Vietnams New 3G Network

Vietnam gained its third 3G phone network on Thursday after the military-owned Viettel launched its WCMDA based service. The two other 3G capable networks are Vinaphone and Mobiphone.

Deputy General Director of Viettel Tong Viet Trung said that the company's 3G network has covered 63 localities nationwide. It is expected that the company's market share would be upbeat because of 3G launching which would bring more values to providers as well as customers.

The company has completed construction of 8,000 3G base stations, with plans to have 20,000 towers upgraded to 3G capability by the end of the year. Viettel has previously committed to providing 3G service to 86 percent of the population by April 2010 and 100 percent by August 2012.

Viettel has already awarded 3G rollout contracts to Nokia Siemens Networks, ZTE and Huawei. Estimates from the Mobile World shows that Viettel ended Q3 '09 with 26.5 million customers, representing a market share of 26.6%

FDD Technical summary

Frequency band:1920 MHz -1980 MHz and 2110 MHz - 2170 MHz (Frequency Division Duplex) UL and DL
Minimum frequency band required: ~ 2x5MHz
Frequency re-use: 1
Carrier Spacing: 4.4MHz - 5.2 MHz
Maximum number of (voice) channels on 2x5MHz: ~196 (spreading factor 256 UL, AMR 7.95kbps) / ~98 (spreading factor 128 UL, AMR 12.2kbps)
Voice coding: AMR codecs (4.75 kHz - 12.2 kHz, GSM EFR=12.2 kHz) and SID (1.8 kHz)
Channel coding: Convolutional coding, Turbo code for high rate data
Duplexer needed (190MHz separation), Asymmetric connection supported
Tx/Rx isolation: MS: 55dB, BS: 80dB
Receiver: Rake
Receiver sensitivity: Node B: -121dBm, Mobile -117dBm at BER of 10^-3
Data type: Packet and circuit switch
Modulation: QPSK
Pulse shaping: Root raised cosine, roll-off = 0.22
Chip rate: 3.84 Mcps
Channel raster: 200 kHz
Maximum user data rate (Physical channel): ~ 2.3Mbps (spreading factor 4, parallel codes (3 DL / 6 UL), 1/2 rate coding), but interference limited.
Maximum user data rate (Offered): 384 kbps (year 2002), higher rates ( ~ 2 Mbps) in the near future. HSPDA will offer data speeds up to 8-10 Mbps (and 20 Mbps for MIMO systems)
Channel bit rate: 5.76Mbps
Frame length: 10ms (38400 chips)
Number of slots / frame: 15
Number of chips / slot: 2560 chips
Handovers: Soft, Softer, (interfrequency: Hard)
Power control period: Time slot = 1500 Hz rate
Power control step size: 0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2 dB (Variable)
Power control range: UL 80dB, DL 30dB
Mobile peak power: Power class 1: +33 dBm (+1dB/-3dB) = 2W; class 2 +27 dBm, class 3 +24 dBm, class 4 +21 dBm
Number of unique base station identification codes: 512 / frequency
Physical layer spreading factors: 4 ... 256 UL, 4 ... 512 DL

Wimax Efficient than HSPA and LTE- Intel

A new whitepaper released by Intel asserts that WiMAX technology is more spectrally efficient than other mobile data technologies, resulting in advantages for operators including more subscribers per cell site and higher QOS data rates.

While large headline-grabbing theoretical/peak data rates of 50Mbps+ continue to be batted around the industry by proponents of HSPA and LTE, the more important measure is how efficiently these technologies use scarce spectrum resources. It is widely acknowledged that mobile data traffic demand will outpace the supply of actual network data capacity in the coming years, and therefore the average realized data throughput is the real metric that should be compared.

The whitepaper highlights the importance of spectral efficiency and the basics for calculating system capacity on a wireless network. The report compares mobile WiMAX 802.16e against three other technologies - HSPA (Rel 6), HSPA+ (Rel 7) and LTE (Rel 8).

According to the report, WiMAX is able to support a higher number of subscribers per cell site compared to the other technologies while supporting high QoS data rate applications. For example, using a 10MHz channel, WiMAX is able to support 20 video streaming users per sector at 256 kbps, compared to 12 users at 128 kbps on an HSPA network. Furthermore, WiMAX networks are able to support a large number of users even with high monthly data usage of 12GB per subscriber.

The complete whitepaper can be downloaded here.

