies with industry
standards such as GDMO/ASN.1 and Q3.
The platform is part of Siemens Integrated Mobile Network Management
framework, dubbed SIMON. Featuring an open system architecture with
standardized open interfaces, SIMON integrates into existing TMN
environments. Standardized interfaces allow seamless integration of the
Radio Commander into the service providers workflow environment. The
following are some of SIMONs characteristics:
Harmonization of nomenclature, interfaces and TMN functionality for
optimized interaction and data exchange;
Use of common platforms based on leading edge technologies;
Flexible integration of network element managers and dedicated-task
tools at the network management level; and
Multi-vendor integration at the network management level.

A modular tool environment called Integrated Intelligent Information
Broker (I3) architecture supports complex operational processes in todays
evolving and tomorrows emerging mobile networks. In these mobile
networks, the Radio Commander acts as the core data broker interfacing to
a modular family of SIMON tool products. Typical tasks comprise network
planning, configuration and testing, network status and configuration
information, network inventory management, quality, performance and
alarm monitoring, expert-system-based problem management and trouble
ticketing. Various subtasks can generally be aligned in cycles within the big
task categories.

Radio Commanders graphical user interface (GUI) is designed to flexibly
accommodate most operator requirements. It can be customized to adapt to
the operators specific work routines, offering complete user-defined GUI
structure and windows.

An operators servers and workstations are reused, which protects those
investments. There is also continuity in terms of software features.
Retaining well-known GUI look-and-feel patterns minimizes training costs.

Continuity is as much about looking forward as looking back. For the mid-
term evolution phase of 3G, the key requirement is scalability in hardware
and software for network extension. Looking beyond that, the Radio
Commander architecture builds on open system characteristics such as
CORBA bus technology. Further, third-party application programming
interfaces are creating new paths for evolving requirements and
technologies.

Time to Market
In the highly competitive 3G market, time to market for new services will
be a key factor for success. By supporting integrated and automated
management processes on an open system platform, the Radio Commander
helps speed the introduction of new services. This is essential as the classic
borderlines between call-processing/bearer-oriented services and pure
O&M dissolve, as in a so-called self-optimizing network environment. The
self-optimizing network, in which Siemens has taken a leadership role,
automates network handling and transforms manually interactive O&M
tasks into network-internal functionality. This affects low-layer call-
processing mechanisms and determines integral network behaviour. So
O&M is becoming a primary factor from both operator-process and
technical points of view.

Emerging applications like corporate network services emphasize the
growing importance of O&M in network evolution. As noted, O&M is
beginning to move out of the pure operations realm and is becoming a
foundation for business strategy. To answer customer needs, service
providers may find various O&M scenarios existing in parallel. O&M
functions for some customers may be strongly centralized. In other cases,
O&M might be distributed throughout the network of a customer willing to
handle their own O&M directly. Again, flexibility is the message, and
situations like these highlight the strong need for open-system designs.

Convergence and diversity is a challenge, but not a paradox. Service
providers who realize that O&M evolution to 3G can be built on the
foundation of 2G, yet move forward through open systems and interfaces,
will enter the new mobile age with an immediate advantage in terms of
cost, flexibility and business strategy.

Dr Andreas Dietermann is product manager for O&M in 3G mobile radio
networks at Siemens AG. He can be reached on
Andreas.Dietermann@icn.siemens.de

[Source: <http://www.telecomsmag.com/issues/200005/tci/diversity. html>]
DEVELOPMENT AND FIELD TRIAL OF 3G
SYSTEMS
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is in the leading position in providing wireless communications
services. A summary of the development of 3G systems in Hong Kong can be
downloaded from the OFTA homepage.

After reading through the above presentation, you should have an idea of the
development status of 3G systems in Hong Kong.

Although the licensing process for 3G services is still not finalized in Hong Kong,
a number of system operators have already done some field trials on the 3G
system.

Have a quick look (do not spent more than an hour) at the field trial reports from
SmarTone and New T&T.

