Bug hunting in 5G Networks and Devices

Pentests or Penetration testing is ethical hacking that is an authorized simulated cyberattack on a computer system, performed to evaluate the security of the system. They are performed to identify weaknesses or vulnerabilities, including the potential for unauthorized parties to gain access to the system's features and data, as well as strengths, enabling a full risk assessment to be completed.

Sébastien Dudek, Founder and Security Engineer at PentHertz did a presentation at No Hat conference 2021. The outline of his talk says:

Expected to be released in 2021, we only see the early stage of 5G-NR connectivity in rare places around the world and we cannot talk yet about "real 5G" as current installations are put on the Non-Standalone mode (NSA) using 4G infrastructures. But in the meantime, it is important to get prepared for this upcoming technology and ways we can practically simulate real-world attacks in the future, with Standalone (SA) mode-capable devices and networks. In this presentation, we will see how to conduct practical security assignments on future 5G SA devices and networks, and how to investigate the protocol stack. To begin the presentation, we briefly present the differences with 2G-5G in terms of security applied to security assessment contexts, i.e. the limit we are left with, and how to circumvent them. Then we see how a 5G-NR security testbed looks like, and discuss what type of bugs are interesting to spot. Third, we make more sense about some attacks on devices by showing attacks that could be performed on the core side from the outside. Finally, we briefly introduce how we could move forward by looking at the 5G protocol stack and the state of the current mean.

Slides are available here and the video is embedded below:

A post on their website also looks at penetration of standalone 5G core. The post contains a video as well which can also be directly accessed here.

A new white paper from 5G Americas provides nearly annual updates around the topic of security in wireless cellular networks. The current edition addresses emerging challenges and opportunities, making recommendations for securing 5G networks in the context of the evolution to cloud-based and distributed networks. 

New whitepaper from 5G Americas, 'Security for 5G' provides a good overview of security in 3GPP Rel-15 & 16 - https://t.co/z0SxZUTWRK#Free5Gtraining #5GAmericas #5G #5GTechnology #5GSecurity #5GCore #SBA #Security #OpenRAN #SuuplyChain #Transportation #ZTN #APIs pic.twitter.com/fnWCIArTFv

— Free 5G Training (@5Gtraining) December 13, 2021

Additionally, the white paper provides insight into securing 5G in private, public, and hybrid cloud deployment models. Topics such as orchestration, automation, cloud-native security, and application programming interface (API) security are addressed. The transition from perimeter-based security to a zero-trust architecture to protect assets and data from external and internal threats is also discussed.

Related Posts: 

• 3G4G: 5G Security Overview by Mpirical
• The 3G4G Blog: Everything you need to know about 5G Security
• The 3G4G Blog: Impact of 5G on Lawful Interception and Law Enforcement
• The 3G4G Blog: Key Technology Aspects of 5G Security by Rohde & Schwarz
• The 3G4G Blog: 5G Roaming with SEPP (Security Edge Protection Proxy)
• 3G4G: Security in 2G, 3G, 4G & 5G Mobile Networks
• Free 6G Training: 6G Security Considerations 

Anritsu Webinar on 'Evolution of 5G from 3GPP Rel-15 to Rel-17 and Testing Challenges'

At the TSG#88e Plenary meetings that ended on 03 July 2020, Release 16 was completed with both the Stage 3 freeze and the ASN.1 and OpenAPI specification freeze being approved. The 3GPP Release-16 page has more details on timelines but they may shift. See at the bottom of this post.

Anritsu have uploaded a short presentation on their channel that I am embedding below. I have skipped the beginning part but of you feel like you want to listen, jump to the beginning.




Meanwhile in the recently concluded TSG#88e Plenary meetings, there is a discussion on some of the timelines for Release-17 and Rel-18 moving. This graph below is from SP-200606.

In another piece of 3GPP news, RAN Working Group 6 (WG6 or RAN6) – responsible for the GERAN and UTRAN radio and protocol work - was formally closed.  No new features but specs will be maintained as necessary, of course.

Finally, here is a short video interview by 3GPP in which Balazs Bertenyi looks back at the recent TSG RAN Plenary e-meeting. He talks about the challenges, about IMT-2020, Rel-16 being just on time & the prospects for Rel-17.

Release 16 - RAN progress from 3GPPlive on Vimeo.