Wimax Vendors

	Alvarion Ltd. - Alvarion (NASDAQ: ALVR) is the largest WiMAX pure-player with the most extensive WiMAX customer base and over 250 commercial deployments around the globe. Committed to growing the WiMAX market, the company offers solutions for a wide range of frequency bands supporting a variety of business cases.
	Aptilo - Aptilo Networks is the global leader in integrated management solutions for control of access, user services and billing in WiMAX and Wi-Fi networks. Selected by premier business partners such as Nortel, Cisco and HP, Aptilo has become the provider of choice for service providers, enterprises and municipalities in need of a rapidly deployable, scalable multi-service solution to easily manage data and voice services over these networks.
	Cisco - (NASDAQ: CSCO) enables people to make powerful connections-whether in business, education, philanthropy, or creativity. Cisco hardware, software, and service offerings are used to create the Internet solutions that make networks possible-providing easy access to information anywhere, at any time.
	Fujitsu - Fujitsu joined the WiMAX Forum in 2002 as a founding board member and has helped the Forum promote and certify compatibility and interoperability of broadband wireless products. Fujitsu’s semiconductor solutions are helping expand the use of high-performance, cost-effective mobile WiMAX devices.
	Hutton - Hutton Communications, Inc. headquartered in Dallas Texas, is a distributor of commercial wireless communications and related equipment. Hutton serves cellular and radio communications dealers, wireless communications carriers and self-maintained end users of communications systems
	MECA Electronics, Inc. - MECA has the essential RF components needed to mesh your new WiMAX networks to existing infrastructure including Fixed Attenuators, Directional & Hybrid Couplers, Isolators/Circulators, Power Divider/Combiners, RF Loads, DC Blocks & Bias Tees. Most models available from STOCK – 2 weeks ARO.
	Samsung - Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in semiconductor, telecommunication, digital media and digital convergence technologies. Employing approximately 138,000 people in 124 offices in 56 countries, the company consists of five main business units: Digital Media Business, LCD Business, Semiconductor Business, Telecommunication Network Business and Digital Appliance Business.
	TESSCO Technologies Incorporated - TESSCO supplies wireless communications and networking products and solutions to business professionals. You can choose from over 30,000 competitively-priced products from 350 manufacturers with guaranteed delivery.
	Vecima Networks, Inc. - Vecima Networks Inc. (Vecima) is a recognized designer and manufacturer of broadband wired and wireless networks. Vecima's innovative products - including Brand Name and Original Equipment Manufacture (OEM) products - have gained wide acceptance for their superior quality and performance.

Wimax Network:- Importance AAA

Q) What exactly is AAA?

AAA stands for Authentication, Authorization and Accounting. It is a core part of a service management solution providing control of access, user services and billing in wireless and fixed networks. Many AAA solutions stop there; others on the market go much farther, offering additional values such as subscriber and session management, policy control, voucher management, advanced authentication, intelligent roaming and a more. These additional features are designed to provide a solid foundation for a growing network. They can also help differentiate a business (or service) from a crowded field.

Q) Why is AAA important? Isn't it just an "add-on" feature that comes at the end of building out a wireless service?

We have met with many prospective customers during the past years. Many of those have made the choice of AAA solution an active one, with procurement happening early in the deployment process. Making their AAA selection up-front became a fundamental component in making sure that both their current business models of today as well as future ones would be supported. In essence this is what is required to secure future success for any provider in the market.

All too often, however, we face prospective customers who for some reason have turned the selection of AAA into a non-active choice. In those cases the decision is often made very late in the process, and frequently based on only a very few main criteria, such as number of authentications per second. Even though this of course is an important parameter, making a AAA decision based solely on this single aspect can be fatal for your business, with significant limitations as a consequence.

You could compare it to buying a car using the amount of horsepower as your only selection criteria and then hitting the nearest highway, without even thinking about what your vehicle should be used for or where you want to go. The AAA service management solution should more be regarded as the dashboard of the car combined with a steering wheel, accelerator and brakes, indicators and GPS system. It is in essence where services are defined and personalized, and policies enforced to control which users access the Internet, their service level and billing. In other words AAA should be regarded as your most important node when it comes to defining exactly what services you want to bring to your customers. With this in mind there is no question that AAA should be one of your first thoughts; certainly not a forgotten item.

One should never underestimate the importance of starting with the business aspects and goals, and make the best possible attempt to outline the short- and long-term commercial models, as this can have a direct impact on the entire network and radio equipment selection. Some vendors may simply have difficulty technically supporting the business models you want to implement. So, start with the business aspect of your services and do not settle with only the core functions. While these core functions might be obvious at first thought, it is important to go beyond that to seek the functionality that can really make a difference for your business.

Q) What features do AAA and service management offer that are relevant to today's changing market, specifically for WiMAX?

WiMAX has of course been very inspired by the mobile/cellular world when it comes to technology including its well-defined standard nodes and licensed spectrum. However, it has also been affected by the Wi-Fi hotspot and fixed broadband markets when it comes to business models. The need to deploy nomadic and online signup-types of business models is increasing by the fast-growing number of WiMAX-embedded devices on the market. Developing countries have proven to be the strongest market for WiMAX. In many of these markets it's just not feasible to send an invoice at the end of the month, the credit risk is often all too high.

Instead operators are looking at prepaid business models similar to those used with Wi-Fi hotspots. A complicating factor is that in many of these markets the use of credit cards is not a viable alternative either, so the ability to offer different alternatives with prepaid, including scratch cards and refill of prepaid accounts through ATM machines is a must. It is therefore important to choose a AAA solution with well thought-out APIs and the flexibility to seamlessly integrate with different external payment support systems e.g. an ATM machine-based refill solution.