Read the article Regulators perspectives & roles: transition to 3G
mobile services in Hong Kong, which can be downloaded from:
<http://www.ofta.gov.hk/speech-presentation/cter-20000824.pdf>
READING 6.7
Have a quick look at the report on Evaluation Report for Wideband
CDMA Field Trial, which can be downloaded from:
<http://www.ofta.gov.hk/report-paper-guide/report/smartone-
wcdma-trial-report.pdf>
READING

After reading through the above reports, you should have an idea of the service
quality of the W-CDMA system.
Japan
Japan is in the leading position in conducting research and development
activities in 3G systems. Starting from 1996, NTT DoCoMo signed agreements
with Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia and other countries in
conducting joint projects in developing 3G systems.

A summary of 3G services provided by DoCoMo can be downloaded from
<http://www.nttdocomo.com/news/contents/01/whatnewof26.html> and is
reprinted below.

NTT DoCoMo to Launch FOMA 3G Introductory Service

TOKYO, JAPAN, April 26, 2001 NTT DoCoMo, Inc. (NTT DoCoMo)
announced today that it will launch an IMT-2000 third-generation (3G)
mobile communications on an introductory basis for a limited number of
users in Japan between May 30, 2001 and September 30, 2001.

The full-scale commercialization of NTT DoCoMos 3G services, branded
FOMA (Freedom Of mobile Multimedia Access), is now scheduled for
October 1, 2001. Since this will be the worlds first commercial launch of IMT-
2000 services, NTT DoCoMo has decided that the Introductory Service is
warranted to ensure reliable operation.

The Introductory Service will be used to assess system performance and
provide customer feedback for the full-scale launch in October. Users will be
provided with free handsets and will be exempted from paying basic
monthly fees, but not actual communication charges, in return for filling out
Have a quick look at the Report on the trial of a WCDMA
experimental system, which can be downloaded from:
<http://www.ofta.gov.hk/report-paper-guide/report/ntt-wcdma-
trial-report.zip>
READING
questionnaires about the 3G services and offering comments and suggestions
regarding possible improvements.

The Introductory Service will be part of a phased rollout of IMT-2000
commercial services. NTT DoCoMo believes that its step-by-step approach
will effectively support the popularization of FOMA services, which will
offer customers a full range of useful broadband communications and
advanced applications.

In accordance with this decision, the company has applied with the Ministry
of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications to
amend the dates of its IMT-2000 service operation license. DoCoMo has
already completed the installation of 200 base stations, related networks and
other facilities within the Introductory Service area.

Further details about the Introductory Service are provided in the
attachments.

FOMA Introductory Service: background information
Specifications of the IMT-2000 international communications standard are
being revised every three months as a result of ongoing discussions within
the 3GPP. With an aim to launch the service on May 30, 2001, NTT DoCoMo
has been working to add essential specifications from the September 2000
and December 2000 versions to the fundamental June 2000 version.

DoCoMo has already checked a vast number of items in order to launch its
new service. However, the number of items requiring verification has
increased, mainly due to a need to reflect the March 2001 version of the
specification. Thus, NTT DoCoMo decided to upgrade the stability of the
system even after May 30, although the quality of normal service has been
secured.

NTT DoCoMo believes that further testing is needed in order to guarantee an
even higher level of system stability. Accordingly, it has decided to offer the
Introductory Service to a large number of people who will use it under
various using conditions.

The trial also will enable users to provide user feedback on the utility of the
new IMT-2000 service early in the service period.

[Source: <http:// www.nttdocomo.com/new/contents /01/whatnew0426.html >]
Australia
Similar to Hong Kong, an industrial consultation paper on 3G licensing has been
issued in Australia in May 2000. The consultation paper can be downloaded from
the UMTS forum. Pay particular attention to the options in spectrum allocations.

China
We have mentioned at the beginning of the topic that the future mobile growth
will be predominantly in Asia, particularly in China. Now, lets read the
development progress of 3G systems in China, which was published by the ITU.