Related Posts:

• 3G4G: 3GPP 5G Specifications
• 3G4G: 5G Health & Safety
• 3G4G: 5G (IMT-2020) Wireless
• The 3G4G Blog: A Technical Introduction to 5G NR RRC Inactive State
• The 3G4G Blog: An Introduction to Vehicle to Everything (V2X) and Cellular V2X (C-V2X)
• The 3G4G Blog: A Look into 5G Virtual/Open RAN - Part 6: Inter-gNB CU Handover involving Xn
• The 3G4G Blog: Carrier Aggregation (CA) and Dual Connectivity (DC)
• The 3G4G Blog: 5G Roaming with SEPP (Security Edge Protection Proxy)
• The 3G4G Blog: Embedded SIM (eSIM) and Integrated SIM (iSIM)

Free Apps for Field Testing - Part 2

The last time I wrote about the free apps for field testing, many people came back and suggested additional apps that are much more commonly used. In fact we got the following comment when 3G4G re-posted this

As Veix and others have said, missing Network Signal Guru and Cellmapper which are the only two I use nowadays.

— Peter Clarke (@PedroClarke1) June 25, 2018

As I have used both these apps frequently, here is a small summary on them.

Network Signal Guru: This is surprisingly very popular and is quite useful. The only issue is that you need to have a rooted phone with Qualcomm chipset. I know many testers have their favourite phones and quite a few testers buy the latest phones, root them and start testing using NSG (Network Signal Guru).

10 spatial streams, 4x4 MIMO, DL-256QAM, UL-64QAM, 4-Carrier Aggregation, LAA, 80MHz of spectrum, 500Mbps in the middle of Manhattan.

Nicely done @TMobile @NevilleRay @EricssonNetwork @Qualcomm_Tech @MotorolaUS pic.twitter.com/jvrQwvERef

— Milan Milanović (@milanmilanovic) March 10, 2018

I prefer using Motorola Moto Gx series phones. They are cheap, not too difficult to root (YouTube have quite a few tutorials and Google search works too) and I find that their receivers are better than others. Have detected cells that other phones cant and have even camped and speed tested on them too.

So what can NSG do?

It can provide lots of useful information on the physical layer, cell configurations, neighbor cell lists, MIMO, etc.

You can even RAT lock to LTE / WCDMA / GSM and band lock to use a specific band. It can be very useful during surveys when you want to check if you can see particular frequency anywhere in an area. You can also see Codecs, RACH information, Data information, etc.

Finally, one of the best things I find is the signalling information. Some of the details are only available for purchased option, its nevertheless very useful. Just in case you are wondering how much does it cost, its roughly £50 per month license in UK.


Cell Mapper: I find this much more helpful as it can be used without rooting. CellMapper is a crowd-sourced cellular tower and coverage mapping service. Its simple and only used for basic testing but nevertheless very useful. To give you an idea, the other day I was camped on a cell with very good signal quality but very poor data rates and there weren't many people so congestion didn't seem like a factor. On investigation I found out that I was camped on 800MHz band that has limited bandwidth per operator and there was no CA.

Cell mapper, as you can see provides information about the cell you are camped on, the cell tower location, what other sectors and frequencies are there, etc.


Do you have a favorite testing app that I missed? Let me know in comments.

Debugging Problem: Same Phones With Different Signal Levels?

I have discussed this problem in past, based on questions asked on various fora (example). Here is a video I made some weeks back. Will be interested to know what other reasons people can come up with 😊.

Free Apps for Field Testing

People who follow me on Twitter may have often noticed I put photos when I am doing surveys, field testing, debugging, etc. In the good old days we often had to carry a lot of different kind of specialised test equipment to do basic measurements. Nowadays a lot of these can be done with the help of free apps on Android phones. The best tool that can provide a great amount of info is Qualcomm's QXDM but its really expensive.

Here are a few tools that I use. If you have one that I havent listed below, please add it in comments.

The screen shot shows the main tools along with my favourite, SpeedTest. While I agree that Speedtest is not the most reliable approach to speed of your connection, I think its the most standard one being used.

WiFi Analyzer is another great app that can be used at home and other locations where people complain about not getting good WiFi speeds. I have been at locations where the 2.4GHz is absolutely packed with APs. 5GHz is also getting busier, though there are still a lot of free channels.

G-NetTrack Lite is a great tool to keep track of the cells you have been visiting. In case you are driving this can collect a lot of valuable info. The paid version, G-NetTrack Pro can collect the info in form of a map that can be used for offline viewing with the help of Google Earth.

I use LTE Discovery mainly for finding the band I am currently camped on. It would be great if a tool can give the exact frequency and earfcn but the band is good enough too. I was once in a situation where I could see two different cells but they had the same PCI. Only after using this, I figured out they were on different bands.

Finally, Network Cell Info Lite gives neighbour cells which can often be useful. I am not sure of these are the neighbours from System Info or from Measurement Control messages sent by network or just something like Detected cells that the phone sees around.