Interoperability in a changing wireless landscape is also an important feature that a well-built AAA solution can address. There are many existing fixed broadband Internet ISPs deploying WiMAX as a mobile alternative for their clients. They all have some sort of legacy AAA or LDAP user database that cannot support the new WiMAX installation. One option is to implement a new network for the WiMAX deployment with all the back-end systems in parallel with the existing network. This is a costly approach with product investments, the need to build up know-how for the new systems and additional operational costs for running two different parallel solutions.

Fortunately there are AAA vendors that go beyond basic AAA and offer a solution that makes the WiMAX network interoperable with the legacy AAA or LDAP database. One such an example is the Aptilo WiMAX Legacy Connector™ which mediates between the WiMAX-specific AAA attributes and the legacy user database, making it possible to just "plug-in" a WiMAX network on top of the existing legacy ISP back-end.

Q) What is needed in a AAA solution to support next-generation WiMAX services?

A good AAA solution will have interfaces that allow an application to trigger a Change of Authorization (CoA) request to, for instance, increase the bandwidth temporarily for a user. One example of the type of application where this would be a tremendous benefit is next-generation WiMAX services such as Video-on-demand (VoD), where a VoD server can trigger an increase of the bandwidth when a user decides to watch a movie. The only way to accommodate this is to have a AAA solution that is flexible enough to allow a CoA request from the VoD server over the Internet through some sort of provisioning interface. The same interface could potentially also be used for provisioning of new users from external portals or over-the-air OMA-DM systems.

Intercompany Unified Communications Calls Over Internet

Cisco, at the VoiceCon conference in Orlando, announced that it has conducted the first intercompany unified communications calls over the Internet using the Cisco Intercompany Media Engine (IME), an integral part of Cisco's collaboration portfolio of products and services.

The business-to-business discussions included calls between Cisco and Australian-based Queensland Rail, and between Cisco and the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Through Cisco IME, all participants were able to spontaneously, simultaneously and with high security enjoy enterprise video and high-fidelity wideband audio from their video-enabled devices by simply dialing standard phone numbers.

Built on proposed standards that Cisco has submitted to the Internet Engineering Task Force, Cisco IME enables companies to conduct highly secure, high-quality, voice and video telephone calls between companies across the Internet using their existing telephone numbers without the need to re-provision or replace currently deployed infrastructure.

Cisco IME is designed to increase collaboration throughout value chains. As businesses increasingly engage with a variety of external communities and rely upon their trusted partners to deliver results, the need to better collaborate across corporate network boundaries is paramount. The goal of Cisco IME is to allow organizations already realizing the benefits of video telephony and other advanced unified communications features internally to now extend those capabilities externally to similarly equipped customers, suppliers and strategic partners.

Cisco IME is based on a "self-learning" technology, one that learns new routes based on calling patterns and automatically recognizes when users are operating in an IME-equipped network. It discovers and manages all aspects of facilitating highly secure, high-quality, low-cost call routing via IP networks including the Internet making the experience easy to use for both users and administrators alike.

The technology allows end users to more effectively communicate using body language through video, as well as optimized voice technology, while at the same time helping to reduce costs. Additionally, services from Cisco and its partners can help ensure customers derive the greatest possible return from the technology and experience better collaboration across network boundaries. Cisco said IME builds on its history of providing solutions across its collaboration portfolio that foster business-to-business collaboration, including offerings from Cisco TelePresence and Cisco WebEx.

Top 10 Techonology set to evolve in 2011- by Gartner

Gartner Inc. has identified 10 mobile technologies that will evolve significantly through 2011 in ways that will impact short-term mobile strategies and policies. Investments in mobile applications and technologies will increase through 2011 as organizations emerge from the recession and ramp up both business-to-employee (B2E) and business-to-consumer (B2C) mobile spending.

"We are highlighting these 10 mobile technologies that should be on every organization's radar screen," said Nick Jones, vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner. "These mobile technologies were selected because they will evolve in ways that affect corporate strategies, significant numbers of customers or employees will adopt or expect them, or they will address particular mobile challenges that organizations will face through 2011."

The 10 mobile technologies to watch in 2010 and 2011 include:

Bluetooth (3 and 4)
Two new Bluetooth versions will emerge by 2011: Bluetooth 3 will introduce 802.11 as a bearer for faster data transmission, and Bluetooth 4 will introduce a new low-energy (LE) mode that will enable communication with external peripherals and sensors. Both versions will include other technical improvements to improve battery life and security. Gartner believes that Bluetooth 3 will facilitate corporate and consumer functions demanding large bandwidth (e.g., downloading images and videos from handsets). Bluetooth LE will enable a range of new sensor-based business models in industries such as fitness, healthcare and environmental control and will be used by handset and PC peripherals to enable new functions, such as PCs that autolock when users move away from them.

