August 02 , 2007

EDITORIAL EDGE
The Top 10 Wireless Technologies
By Brad Smith, Wireless Week Technology Editor

The Computer Technology Industry Association has come out with its list of the top 10 most influential technologies in the last 25 years, with Microsoft capturing four of the top five (Internet Explorer was No. 1). The association's choices were more products than technology, but I found it interesting that only one wireless technology/product made the list and that was the RIM BlackBerry.

No one can argue that the BlackBerry has been a success since it came out in 1999 and also has been influential. The BlackBerry became a wireless enterprise e-mail standard that's still being pursued by competitors. But is it the No. 1 wireless technology/product in the last 25 years? No way.

So, just for fun, I've put together my own list of the top 10 wireless technologies/products. It's very unscientific and, unlike CompTIA's survey of its members, is one person's opinion. I'm doing it mostly to get your ideas, so let me know where I'm wrong or right.

At No. 1, I'd put the Motorola DynaTAC 8000X phone because it was the world's first cell phone when Motorola started selling it in 1983. The DynaTAC and the cellular infrastructure it used paved the way for everyone else in the world. Some may argue the launch of the Nordic Mobile Telephone service in 1981 was more important, but I think the DynaTAC had more lasting influence.

No. 2 would be the development of GSM, which went commercial in 1991 when Finnish Prime Minister Harri Holkeri made the world's first GSM call using Nokia equipment over the Radiolinja network. GSM quickly took off and has become the predominant cellular technology globally, with more than 2.5 billion users.

No. 3 is CDMA as developed by Irwin Jacobs and his cohorts at Qualcomm, which came out with the air interface technology in 1989 and pushed the cellular world into digital communications. The technology's continued development has been used globally and became the technology used in all 3G networks.

No. 4 is the decision by Jorma Ollila in 1992 to change the business strategy of a relatively minor European company named Nokia into a cellular telecom giant. No one in the industry can afford to ignore what Nokia does. It's list of "firsts" is unmatched.

No. 5 is the influence of a couple of Motorola handset designs – the StarTAC in 1996 and the RAZR in 2004. Both handset designs set standards everyone else followed, the StarTAC for the clamshell and the RAZR for its sleek thinness.

The next 5 would be the BlackBerry, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, OFDM/OFDMA (including WiMAX), and (lest we forget something seemingly simple but so widespread) SMS. If I had a No. 11 it would be that much-derided technology, WAP, which is seeing a resurgence.

I know I've failed to list some obvious ones and some of your favorites. Let me know. Write me brad.smith@advantagemedia.com.

WiMAX

Sprint Rollout Key to WiMAX Future - Intel
By Brad Smith

Intel, which has been the driving force behind WiMAX technology, sees Sprint's upcoming network deployment as both a proving ground and launch pad that will turn the technology into a global business.

In case anyone was wondering, Intel also sees WiMAX as a competing technology to cellular technologies like the GSM's Long Term Evolution (LTE) and CDMA's Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB).

Ron Peck, director of the Intel's WiMAX program office, said in a wide-ranging interview that WiMAX will have a head start with Sprint's planned launch of a year or two over other 4G technologies. Sprint plans to have a WiMAX test service up in Chicago, Baltimore and Washington, D.C., by the end of the year.

It also has said it expects to launch commercially in the first half of 2008 and cover 100 million people by the end of that year.

Initially, Sprint will use WiMAX PC cards for notebook computers. But Intel is coming out with a reference design and chipsets next year so that WiMAX will be built into laptops. Peck says Intel expects 20% of all laptops will have WiMAX built in, which would be a tremendous boost for the technology.

Also on Intel's roadmap is a combination platform in 2009 that will include WiMAX and Wi-Fi. Laptop users could flip open their notebooks and immediately see which of the networks was available.

Intel's backing means a lot to Sprint, because the carrier will not have to invest in devices as it does now for its cellular network, Peck says. Intel will make sure there are millions of WiMAX devices available.

Laptops also could be built combining WiMAX access with access to Sprint's CDMA cellular network.

He says there are three main geographical economic engines for any technology – North America, Western Europe and Asia – and that for a technology to succeed it must be accepted commercially in at least two of those areas. That's why, Peck says, that Sprint's rollout is so important. It will influence the launch of WiMAX in the other areas.

Of course, another crucial piece for WiMAX in Europe is a vote coming up this fall by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). The ITU will decide whether or not to approve a committee recommendation, hammered out in a grueling 5-day session this summer, to make WiMAX technology available for 3G radio spectrums in the IMT-2000 bands of 2.5 GHz to 2.69 GHz.

The early interest in WiMAX is strongest in traditional CDMA areas like the United States and Korea because cellular operators and vendors in those areas want to get away from the royalties they have been paying to CDMA intellectual property holders, principally Qualcomm, Peck contends.

Internet access will be the main use for WiMAX, especially as an alternative to DSL and cable, he thinks, with users especially using the technology for video. He thinks location services using GPS will also be an early WiMAX application.

WiMAX may initially be used in laptops, but Intel also expects it in a variety of ultra portables and consumer electronics devices like cameras and personal media players. Personally, Peck believes WiMAX isn't suited for the screens on mobile phones, although he says his opinion could change as networks and their usage expand.

Peck might be going out on a limb with this prediction, but he also thinks WiMAX will be in use in China in eight markets, including Beijing, in time for the 2008 Summer Olympics. That's assuming China gets its TD-SCDMA 3G networks up and running by that time.