Major progress in Beijing on standardization of IMT-2000

Role of the International Telecommunication Union as one-stop shop for
3G global standards reaffirmed
Geneva The 17th meeting of the International Telecommunication
Union group of radio experts on IMT-2000 (ITU-R Task Group 8/1)
which closed on Friday in Beijing after two weeks of work endorsed the
harmonization efforts made by the Operators Harmonization Group
(OHG)1 for the CDMA component of the IMT-2000 standard2. The
harmonized proposal tabled in Beijing which provides a blueprint of
agreed-upon technical issues to consider and implement in the context of
IMT-2000 was also supported by the ITU IMT-2000 Joint Experts
Meeting of network3 and radio experts which met in Beijing on 10 June.

The proposal follows the appeal made to operators by the ITU after the
16th meeting of Task Group 8/1 last March in Fortaleza4 to provide
information on their requirements, based on their various operational
scenarios, with a view to maximizing the commonality between the
various building blocks within the IMT-2000 standard. The Fortaleza
meeting key decisions provide essentially for a single flexible standard
Read the attached Australian consultation paper on 3G services,
which can be downloaded from:
<http://www.umts-forum.org/brochures/ACA_Australian_
invitation_to_comment_ May_2000.pdf>
READING 6.8
with a choice of multiple access methods to meet the many different
mobile operational environments around the world.

Participants strongly urged the Third Generation Partnership Projects
(3GPPs) and Standards Development Organizations (SDOs) involved in
IMT-2000 related activities, to ensure that the OHG recommendations are
adopted and incorporated in their inputs to the 18th meeting of the Task
Group 8/1 in Helsinki (25 October5 November, 1999).

We welcome the initiative of the operators in having harmonized the two
CDMA approaches to third generation, thus greatly facilitating the
remaining harmonization efforts, Mr Y Utsumi, ITU Secretary-General
said in Geneva. This represents one more step to maximize the ability of
customers to roam across regions, networks and systems seamlessly
while providing a gradual and compatible evolutionary path from
existing infrastructures, he added.

Further harmonization work will focus on other aspects of the IMT-2000
standard such as time division duplex which uses unpaired spectrum.
The aim is to minimize the impact of the flexibility within the IMT-2000
standard on users through maximizing commonality and ease of digital
implementation in a hand-held mobile unit. The standard will allow IMT-
2000 operators to select appropriate radio access methods and core
networks to flexibly implement their systems subject to the regulatory,
market or business requirements for each region or country.

Accordingly, users are expected to be able to roam among the various
networks and radio environments because of intelligent dual or multiple
mode handsets that would be able to determine the network and the
radio environment it is accessing or in which it is operating and select the
appropriate mode transparently and automatically. There are already
many multi-mode/multi band mobile units appearing on the market to
meet the evolution needs of todays systems and, by early next century,
there should be negligible impact in areas such as power consumption,
size or cost due to the flexibility defined within the IMT-2000 standard if
harmonization efforts during the more detailed definition stage are
strongly focused towards the needs of the end user.

I hope that the success of the OHG in harmonizing the Frequency
Division Duplex (FDD) aspects of the CDMA proposals submitted to the
ITU those using paired frequency bands will be followed with a
similar rationalization of the TDD proposals stated Mrs Li Mofang, Chief
Engineer of China Telecom Mobile Bureau who chaired the OHG.
Mrs Li Mofang pointed out that China Telecom operates the largest GSM
network in the world with over 30 million users growing at more than 1
million per month. China Telecom and China Unicom plan to support a
3G mobile system field trial by the end of the year 2000, based on the
Chinese TD-SCDMA proposal submitted to the ITU. This proposal, she
explained, uses a single frequency band on a time-shared basis for
transmit and receive (Time Division Duplex) and is currently being
harmonized with the TDD mode of UTRA in the 3G Partnership Project
(3GPP).

Looking ahead, participants of the Beijing meeting agreed on the next
steps for the future development of mobile systems. The meeting
specified further studies required within the Radiocommunication Sector
of the ITU (ITU-R) on the future development of IMT-2000, including
preliminary studies of the requirements for future mobile systems
beyond IMT-2000, said Mr Mike Callendar, Chairman of Task Group
8/1. The proposed future studies will be submitted to the full Study
Group dealing with Mobile Communications (ITU-R Study Group 8) at
its next meeting in early November 1999, he also said.

