Thursday 9 December 2010
Minimization of Drive Tests (MDT) in 3GPP Release-10
Thursday 2 December 2010
The 3GPP release 8 IMS Implementation, Deployment & Testing workshop
Wednesday 1 December 2010
SON 2010 Conference in Pictures
Tuesday 26 October 2010
Complete Coverage of 4G World 2010 ... in case you missed
Tuesday 19 October 2010
LTE Self Optimizing Networks (SON) enhancements for Release-10
• Priority 1: coverage problems, e.g. coverage holes• Priority 2: capacity problems
• Connection failures in inter-RAT environment:o Priority 1: at HOs from LTE to UMTS/GSMo Priority 2: at HOs from UMTS/GSM to LTE• Obtaining UE measurements in case of unsuccessful re-establishment after connectionfailure• Ping-pongs in idle mode (inter-RAT and intra-LTE environment)• Ping-pongs in active mode (inter-RAT)• HO to wrong cell (in intra-LTE environment) that does not cause connection failure (e.g. short stay problem)
• Improving reliability of MLB in intra-LTE scenarios• Improving functionality of the MLB in inter-RAT scenarios (the transport method agreed for R9 should be used for R10).
Monday 5 July 2010
Femtocells data cap and offload dilemma
Thursday 1 July 2010
Iridium making good progress
Thursday 13 May 2010
3GPP and 3G Americas workshop in Latam LTE Summit
Topics such as equipment availability and spectrum scarcity were high on the agenda, along with discussions on systems architecture evolution and backhaul issues.
- Manufacturers’ Presentations
- 3GPP and 3G Americas Presentations
Monday 3 May 2010
Looking forward to the LTE World Summit 2010
Tuesday 9 March 2010
3GPP and Broadband Forum Collaboration on Fixed Mobile Convergence Standards
The attendees, primarily 3GPP and Broadband Forum members, also included representatives from ETSI TISPAN, ATIS and other standards bodies. The diverse group came together with a shared goal; to start the process of aligning new FMC work in each organization to best address both fixed and wireless management requirements. The two days spent together allowed the group to identify the key issues at hand and the work that needs to be done. With words of appreciation and encouragement from workshop co-chairs, Stephen Hayes of 3GPP and Dave Allan of the Broadband Forum, each organization took away work items that address both near term and long term next steps for both 3GPP and the Broadband Forum.
Through liaison communications and technical contributions into each organization, joint requirements will be shared, and another workshop is envisioned for the future after a scope and gap analysis is performed by the organizations.
Workshop documents and presentations are at available…on line
Presentations & Papers from the Workshop:
- Beyond FMC Interworking UDC for FMC
- Proposed Use Case and Requirement based on Policy Control in FMC
- Proposed Architecture for Policy Control in FMC
- Seamless WLAN offload
- 3GPP EPC Overview
- Broadband Forum Status (Revised version)
- 3GPP-BBF Interworking - Mobility-Roaming-Nomadism (See Workshop docs for various revisions of this document – Last version)
- 3GPP-BBF Interworking - Authentication/Authorization/Accounting
- 3GPP-BBF Interworking Policy & QoS
- High level analysis of Interworking between fixed NW access and 3GPP domain
- ATIS’ Organizational Efforts on FMC
- ATIS Exploratory Group on Convergence (EGC) Report & Recommendations
- 3GPP-BBF Interworking - Use Cases for Public and Enterprise Wireline Interworking
- 3GPP-BBF Interworking - S9 Interface: Requirements and Protocol Selection Criteria
- 3GPP-BBF Interworking - Proposal for PCRF Based BPCF
- Media and Codec policies architecture with converged Next Generation Networks
- Focus on working procedures for the policy control aspect of FMC
- PCRF-BPCF Functional Split and Information Exchange
- View on FMC – Policy Control
- ETSI TISPANPolicy Management Overview
- 3GPP Work Item Description - Support for BBF Accesses Interworking
- WT-203 - Interworking between next Generation Fixed and 3gpp wireless access
- Fixed Mobile Interworking - QoS Control via S9
- Policy Interworking – How to setup QoS for a 3GPP UE in a BBF domain
- Fixed Mobile Interworking - Establishing the s9 Session
- Connectivity and Mobility Considerations
- Authenticaton Conundrum
- TISPAN Policy Management Overview
- 3GPP-BBF Architecture - Mobility aspects
- Change Request to 3GPP Technical Specification 22.278 - Addition of operational requirements for Fixed Mobile Convergence
- Key Workshop findings
Monday 1 February 2010
Mobile Digital TV in US coming soooon (Q1 2010)
Wednesday 20 January 2010
LG cementing its LTE handset leader position
LG has an impressive LTE track record: an LTE demo at Mobile World Congress 2008; the announcement of the world's first LTE chipset and modem prototype in November 2008; the first LTE-enabled mobile device Live Air Demo at Mobile World Congress 2009; the first FCC LTE Device certification built around LG's LTE chipset in June 2009; the first dual-mode LTE/eHRPD in-call handover in August 2009; and a 100 Mbps maximum throughput Live Demo at CES 2010.