Pind and IPConfig are other tools that can come handy sometimes.

Are there any other tools that you like? Please share using comments.

Free Apps for Field Testing - Part 2

Stress Testing of LTE devices

Another interesting presentation from R&S LTE Summit 2013 embedded below:

Stressing a LTE device with Typical User Behaviors from Zahid Ghadialy

Mobile Device Testing and its Path to Commercialization

Humour: 5 Stages of Bug Fixing

The above Dilbert strip is a reality for a lot of us, everyday. There are many bugs in each product and we only have a limited amount of time and resources that can be dedicated to fixing bugs. The '5 stages of bug fixing' was presented in one of the Cambridge Wireless events not long ago. I am not sure if allowed to mention by whom, so here it is anonymously.

The five stages of Bug Fixing

If you think about it from the Tester's point of view, this is what he prays for everyday. See the old post here.

LTE, LTE-A and Testing

Some months back R&S held a technical forum where there were many interesting talks and presentations. They have now uploaded video of all these presentations that can be viewed on their website (no embedding allowed).

Available to be viewed here.

LTE KPI's (Key Performance Indicators)

Key Performance Indicators of KPI's are indicators for if a device or equipment meets a certain reliability criteria for being ready for deployment.

In [1] the following KPI's are defined

• Accessibility
• Retainability
• Integrity
• Availability
• Mobility

[2] gives the requirements related to the above KPI's. Take for instance Accessibility, [2] defines the requirements as follows:

Business level requirements: If an end user cannot access a service it is hard to charge for the service. Also, if it happens often that an end-user cannot access the provided service, the end-user might change wireless subscription provider, i.e. loss of income for the network operator. Hence, to have a good accessibility of the services is important from a business point of view. This measurement assists the network operator with information about the accessibility provided to their customers.

Specification level requirements: The accessibility of an end-user application covers a wider area than just the E-UTRAN part. Hence it is important to realize that a KPI for this in E-UTRAN shall be limited to the parts that E-UTRAN has control of, i.e. the E-UTRAN KPI shall be defined so that it indicates the E-UTRAN contribution to the end-user impact, NOT attempt to take responsibility of the whole end-to-end part of service accessibility.

The service provided by E-UTRAN for this KPI shall be E-RAB. It shall be possible to measure the accessibility of E-RABs in E-UTRAN. Accessibility measurement should be available as a success rate for the attempts. 

As for defining an attempt, it shall be considered an attempt first when the eNodeB can be certain that is a request for an E-RAB. As for defining a success, it shall be considered a success when the eNodeB have completed its task to setup resources and the result of the E-RAB establishment can be informed to the requester of the E-RAB. The KPI shall be available per QoS group.

Use case description: In providing end-user services to wireless end-users, the first step is to get access to the wireless service. First after access to the service has been performed, the service can be used. If an accessibility measurement is not considered OK, then the network operator can investigate which steps that are required to improve the accessibility towards their customers. This measurement should be used for observing the impact of E-UTRAN on end-users service accessibility.

From the above, we can create certain tests to test the Accessibility KPI. Example cases as follows:

1. RRC Connection Setup for Registration success rates

2. RRC Connection Setup for Services success rates

3. Initial E-RAB Setup Success rates

4. Successive E-RAB Setup Success rates

5. Call (VoIP) setup success rates

[1] 3GPP TS 32.450: Key Performance Indicators (KPI) for Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN): Definitions

[2] 3GPP TS 32.451: Key Performance Indicators (KPI) for Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN); Requirements

More example of KPI's is available from this document:

Summary of QoS Requirements from Zahid Ghadialy

#FWIC Summary in Tweets with Pics, Presentations and Videos

Here is my summary from The 4th Future of Wireless International Conference (#FWIC). I created a OTT Stats, Facts and Figures presentation for the conference which is available here.


DAY 1

@zahidtg: #FWIC has started

@marekpawlowski: Full house for #fwic, sign of thriving, continually expanding mobile industry in Cambridge

@Qualcomm_UK: "Mobile is the largest technology platform in history" – #Qualcomm’s Joe Barrett at #FWIC keynote

@JawadAbbassi: Globally: 1 million new 3G connections are added on a daily basis. Source: @Qualcomm_IAR

@najeebster: 3.2bn 3G connections by 2016 Joe Barrett from Qualcomm at #FWIC

@geoffmccormick: data traffic to grow over 1000% in the next decade.