The Mobile Web
By 2011, over 85% of handsets shipped globally will include some form of browser. In mature markets, such as Western Europe and Japan, around 60% of handsets shipped will be smartphones with sophisticated browsing capability and the ability to render conventional HTML sites in some manner. The growth in smartphones with relatively large and high-resolution screens will encourage greater numbers of people to access conventional websites on mobile devices, and will make it possible to deliver some B2C applications using conventional Web tools without adaptation. In mature markets, the mobile Web, along with associated Web adaptation tools, will be a leading technology for B2C mobile applications through 2012, and should be part of every organization's B2C technology portfolio.

Mobile Widgets

Widgets are installable Web applications that use technologies such as JavaScript and HTML. Many handsets support widgets running on their home screens, where they are easily visible and accessible. Despite the lack of standards, widgets provide a convenient way to deliver simple, connected applications, especially those involving real-time data updates (such as weather forecasts, email notifications, marketing, blogs and information feeds). Because widgets exploit well-understood tools and technologies, they have lower entry barriers than complex native applications, and thus can be a good first step to assess the demand for an application on a specific platform before undertaking expensive native development.

Platform-Independent Mobile AD Tools
Mobile platforms will become more diverse through 2012 although consolidation will not have started, and, in some markets, five or more platforms may have a significant presence. Therefore, tools that can reduce the burden of delivering installable applications to several platforms will be very attractive. Platform-independent application development (AD) tools cannot deliver a "write once, run anywhere" equivalent to native code; however, they can significantly reduce the cost of delivering and supporting multiplatform applications that provide a more sophisticated experience than the mobile Web and operate outside signal coverage.

App Stores
App stores will be the primary (and, in some cases, the only) way to distribute applications to smartphones and other mobile devices. App stores also provide a range of business support functions, such as payment processing, that assist smaller organizations. Gartner believes that app stores will play many roles in an organization's B2C and B2E strategies. They will be a distribution channel for mobile applications and a commercial channel to sell applications and content (especially in international markets), and they will provide new options for application sourcing. Many applications will exploit ecosystem cloud services.

Enhanced Location Awareness
By the end of 2011, over 75 percent of devices shipped in mature markets will include a GPS. GPS will be the primary, but not the only, means of establishing handset location. Wi-Fi and cell ID systems will remain important in situations where GPS is unavailable or unreliable. The popularity of location-aware handsets will enable a wide range of B2E and B2C location-aware applications, and will serve as a foundation for more-sophisticated contextual applications in the future. However, organizations must be sensitive to local privacy regulations, ensure that applications that expose location are "opt in", and remain on alert for new risks and concerns that will be raised by location awareness.

Cellular Broadband
During 2010 and 2011, the availability of multimegabit wireless broadband performance will continue to grow as mobile networks enhance their broadband performance. Continuous improvements in wireless broadband performance will increase the range of applications that no longer require fixed networking, and make cellular broadband a more effective fallback when fixed connections fail. Embedded cellular networking will become a standard feature of many corporate laptops, and will enable new types of network-connected devices and business models, such as e-books and media players.

Touchscreens
Touchscreens are emerging as the dominant user interface for large-screen handsets, and will be included in over 60% of mobile devices shipped in Western Europe and North America in 2011. Touch-enabled devices will also make increasing use of techniques such as haptics to enhance user experience. Organizations developing native handset applications may need to exploit single and multitouch interfaces and haptics to give their applications a compelling and competitive user experience.

M2M
Many network service providers increased their commitment to machine to machine (M2M) in 2009, so a good range of both national and multinational M2M service options will be available in mature markets during 2010 and 2011. Although the M2M market is very fragmented, it's growing at over 30% per year. Low-cost M2M modules will enable a wide range of new networked devices and business models. Key applications include smart grid, meter reading, security/surveillance, automotive systems, vending and point of sale, remote monitoring, and track and trace.

Device-Independent Security
This isn't strictly a single technology, but refers to a collection of security technologies, application technologies and sourcing options that enable the provisioning of applications that are secure, but less tightly tied to specific devices and platforms, and that, in many cases, do not require security tools to be installed on the client. It includes thin-client architectures, applications as a service, platform-independent forms of network access control (NAC), portable personality, virtualization, and hosted security services, such as "in the cloud" virus scanning. Device-independent tools cannot provide the rigor of fully installed security, but a blend of several of these tools can enable CIOs to deliver applications that can run on a wider range of devices while reducing security risks.

IPV6 Myths

Myth #1: IPv6 networking provides service/location separation
Reality: Totally bogus.

A broken protocol stack and a broken reference implementation are among the biggest issues the Internet is facing today. Both require an application to take a service name, translate it into a network address and establish a connection to that address. Burdened with a transport protocol (TCP) that still lives in the dial-up world, the applications simply cannot cope with a service that is available on multiple network locations.

The IPv6 networking protocol could have solved this problem if its architects hadn't limited themselves to the single goal of extending address length. In its current incarnation, IPv6 gives us a longer address and nothing more.

Myth #2: IPv6 will simplify multihoming
Reality: Missed opportunity.

The designers of IPv6 took multihoming seriously and developed a protocol in which a single host can easily acquire multiple IPv6 addresses, even from address spaces belonging to multiple upstream service providers. Unfortunately, they've never tested their theories in real life. Having multiple IPv6 addresses does not help if the upper layers cannot use them efficiently (see previous myth).