3GPP Release8 June 2009 compliance, multiple band support (2.1 GHz Band1 or 700 MHz Band13), various system bandwidth, from 5 MHz to 20 MHz and max throughput with up to 100 Mbps downlink and 50 Mbps uplink, are among the main features supported by the dual-mode LTE/CDMA Vd13 device and LTE-only LD100U device.
In Las Vegas, LG executives recognized that the two devices recently unveiled are intended more to demonstrate their LTE development leadership and, likely, will not be launched as commercial devices. Although they didn't outline their exact plan, they disclosed that their own LTE modem will eventually be integrated into a netbook or notebook, meaning that a more integrated chipset solution will hit the market soon.
Known for its 2G and 3G handset line, LG relied on mature merchant chipset solutions such as Qualcomm, ST-Ericsson or Infineon chips, not LG technology. We can elaborate different scenarios to explain their new positioning as an LTE market driver. Gaining ground in all cellular technologies and capturing more than 10 percent of the total handset market as year-end 2009, leading them to third position worldwide, LG has decided to invest significantly into chipset development in order to become technology independent.
On top of the LTE modem, they will now introduce phones based on their own 2G/3G/4G intellectual properties to save cost and stay ahead. We could also speculate that LG wants to broaden their essential patents portfolio, driving 3GPP groups and initiatives to better compete with their current chip suppliers. In this case, once the LTE market matures and reaches a critical mass, LG will switch to third party players just as they have in the past. One more scenario has to be considered: following Nokia's early strategy, LG could license its LTE modem IP to partners that will manufacture the chipset solution and sell it back to them.
It's difficult to predict LG's long-term strategy in terms of chipset development at this point. The company has the scale to succeed, scale that small WiMAX players who recently announced parallel WiMAX/LTE roadmaps lack. In the new research report released by Maravedis in partnership with Reveal Wireless, entitled "WiMAX Wave2 Subscriber Station Chipset Vendors Competitive Analysis," we have identified the WiMAX chipset companies who have shifted to LTE by offering a flexible programmable base-band solution.
The LTE base-band chipset market is already crowded: incumbent manufacturers who ship in large volume (Qualcomm, ST-Ericsson, and Nokia), new entrants who traditionally relied on merchant solutions (LG and Samsung Electronics), and newcomers who leverage their OFDM expertise, WiMAX chipset background, and WiMAX ecosystem experience (Altair, Comsys, Sandbridge, Sequans and Wavesat) are committed to playing a significant role in the LTE baseband landscape. With Mediatek, Infineon, Marvell, and likely giant Intel poised to enter the market eventually, the field will soon be comparable to the aisles of CES 2010... very packed.
Saturday 21 November 2009
Updates from GSMA Asia Mobile Congress 09 - Day 2
- 55% of Japan has migrated past 3G to 3.5G
- Japanese mobile content industry is worth 14 Billion dollars annually
- 50% of mobile data in Japan is consumed in the home, the peak time for mobile data consumption is between 9 PM and 10 PM; and smartphone users consume 10 times more data than non-smartphone users.