The ITU has asked the OHG to build upon their successful CDMA
achievements by considering harmonization possibilities in other aspects
of IMT-2000, IMT-2000 enhancements and the requirements for systems
beyond IMT-2000.

Another key decision of the Beijing meeting has been to endorse the
proposal to harness all resources available in the industry to complete the
work needed to finalize a global IMT-2000 standard by the end of 1999.
Participants reaffirmed the role of ITU as the one-stop shop for 3G
global standards to ensure that the radio recommendations for IMT-2000
meet industry needs worldwide, making maximum use of the work
carried out by other team members through references where
appropriate.

To this end, the meeting defined cooperative working arrangements
necessary between the members of the global standards team involved in
the standardization of the third generation systems namely ITU, 3G
Partnership Projects (3GPPs) and Standards Development Organizations
(SDOs).

The IMT-2000 standard being developed by the ITU is very important for
global communications in the 21st century and China is pleased to be able
to play a major role in these developments, said Wen Ku, Chinas Deputy
Director-General of Science and Technology Department of Ministry of
Information and Industry who hosted the meeting. Mrs Cao Shumin,
Deputy Director of Research Institute of Telecommunications
Transmission and Chairperson of the China Wireless Telecommunication
Standards Group, chaired the working group in ITU-R Task Group 8/1
that defined the key characteristics of the IMT-2000 radio interfaces. She
is currently chairing the ITU working group developing detailed IMT-
2000 radio recommendations.

With the progress made both at Fortaleza and in Beijing, the IMT-2000
standard is holding its promise to deliver the many benefits of the next
generation of mobile systems in the 21st century including:
improved handset costs through economies of scale in R&D and
manufacturing
a wide array of multimedia services delivered at megabit data rates in
suitable radio operating environments
improved global roaming in all regions of the world
a unified environment for service application developers to focus on
what they do best without requiring them to accommodate a variety
of radio technologies.

Qualcomm and Ericsson both submitted formal statements concerning
the resolution of the Intellectual Property Rights problems on CDMA2000
and W-CDMA technologies which indicate that all disputes are globally
resolved between the two companies. The statements also confirm the
companies commitment to license their essential patents for a single
CDMA standard or any of its modes on a fair and reasonable basis, free
from unfair discrimination.

[Source: <http://www.itu.int/newsarchive/press/releases/1999/99-07.html>]

Information about the latest developments of 3G systems in other countries can
be obtained from the ITU at: <http://www.itu.int/imt/10_fld_trials/
index.html>

What features were tested in Smartones field trial on W-CDMA?
SELF-TEST 6.5
When the commitment to the information superhighway was made in the US
more than ten years ago, it was believed that with the huge bandwidth available,
it would be possible to download an entire database across the network. Of
course that never happened, because when we have more bandwidth, there will
always be some other ways to make use of it and the network will always be
congested, no matter how much more bandwidth we add.

So right now, people and researchers are speculating on how to make use of the
bandwidth that 3G is going to offer. Some of these ideas will succeed and others
will fail. After completing this topic, you should be able to complete the
following activity.

What kinds of services will succeed and fail during the initial stage
(say 18 months) of 3G deployment? Discuss your answer with your
tutor and/or classmates during tutorial classes and/or our course
BBS.
ACTIVITY 6.3
From a customer viewpoint, evaluate whether to use your GPRS
mobile phone or desktop computer (with 1.5 Mbps broadband
modem) to connect to the Internet for Web browsing.
1. Identify four requirements and their weighting.
2. Allocate a reasonable score for an ideal and the two candidate
technologies (give supporting reasons).
3. Identify a threshold and construct a table to evaluate the final
score for each technology.
4. Make a recommendation (based on the evaluation result).
SELF-TEST 6.6

In this topic, details of third-generation (3G) wireless communication systems
were discussed. In the first section, characteristics and standardization of 3G
systems and the evolution from 2G to 3G systems were explained. This section
also introduced IMT-2000 and UMTS. In the second section, opportunities and
challenges of 3G systems were identified. Mobile commerce and wireless Internet
were explained. In the final section, the latest developments and field trials of 3G
systems were discussed. Particular reference was made to Hong Kong, Japan,
Australia and China.