@Qualcomm_UK: “Consumers expect the amazing” – Joe Barrett of Qualcomm

@cambwireless: Joe Barrett from @Qualcomm_UK keynote 3.4 billion 3G connections by 2016, 1000 x growth in data by 2020

@Qualcomm_UK: #Snapdragon processors are used by 50+ manufacturers, in 340+ devices with a further 400+ in development – Joe Barrett, Qualcomm

@ndahad: The significance of mobile technologies globally, particularly emerging markets, & more smartphones to the masses http://ow.ly/i/IVvF

@Alliantus: Interesting first session. Powershift. New spectrum. More base stations - smaller & deployed to offload traffic - bring net closer.

@marekpawlowski: Does Qualcomm's Alljoyn hold possibility of internet of things network which meshes to become stronger the more entities which join?

@marekpawlowski: Qualcomm's Halo transferring kw power wirelessly over air gaps to charge cars. A final untethering of humans from power sockets?

@ndahad: Mobile - the digital 6th sense

@Alliantus: very interesting scene setting by #joebarrett #qualcomm one of best conference starts ever - on the button and no sales pitch. FAB.

@dw2: Note to self: learn more about http://www.qualcommhalo.com/ the Qualcomm Halo wireless charging system for cars mentioned by Joe Barrett

@geoffmccormick: biggest challenge for wireless auto charging is not the tech but the system. New behaviours and challenges abound.

@RichardTraherne: Further support for small cells to solve cellular access problems, at Future Wireless International Conference

@zahidtg: Connected car by Qualcomm at #FWIC

@Qualcomm_UK: Hey, @CambWireless #fwic and want to see the video #Qualcomm’s Joe Barrett talked about this morning?:



Joe Baratt's presentation is available here and the video is here.



@bensmithuk: Listening to Olaf Swantee (Everything Everywhere CEO)

@Alliantus: everything everywhere #Olafswantec CEO. Partnering for #4G. Built for data. More speed 4-6 times faster in lab. Latency improved.

@najeebster: Olaf Swantee, CEO, Everything Everywhere reckons this 4G stuff can provide connectivity equal to fixed-line broadband, hmm

@Alliantus: 4G tool for proving connectivity. Part of solution. Data growth rates 250 times in past year - smart phones and smart data.

@roryponeill: CEO Everything Everywhere Olaf Swantee "I'm staggered by the continuing growth of data. We can't cope with 3G...we must go 4G"

@cambwireless: Olaf Swantee, CEO, Everything Everywhere speaks at #fwic "Growth rates of 250% in data on the network every year"

@Alliantus: UK more dependent on services than any other because of service culture. Infrastructure needs to be improved - UK early adopters.

@kumithiru: wonder what percentage of EE's UK customer base using data hungry devices use them at home? 50% 60% 70% ?

@najeebster: 4G carries a stronger signal even cell edge, will help to solve rural broadband issues

@rob_symes: olaf swantee says there would huge job creation by next gen 4G network

@roryponeill: Olaf continues "Britain is reliant on digital service industry - no.1 contributor to GDP - yet 40 other countries have 4G already"

@Alliantus: #fwic reason delay because industry is sweating assets in UK. Big capital expenditure has not come. ROI? Not enough profit? Hard to believe.

@BrianIsATwit: Olaf Swantee #fwic 4G use cases are video, TV and real time gaming. B2B cloud services. M2M also driving new apps.

@BrianIsATwit: Olaf Swantee at #fwic inferring UK economy impacted by poor fixed and mobile broadband. 4G positive investment impact £5bn & 125K new jobs.

@Alliantus: #fwic ironically really poor O2 service here. Blocking tweet on everything everywhere? Or just because it is about #4G?

@Alliantus: role of lawyers in causing delay? Are we destined to be laggards and not leaders because of cyclical nature of Tech adoption?

@Alliantus: can be back on track quickly. Already have a 3G network? Many users think they are on 4G already.

@Alliantus: thought provoking talk. Really believes in focusing on customers. Passion. Making experience better. Good operator perspective.

@marekpawlowski: Refreshing to hear Olaf Swantee prioritising fundamental improvements to network quality over 'tariff gimmicks & loyalty points'

@marekpawlowski: However, concerned by Swantee's faith in 4G to solve rural access. Unlikely economics will be any different than any proceeding 'G'

@marekpawlowski: Challenge for Swantee will be moving from sales culture of pushing 'broadband' & 'smartphone' SKUs, getting closer to customer reality

@cambwireless: Olaf Swantree stresses the economy is dependent on digital infrastructure. 40 countries rolled out 4g already - uk falling behind

@BrianIsATwit: as a rural dweller my fixed and mobile experience terrible. don't doubt 4G capability but do doubt deployment and economics.