Quad Cities Get WiMAX
By Brad Smith

A small wireless Internet provider in the Midwest, Solo Direct Connect, says it will roll out mobile WiMAX in the Quad Cities area of eastern Iowa and western Illinois by the end of September.

Solo Direct will use equipment from Navini's Smart WiMAX portfolio, starting the rollout this month and completing it by the end of September. The network will be available to 350,000 people in the Quad Cities of Davenport and Bettendorf, Iowa, and Moline, East Moline and Rock Island, Ill. Solo Direct says it plans to expand the network, which uses licensed 2.5 GHz spectrum, next year.

Meanwhile, Clearwire launched a couple more cities this week with its pre-WiMAX technology. The new cities are Corpus Christi, Texas, and Syracuse, N.Y., with the latter being the first city in New York state deployed by Clearwire.

Clearwire, which last week announced a WiMAX collaboration with Sprint, now has service in 42 markets in 14 states.

Nortel Demos WiMAX in the U.K.
By Brad Smith

Nortel Networks and two British companies, Urban WiMAX and Macropolitan, held a WiMAX demonstration recently as British regulators prepare to free spectrum for possible use for the technology.

Urban WiMAX and Macropolitan says they will use Nortel equipment in trials in the U.K. to get consumer feedback on pricing and their overall experience.

The British regulatory agency, the Office of Communications, is getting ready to auction spectrum in the 2.5 GHz to 2.69 GHz spectrum that could be used for WiMAX. The auction is expected early next year.

BLUETOOTH

Bluetooth Grows, Slows
By Brad Smith

It appears to be a sign of the maturation of Bluetooth technology that is leading analysts to say its growth is starting to slow.

In-Stat says in a new study that the growth in the number of Bluetooth devices will be 34% this year. That's pretty significant growth, although analyst Brian O'Rourke says that represents a slower adoption than in years past. Of course, it's difficult for any technology to double in adoption every year.

O'Rourke also says Bluetooth faces some issues as it becomes integrated with other technologies, including Wi-Fi, GPS and FM radio. He says the Bluetooth industry itself is undergoing change through consolidation.

Where is Bluetooth most popular? The analyst says In-Stat surveys found residents of France, Germany and the U.K. as being most familiar with the technology. Korea and Japan had the lowest familiarity, with the United States in the middle.

SDR

Expecting the Expected
By Wireless Week Staff

The association promoting software defined radio (SDR) technology has issued a new study that concludes SDR is about ready to take off.

The SDR Forum sponsored the study by technology consultant Jim Gunn, which says SDR is becoming more important because consumers are starting to demand triple-play services in all their broadband wireless and wireline services. Triple play generally refers to voice, video/TV and Internet or data access.

Software defined radios can be used to connect to multiple radio platforms used in the cellular, Wi-Fi and GPS platforms, the study says. It cites research that cell phones of the future could have as many as 11 radio access technologies, offering challenges for handset resources and battery power.

In such an environment, Gunn says SDR can help lower development costs, provide faster time to market, enhance flexibility in development and deployment, reuse intellectual property, and support multiband multimode RF operations.

NFC

Short-Range Gets New Specs
By Wireless Week Staff

The NFC (near field communications) Forum has published four tag type technical specifications designed to help chip manufacturers develop integrated circuits that store data which can be read by NFC devices.

The short-range wireless technology is designed for use with contactless transactions, to access digital content and connect electronic devices easily. Mobile wallets in cell phones are one of the emerging applications for NFC.

The NFC Forum says it hopes by standardizing the tag types and formats it will promote interoperability among NFC vendors, thereby reducing costs and providing a cost-effective global market. The forum says more than one-billion NFC-ready tags have already been deployed for use in accessing public transportation, hotel rooms and offices.

"It is essential to the adoption and growth of NFC technology that all NFC-enabled devices interoperate seamlessly and deliver a consistent user experience," says Christophe Duverne, forum chair. "By publishing these four tag types, the NFC Forum is taking great strides toward putting the power of NFC in the hands of consumers around the world."

The four tag types are related to different ISO (International Organization for Standardization) and Japanese Industrial Standards.

Emerging Tech News Briefs - August 02, 2007

• Alcatel-Lucent has a new CDMA EV-DO base station, the 2400, which is a high-performance, microcell-type base station designed to enhance coverage and performance in existing networks. The 2400 is "zero footprint" because it can be deployed on utility poles and the sides of buildings. Sprint is the first customer to use the new base station.

• Unwired Nation announced what it says is the world's first "Voice Publishing Platform" to enable businesses to connect with mobile users. Unwired Nation says the platform says its product will allow businesses to build relationships with their customers with in-call promotional messages on an opt-in basis. The first company product was the UnWired Buyer for eBay, which allows eBay users to bid on an auction using their mobile phone. That service has been in use since 2005 and now is being made more widely available with instant delivery of voice-based messages, two-way interaction between companies and their mobile customers, audio response by users, and the ability to forward content.

• WiQuest Communications says its ultra-wideband (UWB) chips are being used in a new Toshiba R400 laptop that recently went on sale. The technology is being used as wireless USB to connect to a docking station.

• Wisair has announced the availability of a single-die CMOS chip, the WSR601, for wireless USB applications. The chip is based on WiMedia and Certified Wireless USB standards, combining high performance and low power consumption.