Technologies that could support efficient multihoming with IPv6 are already available (SHIM and SCTP, for example) but not widely used because it's easier for everyone to grab a provider-independent (PI) chunk of address space and pollute the global Internet routing tables.

Without an extra layer between the IPv6 addresses and the applications, the multihoming of e-commerce servers in the IPv6 world remains identical to IPv4 multihoming, and providing resilience to smaller client sites actually gets harder because IPv6 does not have Network Address Translation (NAT).

Myth #3: IPv6 will reduce IP routing tables and BGP problems
Reality: Missed opportunity.

The architects of IPv6 envisioned a strictly hierarchical address space in which every service provider would get huge amounts of address space and advertise only a few prefixes into the global routing tables. Unfortunately, they've never considered the high-availability requirements of e-commerce

The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) had 15 years to address multihoming issues but failed to do so (see the previous myth). The only solution available to anyone who wants to be somewhat independent of a single service provider is to get a chunk of PI address space, run the border gateway protocol (BGP) and advertise the PI prefix to the global Internet. If anything, the routing tables will grow exponentially with the introduction of IPv6, as everyone will try to get PI address space.

BGP will fare even worse. Not only will the size of the IPv6 global routing table increase, IPv6 BGP tables use more space (and more bandwidth) than the corresponding IPv4 BGP tables. Last but not least, you should also consider what happens in the IPv6 transition period, when the routers will have to carry both IPv4 and IPv6 prefixes for the same set of end-user equipment.

Myth #4: IPv6 has better Quality of Service (QoS)
Reality: Obsolete.

IPv6 packet headers have a flow field designed to identify individual flows, which might be useful on low-speed links. On a decently fast link, you're forced to use class-based QoS (DiffServ) which uses DSCP field in the packet header, as the flow-based QoS (IntServ) does not scale. DSCP field is available in both IPv4 and IPv6 headers.

Myth #5: IPv6 has better security
Reality: Not true.

IPSec might be better integrated in IPv6 headers, but there's nothing you can do with IPv6 IPSec that you cannot do with IPv4 IPSec.

Myth #6: IPv6 is required for mobility
Reality: No longer true.

When IPv6 was designed, IPv4 did not provide any IP mobility features. The lack of IPv6 networking deployment has prompted the development of IPv4 mobility solutions. Today, it's not hard to implement IPv4-based mobility. It is true, however, that the explosive growth of mobile devices requires enormous amounts of address space that cannot be provided with the IPv4 addresses.

Myth #7: Residential IPv6 is less secure because it does not require NAT
Reality: Ignorance.

Some engineers think that the NAT commonly used in residential CPE devices provides extra security owing to obfuscation of actual IP addresses of the hosts behind the CPE device. Enterprise-grade NAT implementations (available, for example, in Cisco IOS) provide security somewhat equivalent to a stateful packet inspection, but consumer-grade NAT available in most CPE devices does not.

Scanning the IPv6 address space looking for vulnerable hosts (a common hacker pastime) is totally useless in the IPv6 networking world. Using the current best practices, each consumer will get the equivalent of a billion's worth of today's Internet's addresses. Even if your workstation sits behind an unprotected CPE, finding it from afar would be quite a feat.

Furthermore, every modern operating system contains basic firewall capabilities (for example, the ability to block unwanted incoming sessions) that to some degree augment the functionality provided by CPE devices.

Last but not least, if residential security becomes an issue, the market will force even the low-cost CPE vendors to implement some basic filters to protect the end users.

Issues in Evovled Packet Core

Evolved Packet Core Issue #1: LTE data services

In mature mobile markets, there has been a 4G technology divide, with WiMAX services aimed predominantly at data service models, and LTE evolving out of current 3G mobile services, whose initial mission was voice. That said, given how strong a technology LTE is for delivering data services, shouldn't it also be focused on data opportunities?

Most operators believe it should be. LTE planners say that it is critical to plan 4G LTE network deployment in terms of data services, which is why EPC planning is so important. If EPC principles are followed, then mobility management and registration are easily linked to IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) service control, and LTE voice services can be added as a control layer. The impact of voice traffic on the data plane would then be minimal.

Evolved Packet Core Issue #2: Networking the towers

Since 4G LTE network capacity per cell is 10 times or more the capacity of 3G technology, fully exploiting its benefits probably requires fiber-to-the-tower technology. The question is then about where the fiber should connect. The traditional method is to backhaul fiber to the local central office (CO)

deployments, that would create an aggregation issue in central offices, which would only increases the CO requirement for fiber capacity outward to service points. So is the traditional approach the right one?

Operators have a growing conviction that the metro topology of EPC should create a series of wireless aggregation points to which fiber from the towers is homed. This is most practical in dense metro areas, of course, but as long as utility fiber or right-of-way is available, creating fiber paths from the tower to a node close to the service points for voice and data improves performance and Quality of Service (QoS) control.