No Slides. Video of Olaf Swantee is available here

@Alliantus: #paultaylor #google. Text to speech. Can't tweet because of sensitivity. Confidentiality works both ways Google.

@geoffmccormick: is there an irony in google asking for privacy ??? Txt to voice google insider info coming soon (I hope).

@eurocomms: Interesting... Google engineering manager asks #fwic if his speech can remain confidential ahead of upcoming developer conference

@geoffmccormick: voice input needs visual confirmation. Interesting point made by google.

@eurocomms: Apologies to all those asking re Google at #fwic - WiFi ironically pretty poor... – talk was mainly about developments in speech technology

@Lautarinho: Amusing efforts by Google to keep information at a major conference private it seems.

@Brill_Brum: Muppet!... Google engineering manager asks #fwic if his speech can remain confidential ahead of upcoming developer conference

@rpctelecom: Paul Taylor of Google gave an interesting talk whose title he doesn't want mentioned and said some interesting unreportable things

@rpctelecom: By the way, Paul Taylor of Google needs @connectifyme to solve his hotel Internet multiple-device problems

No Video or Slides for presentation by Paul Taylor, Engineering Manager, Google

ZG: Since the Google I/O 2012 is already over, I dont see why this cannot be shared now. I will add the pictures at the end of this post.

@Alliantus: Interesting panel discussion. Femtocell for capacity? Will we as consumers spend the money themselves?

@cambwireless: Panel session @DavidCleevely pushes femtocell opportunity for new business model

@rupert_baines: @davidcleavely at #fwic on need for #smallcell how femtocells create opportunity & new business model for carriers: economics view not tech

@cambwireless: Panel Session Olaf Swantree says femtocells are part of the equation

@marekpawlowski: Good point about expediting uptake of femto cells by operators recognising & discounting femto use in tariffs. Few currently do.

@JawadAbbassi: 50% of #cellular users in the #UK still do not use a #smartphone

@roryponeill: Olaf "we still have 50% of our customers in the UK who don't have smartphones" <--this game is not over ;)

@marekpawlowski: Swantee: As internet becomes personal, people resist advertising. Digital advertising works only when it helps users complete missions

Video of Panel discussion here

@Alliantus: Chewing on ideas surrounding the evolution of the device. Rory O'Neill RIM.

@najeebster: Future of wireless by speaker from RIM. Vaguely ironic?

@najeebster: RIM - there are still CIOs that think response time to an email in over 48 hrs is OK

@Alliantus: predictive conversations can impact on way we communicate. Conversations will be written across multiple devices. Simplifying life?

@zahidtg: Is this the industry challenge?

@kumithiru: @roryponeill that's a big percentage. Vodafone recently referenced only 27% of European customer base are smartphone users

@geoffmccormick: great talk by @roryponeill of rim. Concise explanation of the role of device innovation and associated experiences. Well done !

@Alliantus: plenty of room for innovation in the market. Incredible growth potential. More of a bb pitch than generic piece about industry.

@najeebster: very decent spiel by @roryponeill that there's room for more than 2 players in a $1.4Tr mkt

@Alliantus: global market is aggregation of lots of local markets. Interesting concept worth noting.

@marekpawlowski: A vision of Blackberry at heart of internet of things, using back end to predict, mediate conversations & transactions by @roryponeill

@marekpawlowski: Not sure I agree with @roryponeill that digital simplifies conversations. Rather allows us to deal with more simultaneous complexity

@JawadAbbassi: According to #Blackberry, globally #smartphones make up 23% of total cellular handsets.

Rory O’Neill, Vice President of Software and Services EMEA, RIM presentation here and video here

@Alliantus: RichardJacklin #anite my god its full of stars. iPhone created new form factor. Much reduced range of models. Is this a trend?

@Alliantus: Model range dip in 2011. Seen across all devices as shift in vendors.

@rob_symes: data prices must rise by 40 percent to make up for loss of voice and messaging

@dw2: Liked the Arthur C Clarke 2001 references in Richard Jacklin's #fwicinnovation talk. I'll have some more in my debate pitch tomorrow :-)

@mattablott: Some interesting studies on operator 'device ranging' by Anite

@dw2: Richard Jacklin's summary of Samsung's recipe for device success: experiment rapidly with multiple approaches + smartly observe market

@marekpawlowski: Hearing how differentiation moved to software. Is it that users don't want differentiated hardware or just it is currently uneconomic?

@sdfriedner: Hot topics at #FWIC How will devices, particularly smartphones evolve in the future and what will be the differentiator?