- Japan's Softbank will turn off their 2G network already in March of next year, 2010.
- Allen Lew, Singtel's CEO, said that in Singapore almost 50% of smartphone owners are shifting web surfing activity away from PCs.
- Jon Fredrik Baksaas, Telenor's President and CEO, spoke about the eco-friendly initiatives they have, such as solar powered cellular network base stations etc, but an interesting tidbit that came out, is that in Europe, Telenor has installed 870,000 household electricity meters that are remote digital meters and operate on the GSM cellular network, in Sweden. As Sweden's population is only about 7 million people that is probably a third of all households.
- Rajat Mukarji of Idea (one of India's largest mobile operators), told us of the Indian market, where the average price of a voice minute is 1 cent (US). He Mr Mukarji also said that in India mobile is the first screen, not the fourth screen; and mobile is the first internet connectivity opportunity for most people of India.
- Tony Warren, GM of Regulatory Affairs at Telstra, told that 60% of phones in Australia are 3G already, and over half of mobile data is now non-SMS type of more advanced mobile data. And he said that MMS is experiencing enormous growth, grew 300% in the past year.
Wednesday 18 November 2009
Updates from GSMA Asia Mobile Congress 09 - Day 1
- According to Rob Conway, CEO of the GSM Association, the number of subscribers will grow to 8 Billion (not sure when though).
- China Unicom, China's second largest mobile operator with 142 million subscribers - bigger than AT&T and Sprint put together.
- Bharti Telecom of India has over 110 million subscribers
- According to Manoj Kohli, the CEO of Bharti Telecom, India already 20% of all mobile phone owners have 2 or more subscriptions. He also told us that as India will add 500 million new subscribers by the time frame of 2014-2015. India is currently adding 10 million new mobile subscribers every month. And most revealingly, he said that in India the customers will go from 'no internet' directly to 'mobile internet'.
- According to Wang Jianzhou the Chairman and CEO of China Mobile, the world's biggest mobile operator with over 500 million subscribers, on the Chinese 3G standard of TD-SCDMA, they already have 3G phones being sold that cost about 1,000 Yuan, or about 130 US dollars. The average China Mobile customer spends 1 minute per day on voice calls, but sends on average 3.6 SMS text messages per day.
- According to Yamada-san, the President and CEO of Japan's NTT DoCoMo, on NTT DoCoMo's network, today already 42% of their total revenues come from non-voice data services. NTT DoCoMo is so far in its migration of its customer base from 2G to 3G, they will terminate 2G in March of 2011.
- Yamada-san also told of their new 3G video TV service, they call BeeTV. BeeTV is special in that it is optimized for the small screen, not re-purposed video content from TV and the internet. BeeTV in only six months has achieved 800,000 paying subscribers - who pay 315 Yen per month (about 3 USD).
- Yamada-San's 20 minute presentation also mentioned that NTT DoCoMo's i-Consierge service (yes, think of it as your personal butler, the phone learns your habits and starts to help you with your life, this is like magic) has 2.3 million paying subscribers one year from launch. Their i-Channel idle screen invention is spreading and they have launched it also with their partner in India, Tata, who offer Cricket game updates via the idle screen using i-Channel.
- Japan's mobile advertising market in 2008 was worth 900 million dollars.
- Grameenphone and Huawei won the 'Green Mobile' award for their 'green' network initiatives.
Read the complete blog here.
Monday 28 September 2009
ICC 2009: 3G to 4G: towards full mobility IP services
Sunday 20 April 2008
Forum Oxford Conference 2008
Here is summary of some presentations which is in my own words and that of other bloggers and people who have posted on this topic. You may want to read more on these here.
The first topic was - "Pictures are better on Radio" by Mark Selby, Vice President, Industry Collaborations, Nokia
A survey of what people use their mobiles threw some interesting results:
- Voice - 12%
- Browsing - 8%
- Games - 4%
- Messaging - 37%
Mobiles can be used for 4 reasons:
- Create
- Consume
- Interact
- Connect
How many people control their own wife/partner?