Evolved Packet Core Issue #3: Mobile security

The advent of smart mobile devices generates a risk that mobile appliances could be used to attack one another, elements of the infrastructure, or even wireline sites, given higher mobile bandwidth. Mobile services also expose operators to the risk that customer information and location might be revealed and used in illegal activity. The question is whether to push mobile security as an appliance or a network issue.

Operators seem to agree that mobile security is a network issue, but they also recognize that many mobile applications (phone-as-credit-card, for example) demand a high level of handset/appliance security. Operators are looking for a service-based security system for mobile that lives in the network and can be extended via hotspots, femtocells and home services into the wireline space. Virtually all operators see this as a layer beyond EPC and IMS because it is most significant for Internet-based services.

Evolved Packet Core Issue #4: QoS and traffic management

While there is long-standing operator conviction that QoS is a major service differentiator, two emerging trends seem to counter that notion. First, the Internet has conditioned users to best-effort services, reducing the premium they'll pay for QoS. Second, regulators are wrestling with questions of net neutrality that may influence whether operators could charge for premium handling.

Most operators believe that traffic management for mobile networks will be an essential part of providing reasonable service quality to all, but they are concerned whether traffic management applications to provide premium handling will be profitable and acceptable. They are most likely to invest in approaches that are cost-effective in managing traffic at the level needed to assure network stability but are also expanded in scope to supply premium handling where it is legal and profitable. Most believe that EPC tunnel management provides the needed transport facilities but that registration and application security will be needed to link traffic flows with service policies.

Evolved Packet Core Issue #5: App developer programs

The last issue focuses on developer programs and mobile services. Operators have been impressed (and sometimes annoyed) at the success of application stores like the one Apple launched with its iPhone. They are also worried that a highly competitive smartphone and data appliance market may sap their own opportunities to provide premium mobile services. To offer application stores without differentiated applications to sell seems like a waste of an opportunity. But where can differentiation be created?

Most operators believe that exposing some service assets through developer programs and software tool kits is essential, but they are very concerned that exposure could threaten network stability. Operators consider some mechanism to isolate basic EPC processes from developers through a gateway to be essential in protecting service experiences to the user. Operators are working with equipment vendors to create the right model.

Using operator views as a guide

4G LTE network infrastructure planners should use operator consensus as a guideline in their own planning, recognizing that every mobile operator has a unique market and business model, unique regulatory oversight and unique current network infrastructure commitments. The best answers from the industry are only policy guidelines to be used in creating the best answer for your own company.

Evolved Packet Core for 3G/4G

majority of wireless traffic rides traditional wireline copper and fiber facilities for most of its trip from originator to destination. But for the portion of the network that is wireless, data services growth on 3G networks has created a mobile backhaul problem in terms of transporting this traffic to or from the wireline network to the user.

For 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) services, the new Evolved Packet Core (EPC) gives operators an architectural advantage for transporting wireless traffic. Yet for operators deploying LTE from a 3G service-base, evolving 3G mobile backhaul to EPC may be as big a planning issue as evolving 3G radio networks and handsets to 4G.

Transport infrastructure for 3G and 4G services can be divided into two categories:

1. Mobile service elements with components that are aware of registration, mobility and service control aspects of mobile services;
2. Transport/backhaul elements that provide connectivity between tower locations and service points.

Making sure mobile backhaul accommodates both 3G and 4G services

Both mobile service and transport/backhaul elements must be evolved in harmony so they can transition between 3G and 4G services

Mobile backhaul and 3G transport strategies vary depending on exactly what kind of 3G services are used (e.g., EDGE, HSPA, CDMA). In practice, however, most operators have deployed either time-division multiplexing (TDM) or asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) (AAL2) backhaul facilities to take advantage of their metro infrastructure and core technology.

This backhaul structure must be migrated to EPC during the evolution to 4G, and since fiber-feeding the tower sites is the preferred approach to 4G deployment, either parallel TDM/Ethernet or TDM over Ethernet Pseudowire Emulation Edge-to-Edge) is likely to be deployed.

The question of integrating TDM backhaul for 3G with LTE/4G backhaul, which is also appropriate for High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) creates a question in the Evolved Packet Core's basic topology. EPC architects know that the logical architecture of an EPC connection in the data plane is tower (eNodeB)-to-gateway-to-service. The gateway in this context is the place where mobility registration and service control meet address assignment and data network connectivity.

Evolved Packet Core specifications, however, provide for the separation of the gateway into a serving gateway (SGW) and a packet data network (PDN) gateway, or PGW. This separation creates an EPC sub-network of tunnels where Quality of Service (QoS) and traffic management are more directly under the control of the service control logic (such as IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS). This capability can be used to provide low-latency transport for TDM being transported over LTE facilities.

3G/4G Evolved Packet Core migration and integration planning

For migration planning, it is convenient to view the mobile service elements of 3G and 4G services by pairing elements roughly according to function. 3G circuit-mode connections used for voice can be simply tunneled or carried as noted above using parallel TDM/ATM or integrated pseudowires over Ethernet or IP. 3G packet traffic handling is where the tightest integration between the mobile service elements and backhaul strategies must be considered.