@marekpawlowski: Asked: is great RF performance a UX differentiator? Yes, but not at point of sale! Becomes relevant once you own, when it's too late!

@marekpawlowski: Revealing reaction to Q about improving sustainability by keeping, upgrading handsets longer. "Our industry is based on consumption."

@zahidtg: Interesting analysis of cost/defect by Richard Jacklin of Anite

Richard Jacklin, Business Development Director, Anite; presentation here, video here

@rpctelecom: Of the around 40 speakers and panelists at #fwic as far as I can see only 3 are women. Hmmm says something about our industry I fear.


Track 1: Four Pathways to International Business Growth - Chaired by John Davies, UKTI

@cambwireless: Finbarr Moynihan at Mediatek says smartphones will have 60-70% of market with 100 dollar smartphone possible

Presentations:

• Ubiquitous Global Connections: M2M Clouds - Paul Green, Technical and Marketing Director, Arkessa
• Lessons Learned in the Journey from 2G Feature Phones for China to Worldwide 3G Smartphones - Finbarr Moynihan, Director of Business Development, MediaTek
• Fundraising in Europe: 10 non-textbook lessons for entrepreneurs - Maria Dramalioti-Taylor, Managing Partner, x.Million Capital Ventures
• Antix Game Player - Francis Charig, Chief Executive and Founder, Antix Labs

Track 2: Utility or Valued Brand - Chaired by Mark Neild, Nokia Siemens Network


@cambwireless: Track 2 at #fwic Looking at value based pricing - mobile operators need to focus on core bus. Partner with OTT - don't compete

@cambwireless: Mark Neild, Nokia Siemens networks: Up to third of revenue on handset subsidy

@cambwireless: iPhone put more focus on network quality. Customers care more about quality of their networks

@cambwireless: Mark Neild, Nokia Siemens Network says operators need to stick to what they are good at - delivering access

Presentations:

• Mobile Service providers: Utility or valued brand? - Jean-Marie Stas, Marketing Intelligence Manager, Telindus
• Changes in user demand for wireless services impacting future wireless network deployment - Mark Main, Lead Consultant, Analysys Mason
• Network Traffic and Economics from a Mobile Data Perspective - Dr. Khal Farhat, CEO, Terranet (Comium)
• Keeping Mobile Operators Relevant - Mark Neild, Head of Business Transformation Services, Nokia Siemens Network

Track 3: Bandwidth Hogs or Experience Innovators - Chaired by Reginald Kipke, Velocix

@marekpawlowski: Terrifyingly prehistoric to be sitting in a session about 'threats and opportunities' of OTT

@marekpawlowski: Myriad's @MWJ encourages operators to do *something* with digital service innovation. Doesn't need to be perfect first time, just try

@marekpawlowski: Good point by @mwj about how forgiving customers can be of experimentation if it meets certain needs. Good UX isn't about perfection.

Presentations:

• Helping operators address OTT revenue cannibalisation - Mark Watts-Jones, Director, Social Mobile Portfolio, Myriad Group
• WHAT or WHERE or WHO - IS THE AUDIENCE? - Reginald Kipke, Senior Sales Support Manager, Velocix
• Why content rights are the key to network evolution - Bo Olofsson, Director, Product Research Group, BSkyB

Track 4: Where Next for Devices - Chaired by Zahid Ghadialy, Explanotech


@zahidtg: Wow! Track 4 at #FWIC is completely packed. Everyone loves to hear about device evolution.

@JawadAbbassi: The Future #Internet of things will need a machine 2 machine gateway to be scaleable

@zahidtg: Lol. Ian Davidsons slide

@zahidtg: Arm did an analysis that even though your phone may be 2GHz and 4 core, most of the time its running on 200MHz

@zahidtg: Science fiction here...transmission of Smell @ track4

@zahidtg: From a presentation by Jenny Tillotson

@zahidtg: Who has tried transmitting smells

@zahidtg: Interesting slide by @BrianIsATwit

Presentations: 

• Future M2M - building in security and scalability - Iain Davidson, Business Development, Freescale
• Your World at Your Fingertips - Vincent Korstanje, VP Segment Marketing, ARM
• Scent Phone - Dr Jenny Tillotson, Senior Research Fellow, University of the Arts London
• SCIENCE FACTION - Brian Roberston, Associate Director, Broadcom

Track 5: The continuing role of Intellectual Property - Chaired by John Haine, Cognovo

Presentations:

• Essential patent licensing - Robert Pocknell, Director, N&M Consulting
• The smartphone patent wars - Matthew Gillard, Partner, Withers & Rogers LLP
• How to Innovate and Survive in the Patent Jungle - Mark Collins, Chief Operating Officer, Cognovo
• The continuing role of intellectual property: Emerging strategies - Helena van der Vegt, Senior Associate, Cambridge IP

Dinner in St. John's college

Day 2

@zahidtg: Cambridge consultants showing their Small cells reference design with Mindspeed tech inside

@zahidtg: Freescale and Arkessa showing M2M for the next 50 billion devices at#FWIC

@cambwireless: Day two of #fwic well under way with Matthew Postgate, Head of R & D, BBC talking “How is mobile broadband changing broadcasting?”