We don’t think of it in that way because it is a relationship. In the same way, we as an industry cannot hope to ever ‘control’ a customer
Back in the 70s, Convergence was a set of three arrows pointing to a yellow cloud (IT, Media and Telecoms) and everyone expected to ‘solve’ the problem in a matter of months
DRM is an odd concept. If you threw a device into a window, can you blame the manufacturer for the damage to the window? If not, how can we hope to legislate against devices?
OVI is an open platform customers can choose which feeds they can display on OVI(for instance CNN etc etc) – not necessarily from Nokia. Abolish the word user generated content!!
By 2012, 25% of stuff will be created, edited, etc by Mobile devices.
You can get an idea of Mark's presentation by checking out this and this.
The next presentation was Jonathan MacDonald on Blyk:
The biggest problem Blyk users complain about, is that they want more of the ads.
They have already 100,000 users.
To learn more about Blyk see this and this.
The next was "Browser extensions (DOM extensions) and accesssing device API's" - David Pollington, Vodafone:
You can download this presentation with comments on Mobile Monday site here.
The next one was "How to Integrate Facebook with IMS" by Niklas Blum, Fraunhofer FOKUS:
A similar presentation to this one is available here.
The next one was "iPhone Applications" by William Volk, MyNuMo:
Apple created a new ecosystem. That’s the key difference. So should others(hear hear!)
The main thing people like iPhone is because it has browser that works.
The developers like iPhone because it has this discovery mechanism by which new applications and games get detected. Advertised sponsered games generate 11% click thru. Bowling Game (non advertised) generated 2.95% click thru.
Next was "Youth and Mobile and Music and TV" by Luciana Pavan, MTV:
Comments from their youth survey included "mobile is the symbol of coolness" and "mobile is my best friend". They have two camera crews shooting MTV content such as Jackass, one group shooting for the TV screen, the second for mobile. Same content, two approaches to producing, optimized for each screen type. (Clever...).
Flux on MyMTV in Japan - best user-generated videos will end up on broadcast MTV Japan.
MTV MVNO in Belgium has 16% of the subscriber base.
And at MTV Germany the FunkySexyCool mobile dating service had similarities to Flirtomatic.
Next was "Delivering Global Mobile Service" by Cameron Doherthy, Mobile Concierge:
There was some interesting demonstration of how Blackberry can be used for lots of services like booking airline tickets and golf games.
Then Alan Moore on belaf of Xtract spoke on "Social Marketing Intelligence, the Black Gold of the 21st Century":
Lines are made by man! Nature has networksCustomers connect, corporations broadcast!
His main focus was operators who have become more like bitpipes whereas if they are clever they can use this data and exploit it for their own benefit. Their product can help them with a lot of this analysis. You can get a gist of his presentation here.
Then there was this debate between Tomi Ahonen and Dean Bubley about "Will the future of internet be shaped by mobile or is the PC still in control".
Even though the conclusion was that the PC is still in control, personally i feel mobile will be the one that will dominate. See my earlier post here.
Simon Cavill from Mi-Pay spoke on "Mobile Initiated Financial Services in the Developing world":
This was the mind-boggling presentation. Not that they can move money on mobile, and that it can be done cross-borders, but that international transfer of airtime is emerging as a monetary instrument. Not only "printing money" but as Simon said, they are now creating a whole new currency. Simon also pointed out that where mobile phones are aspirational in the West, they are much more so in the developing world. A phone is the most desired item in Africa. Airtime could be the euro of the developing world!
Then we had "Mobile Social Networking" by Antonio Vince Stabyl of itsMY:
Do we ‘Caralize’ airlines? I.e. develop a new format based on an earlier format?Doctors and other demographics who have never heard of online social networks, are directly adopting mobile social networks. 4 seconds after an earthquake – they had the first images. That’s the power of mobile!New mediums have new leaders
Finally Christian Lindholm of Fjord spoke on "Dawn of New Mobility. Thoughts on the future of Mobiles, Services and Their Adoption"
Key design principles ..
How much can you do with one hand?
What’s the largest device that can fit inside a pocket
A ‘PC’ is a swear word in Nokia!
You may also be interested in a related presentation here.
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