A good starting point is to consider the ultimate 4G logical model of mobile service elements and how they integrate with the 3G model. The Serving GPRS Support Nodes (SGSN) and Gateway GPRS Support Nodes (GGSN) relationship in 3G corresponds to the "trio" of Mobility Management Entity (MME)/SGW/PGW in LTE's EPC. The question, then, is whether the 3G and 4G elements are interconnected or integrated, which will depend on each operator's 4G architecture.

Mainstream network equipment vendors support three basic models for providing mobile service elements in Evolved Packet Core:

1. Elements can be discrete nodes, with each logical EPC component representing a unique device.
2. Elements can be fixed cards or interfaces on a router/switch device, so that logical EPC components are mapped not to their own devices but to specific packet metro/core elements.
3. Elements can be "logical" and hosted by one of many switch/router or other service components in the network.

For any of these models, 3G and 4G functionality can be provided either independently or hosted in a single device. The latter solution is optimal where there will be considerable 4G deployment, where 3G elements are older (and thus represent less asset displacement cost), and where service evolution to 4G is expected to be rapid.

Where it's not feasible to replace SGSN/GGSN functionality with a dual 3G/4G/EPC node set (MME/SGW/PGW), the only option is to link the 3G elements with the 4G network to combine the traffic. Where integrated fiber backhaul connects tower sites with both 3G and 4G radio access networks (RANs), the use of integrated functionality for 3G/4G elements is much preferred because all traffic will emerge from backhaul at the same point.

Where operators are integrating 4G mobile elements into packet edge devices, it may be difficult or impossible to support both 3G and 4G missions on the same node because of constraints in 3G support by packet edge cards. Because of the flexibility that packet-edge hosting of EPC components offers, it is possible to host EPC components at the edge adjacent to the location of the 3G SGSN/GGSN that must be connected, and thus to reduce handling and latency.

Aiming for flexible Evolved Packet Core deployment

The most flexible approach would be to treat all of the Evolved Packet Core elements (MME, SGW, PGW) as logical entities that can be combined and hosted on available equipment in a variety of ways as network service demands evolve. This could allow operators to align the EPC components with current 3G elements and to create tunnels between 3G and EPC for packet traffic (UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network, or TRAN, traffic) where appropriate. As voice, data or all traffic evolves off of the 3G network, the location of the logical functions could be revised by changing the hosting points.

Many mobile operators and planners still think in terms of discrete devices when they think of mobile service elements, but that trend is reversing as operators understand the flexibility and operations benefits of having their packet edge devices host EPC roles. If that hosting is further enhanced by a "logical EPC" capability to permit rapid reconfiguration of the relationship between the EPC and the underlying metro/core network, the result is a structure that adapts not only to the evolution from 3G to 4G, but also to the changes in traffic and services needs that will inevitably come in a mature 4G market.

List of VAS Companies in India

• 160by2 / SMSCountry
• 2ergo
• ABP Pvt.Ltd.
• ACL Wireless Ltd

• Adrevenue India
• Affle

• Air2web India Pvt Ltd.
• Airvoice Infocomm India Pvt. Ltd.,

• Altruist technologies pvt.ltd.
• Anadocs IT Solutions

• ATOM Technologies Limited
• Biz India Ventures Pvt Ltd

• Businessofcinema.com
• BuzzCity Technologies

• CanvasM Technologies Limited
• Cellcast Interactive India Pvt Ltd

• Cellebrum.com Private Limited
• Compact International - deals4all

• Comsys Advertising & Internet Marketing Pvt Ltd
• Cornershop Entertainment Company Pvt. Ltd.

• Coruscant Tec
• DIGINATIVES CONTENT SOLUTIONS PVT Ltd

• Direxions Marketing Solutions Pvt. Ltd
• EBS Interactive

• Embitel/dmc Systems India P. Ltd.
• Eterno Infotech Pvt Ltd

• Euclid Infotech Pvt Ltd(Tendersinfo)
• Evolve Solutions

• Evolvus Solutions
• Ferns n Petals

• Frozen Digit Technologies Pvt Ltd
• Galatta.com

• Geodesic Informations Systems Limited
• GREYCELL

• Handygo.com
• Hexolabs Media and Technology Private Ltd.

• I Media Corp Limited
• i2i Telesource Pvt Ltd

• IMI Software Ltd
• Impetus Infotech (I) Pvt. Ltd.