Since 3G is an emerging wireless technology, new acronyms are introduced in a
rapid manner. To keep yourself up-to-date, regular browsing of the Internet is
absolutely required. Two useful links are included for your reference. The first
one is from Nokia and the other is from the ITU.
<http://www.nokia.com/3g/acronyms>
<http://www.itu.int/imt/7_faqs/index.htm>

It should be noted that 3G is not the only solution to many services discussed in
this topic. This is because 2G (or 2.5G) systems can still achieve a data rate of up
to 384 kbps through the implementation of EDGE.

It is also worth mentioning that active research work has been done on 4G
systems, which provide a much higher data rate (over 10 Mbps) over wireless
environment and are expected to be available in the market in about ten years
time. Some of the latest development of 3G/WLAN are discussed in the recent
30th Meeting of the APEC Telecommunications and Information Working Group
(APEC TEL 30) in Singapore. <http://apectel30.ida.gov.sg/index.asp>.
You can keep yourself updated by looking through a few of those
WLAN/Broadband Access related powerpoint presentations.

In the next two topics, Internet applications (include e-commerce) will be
discussed.


[6.1] <http://www.itu.int/imt/what_is/3rdgen/index.html>
[6.2] <http://www.itu.int/imt/what_is/imt/>
[6.3] <http://www.nokia.com>
[6.4] <http://live1.sonera.se/meta/ondemand/erbuco/3GBBC.ram>
[6.5] <http://www.ericsson.se/3g/mediafiles/3g_bbc.mov>
[6.6] <http://www.itu.int/imt/what_is/roadto/index.html>
[6.7] <http://www.gsmworld.com>
[6.8] <http://www.etsi.org>
[6.9] <http://www.uwcc.org>
[6.10] <http://www.t1.org>
[6.11] <http://www.cdg.org>
[6.12] <http://www.tiaonline.org>
[6.13] <http://www.3gpp.org>
[6.14] <http://www.3gpp2.org>
[6.15] <http://www.3gpp2.org/text/background.cfm>
[6.16] <http://www.3gpp.org/About_3GPP/3GPPdesc_copenhagen.ppt>
[6.17] <http://www.uwcc.org/about/about_index.html>
[6.18] <http://www.uwcc.org/about/objectives.html>
[6.19] <http://www.umts-forum.org/who_are_we.html>
[6.20] <http://www.umts-forum.org/brochures/UMTS.pdf>
[6.21] <http://www.itu.int/imt/imt2kstd.doc>
[6.22] <http://www.itu.int/imt/4_news_arch/Slide_video/
Video/imt2000videoclip.rm>
[6.23] <http://www.umts-forum.org/what_is_umts.html>
[6.24] <http://www.umts-forum.org/reports/report2.pdf>
[6.25] <http://www.ericsson.se/3g/mediafiles/Ericsson2.mov>
[6.26] <http://www.nokia.com/3g/mark.html>
[6.27] <http://www.nokia.com/3g/tianning.html>
[6.28] <http://www.nokia.com/3g/hanna.html>
[6.29] <http://www.nokia.com/3g>
[6.30] <http://singapore.cnet.com/Ebusiness/Ecommerce/
Mcommerce/index.html>
[6.31] <http://singapore.cnet.com/Ebusiness/Ecommerce/Mcommerce
/ss01.html>
[6.32] <http://singapore.cnet.com/Ebusiness/Ecommerce/Mcommerce
/ss02.html>
[6.33] <http://singapore.cnet.com/Ebusiness/Ecommerce/
Mcommerce/ss03.html>
[6.34] <http://www.nokia.com/investor/presenta/3g_business_seminar
/disclaimer.html>
[6.35] <http://www.nokia.com/investor/presenta/disclaimer_gsm.html>
[6.36] <http://www.telecoms-mag.com/issues/200005/tci/diversity.html>
[6.37] <http://www.ei-channel.com/event/wi_06092000.ram>
[6.38] <http://www.ofta.gov.hk/speech-presentation/cter-20000824.pdf>
[6.39] <http://www.ofta.gov.hk/3g-licensing/main.html>
[6.40] <http://www.ofta.gov.hk/report-paper-guide/report/smartone-wcdma-
trial-report.pdf>
[6.41] <http://www.ofta.gov.hk/report-paper-guide/report/ntt-wcdma-trial-
report.zip>
[6.42] <http://www.nttdocomo.com/new/contents/01/whatnew0426.html>
[6.43] <http://www.umts-forum.org/brochures/ACA_Australian