@dw2: Found a jackpot of fascinating videos about the future of wireless tech at http://3g4g.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Videos courtesy of @zahidtg

@ndahad: the opportunities for mhealthcare. Professor Chris Lowe presenting on 2nd day of conference

@ndahad: what physicians typically looking for patients to track or monitor at home. Thousands of apps already available

@marekpawlowski: Perhaps there's no such thing as mHealth, just millions of distinct design challenges which, we hope, have some common tech solutions?

@ndahad: mhealthcare - the mhealth ecosystem

@marekpawlowski: Wealth of healthcare insights from Chris Lowe. Particularly the interest in doctors for using digital to facilitate more collaboration

@marekpawlowski: Also how greater self monitoring by patients could aid resource planning and epidemic response in the health system

@ndahad: big opportunity for mhealthcare solutions is in diabetes monitoring, 400 million affected worldwide, figure set to double in 10 years

@Alliantus: everyone saying what a fantastic job #ChrisLowe from Uni. Cambridge did this morning. Talking about mHealth

Prof. Chris Lowe, Director, University of Cambridge; slides here, video here

@kumithiru: Given voice to text keynote at yesterday's #FWIC fun to see@MatthewPostgate start with a Siri slide today

@Alliantus: How is mobile broadband changing broadcasting. A personal journey. Key enabler to redefine operating context. Industrial revolution.

@Alliantus: Towards a new broadcasting system. Universal. Live & on demand. Creation & curation. Immersive & pervasive. Shared and personal.

@Alliantus: Trend towards immersive and pervasive Tv. People want to be part of the service. Aunties view not the only one.

@Alliantus: Mobile equalised productisation with BBC content. No longer after thought.

@kumithiru: BBC 1-4-10 strategy for online service provision

@zahidtg: The 1 10 4 concept by BBC at #FWIC - 4 stands for 4 screens

@zahidtg: 50% of iPlayer access is now on 3G

@bensmithuk: BBC working on companion apps to play-out live in sync with programming including shows like Frozen Planet.

@Alliantus: is the broadcaster creator or curator? What is its role with user generated news, eg?

@BrianIsATwit: BBC #fwic future tech roadmap for broadcasting. LTE broadcast mode important.

@kumithiru: a lot of talk about e-MBMS in the US LTE networks good to see@MatthewPostgate of BBC deal with issue

@zahidtg: eMBMS is a research area by BBC :-)

@bensmithuk: BBC approaches for syncing 2nd screen: pure time sync, audio watermarking & syncing API interfaces (in order of 'frame accuracy')

@evolaris: Matthew Postgate, BBC: eMBMS interesting technology for broadcasters

@marekpawlowski: Matthew Postgate setting out immersive (3D, HD) & pervasive (new touchpoints) as tenets of BBC strategy

@marekpawlowski: BBC using Web sync, audio tags & home network API to link linear broadcast & companion devices. All must degrade gracefully

@marekpawlowski: Being able to link linear & companion content with frame accuracy is priority for BBC to try more creative multi-touchpoint experience

@marekpawlowski: Since iPlayer made accessible over cellular, has grown to 50/50 mix with Wifi on iPhone, but has not cannibalised Wifi at all

@marekpawlowski: However iPlayer iPad usage remains primarily Wifi, suggesting predominance of home usage

@marekpawlowski: I wonder if BBC will experiment beyond just multi-screen & start to build contextual experiences responsive to sensors & behaviour?

Matthew Postgate, Head of Research & Development, BBC; No Slides but Video is available here.

@zahidtg: Test challenges of connected car by Rohde&Schwarz

@zahidtg: We are also talking of VoLTE testing. The small note at the bottom has always worried me

Anton MessmerDirector of Subdivision, Mobile Radio Teseters, Rohde and Schwarz; slides here.

Innovation Hothouse - Chaired by Kevin Coleman, Project Director, 'Discovering Start-Ups'

Video here.