_invitation_to_comment_May_2000.pdf>
[6.44] <http://www.itu.int/newsarchive/press/releases/1999/99-07.html>
[6.45] <http://www.itu.int/imt/10_fld_trials/index.html>
[6.46] <http://www.umts-forum.org/brochures/3G_licensing_April20.pdf>
[6.47] <http://www.nokia.com/3g/acronyms>
[6.48] <http://www.itu.int/imt/7_faqs/index.htm>
SOLUTIONS TO SELF-TEST QUESTIONS
Self-test 6.1
1. It is explained in the video that nearly everyone will be affected by 3G
services.
2. i Freedom to access any sevice anytime and anywhere.
ii Freedom to be online all the time and pay for the services while you
are actually using them.
Self-test 6.2
1. The first step is the emergence of 2G + systems in which 2G systems such as
GSM and IS-95 are extended to provide high-speed data communications
either without changing the air interface or by using improved coding
techniques.
The second step is to provide higher capacity, data rates, and multimedia
services. WCDMA standard proposals such as the cdma2000 system
include a greatly enhanced air interface to support wider bandwidths for
improved capacity and higher data rates.
2. IS-95B is the packet mode version of direct sequence CDMA standard IS
95A. IS-95B also supports multiple codes per MS on both the downlink and
uplink.
The advantages of IS-95B over IS-95A are efficient support of Mobile IP in
cellular networks, and seamless integration of cellular networks with the
Internet.
Self-test 6.3
UMTS offers:
ease of use and low costs
new and better services
fast access
packet transmission and data rate on demand
different mobility and coverage
spectrally efficient radio technology for all environments
UMTS services available globally by satellite.
Self-test 6.4
1. Three possible items are:
small screen
small keypad
limited processing capabilities.
2. In WRC2000, there are three alternative frequency bands (806960 MHz,
17101885 MHz, and 25002690 Hz) with a total of 519 MHz of spectrum
about three times what was called for leaving it to further technical
studies and national telecommunications authorities to decide what
portions of which bands would be used for IMT-2000 applications, and
where.
Self-test 6.5
Tested features include:
Active and idle mode coverage
Cell selection criterion
Softer/soft handoff
Fast power control
Inter-frequency handover, etc.
Self-test 6.6
1. Four possible requirements and their weighting are:
x Transmission speed (Essential)
x Hardware cost (Nice to have)
x Ease of use/User interface (Essential)
x Flexibility (available anytime, anywhere) (Desirable)

2. Typical scores for the ideal technology, mobile phone and desktop
computer are:

Requirement Ideal Mobile phone Desktop computer
Transmission
speed
10 6 9
Hardware cost 10 8 6
Ease of use 10 3 9
Flexibility 10 9 4

Remark: although exact scores are not expected, the difference between the
two technologies should be indicated.

3.

Requirements Need Weighting

Idea

Phone Computer
Rating Score Rating Score Rating Score
Speed Essential 5 10 50 6 30 9 45
Hardware
cost
Nice to
have
1 10 10 8 8 6 6
Easy of use Desirable 5 10 50 3 15 9 45
Flexibility Essential
Total 140 80 108
Cut off at 75% of ideal score = 105

4. Since the mobile phone technology scores below the cut-off, it should be
rejected. The desktop computer is recommended because it has the highest
score and its score is higher than the cut-off.

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In this topic, details of third generation (3G) wireless communication systems

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