Policy Panel - Chaired by Stuart Revell, Chairman, ICT KTN Wireless Technology & Spectrum Working Group

@Alliantus: Airwave: spectrum is important to secure channels. Following global trends. Public safety network is minute in comparison to public.

@Alliantus: Small network for emergency response is expensive for small net. What price safety? Spectrum is important.

@Alliantus: Motorola. What do you want you phone 911? Someone who knows we ring 999. Cultural differences are interesting.

@zahidtg: Interesting. Emergency services use 0.9% of all spectrum between UHF and 6Ghz.

@RichardTraherne: Joe Butler, Ofcom, at Future #Wireless Conference #FWIC says radio spectrum access/use strategy must change

@Alliantus: International countries will not wait for Europe to make decisions. Sharing of infrastructure and services. LTE allows opportunity.

@Alliantus: How do we as a society value spectrum.

@Alliantus: voda. 15 year decisions regarding infrastructure. Where is the money? People don't care how they connect. How do we accommodate?

@cambwireless: Andy Hudson, Vodafone, head of spectrum policy, says that the most efficient use of spectrum is overall aim

@Alliantus: LTE not the soln for public safety. USA have made decisions that they will use it on the back of disasters such as Katrina and 911.

@Alliantus: Control will be driver for two networks. Could have sharing but only if emergency had control.

@zahidtg: I absolutely disagree that broadcasting is a complete waste of spectrum. If there were no broadcast ppl would try VOD, overwhelming nw

@cambwireless: Andy Hudson, Head of Spectrum Policy, Vodafone: "Biggest challenge is to make low cost high performance filter for handsets"

@rpctelecom: Jeppe Jepson of Motorola "broadcasting is the most wasteful use of the radio spectrum" - I'm not sure many would agree with him!

@rpctelecom: Ofcom wants a flexible spectrum map but will only "enable" not "regulate" for it. But will incumbents release spectrum if not pushed?

@rpctelecom: Andy Hudson of Vodafone says that Vodafone and O2 will share network infrastructure to give 98% indoor coverage in UK

Video of Policy Panel here.

@Alliantus: Colin Brereton #PwC Mobile enabler of global change. Interesting slide deck. Worth a download. Opportunity in Devoping World.

@bensmithuk: Don’t we need to stop marvelling at how the ‘young people’ are able to multi-screen and discuss / understand what all consumers want?

@bensmithuk: Tired of hearing ‘developed world’ & ‘emerging markets’ as binary distinction in mobile. Don’t we need a more granular description?

@Alliantus: New generation different mobile use. Apps 10Bn user market. See slides for other.

@cambwireless: Pwc - planet needs to be more productive. Mobile can become the primary enabler of social and economic development

@Peter_Whale: Thanks to Colin Bererton #PwC for laying challenge to focus creative energies on application of wireless to massively benefit society

Colin Brereton, Partner, Global Communications Industry Practice, PwC; slides here video here.

The Cambridge Debate

@zahidtg: #FWIC debate:This house believes that the future of Innovation in the wireless industry is within the Virtual rather than the Physical World

Video here.

@Peter_Whale: really stimulating 2 days. Head full of insights. Now the fun of connecting the dots; finding the takeaways; turning ideas into action

@vectafrank: well done@cambwireless - best yet!

Participants:

@cambwireless = Cambridge Wireless official twitter account

@zahidtg = Zahid Ghadialy

@marekpawlowski = Marek Pawlowski

@Qualcomm_UK = Qualcomm UK

@JawadAbbassi = Jawad J. Abbassi

@najeebster = Najeeb Khan

@geoffmccormick = geoff mccormick

@ndahad = Nitin Dahad

@Alliantus = Kevin Coleman

@dw2 = David Wood

@RichardTraherne = Richard Traherne

@bensmithuk = Ben Smith

@roryponeill = Rory O'Neill

@rob_symes = Rob Symes

@BrianIsATwit = Brian Robertson

@eurocomms = eurocomms

@rupert_baines = Rupert Baines

@mattablott = Matt Ablott

@sdfriedner = Saul Friedner

@Brill_Brum = Stu

@rpctelecom = RPC Telecom

@evolaris = evolaris

@RichardTraherne = Richard Traherne

@Peter_Whale = Peter Whale

@vectafrank = Frank Morris

In case you enjoyed my effort in collecting the tweets please let me know by clicking the 'Very Useful' checkbox below.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo Additional Information xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo 

As I mentioned in the beginning, Paul Taylor, Engineering Manager, Google, gave us a presentation and requested that we dont share information because of the Google developer conference. As this is over now, I am sharing the pics I took for his presentation. If anyone from Google raises an objection, I will take them down :-)