• Impetus Research Pvt. Ltd
• India Games Ltd

• iNet Telecom Pvt. Ltd.
• Informate Mobile Intelligenmce

• Infoteq Global Solutions GmbH
• Innoz Technologies Pvt.Ltd

• JagtianiGroup
• July Systems

• Kirusa Software Private Limited
• LAKSHYA Solutions Ltd

• LiveMobile Communications (P) Ltd
• MAD - an initiative of TDI International India Ltd

• Mauj Telecom
• Media Cube Advertising

• Mediasoft
• Mind Source Conulting Services Pvt.ltd

• mKhoj Solutions Pvt. Ltd
• Mobiflexi

• Mobile 365 India Ltd
• Mobile Association of Nepal (MAN)

• Mobile Mantra (India) Software Pvt Ltd
• Mobile Telesolutions(tm)

• Mobile Telesolutions, Mobile Teleshoppe P. Ltd.
• Mobile2win

• MobiLearnTV Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
• Mobilhub Technologies

• MobiPorter
• MOBIQUEST

• mobiSolv
• MobiYard

• MobME Wireless Solutions Pvt Ltd
• MosPay InfoTech India

• Myzus Infotech Pvt. Ltd
• NagpurTrade.Com Technologies

• Nano WiCoRe Labs Pvt. Ltd.
• Nazara Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

• Netway India Pvt. Ltd.
• Netxcell Limited

• Nexmoo Solutions (India) Private Limited
• Nityam Software Solutions Pvt. Ltd.

• Novateur Technology Solutions
• Nubado Technologies

• Nuevo Telesoft Pvt. Ltd.
• Onkia Mobile Internet Pvt. Ltd.

• OnMobile Asia Pacific Pvt Ltd
• Onskreen

• Onyx Mobile Pvt. Ltd.
• ONZE

• Opera Software India Pvt. Ltd.
• paisatopaisa.com

• Pappilon Software Solutions Pvt Ltd
• Paradox Studios Ltd.

• Parvail Infotech Pvt. Ltd.
• planet41 entertainment ltd.

• Pocket Portal Technologies
• ProtonDreams

• Prratham Infosoft Pvt. Ltd
• reminderplanet

• REVE Systems India Pvt. Ltd.
• Ryatech Software Pvt Ltd

• S.V.Mobile Teleshoppe Pvt. Ltd.
• SafeNet India

• Sahara Net Corp Ltd
• Sanjeevani Labs & Technologies india Pvt Ltd

• Santronix Computers
• SEZLease.com

• Shaf India
• SiRF Technology India Pvt. Ltd.

• Smart Wireless Pvt. Ltd
• Snowebs Software Technologies Private Limited

• Softbridge Solutions(India)Pvt.Ltd.
• Soundbuzz India Pvt Ltd

• Spice Digital Limited
• Sunsilica Solutions Pvt Ltd

• SV Mobile Teleshoppe Pvt. Ltd.
• Synapse Communications Pvt. Ltd.

• Taylor Nelson Sofres
• TCS

• TE Software Services
• Tecnomic

• Telemune Software Solutions (P) Ltd.
• Telenity Inc

• Teles Communications
• Times Internet Limited

• Tinfo Mobile Pvt Ltd
• Tivre Business Solutions Private Limited

• Unified Telecom Pvt Ltd
• Value First

• VERISMO NETWORKS PVT LTD
• Verity Technologies Pvt. Ltd

• VoiceGate Technologies India Pvt. Ltd
• Wholesale and Retail VOIP

• WiFi Networks Pvt Ltd
• Wordstream Technologies

• Worldwide Records
• Xerago

• Yahoo! India Pvt Ltd
• YouMint Media

• Yulop
• ZenMedia Solutions

GSM 900 Refarming (UMTS 900):- Key topic after 3G spectrum Auction

Spectrum refarming is one of the most significant regulatory but those with 900MHz assets see refarming as a threat to their competitive advantage as well as to the quality of their networks. Although operators may feel threatened by the prospect of losing their existing spectrum assets, the opportunity to expand coverage and reduce costs outweighs any hesitation they may have about service deterioration or loss of market share from reduced spectrum holdings.

Generally speaking, refarming may be seen as process constituting any basic change in conditions of frequency usage in a given part of radio spectrum. Such basic changes might be:

• Change of technical conditions for frequency assignments
• Change of application (particular radio communication system using the band)
• Change of allocation to a different radio communication service.

Before we move further, it would be useful to understand the generic spectrum usage plan. The diagram below shows the how the different frequency bands are being used for different purposes.

Key Benefits of UMTS 900

1. Coverage – Ovum’s analysis indicates that UMTS900 provides between 44% (in urban areas) and 119% (rural areas) increased coverage per Node-B compared with UMTS2100. This is primarily due to the propagation characteristics of the lower frequency band. All 3G applications can be provided and used cost efficiently over much larger area as the coverage radius in 900 MHz is almost double than that of 2100 MHz spectrum
2. Cost Effective –Radio wave propagation loss is less in 900 MHz, so fewer base stations are required leading to cost savings of around 50–70% compared with networks deployed in 2100MHz core-band 3G spectrum. These coverage and cost-saving benefits mean that operators can bring 3G services to less-densely populated areas that were previously uneconomical to cover
3. Better Quality of Service (QoS) - Since fewer base stations are required for UMTS 900 roll-out than UMTS 2100, the customer experience is better due to fewer hand-overs. Lower frequency band have a higher in-building penetration. Over 70% of phone calls are now made indoors and UMTS 900 can help improve the Quality of Service (QoS)

Regulatory status of spectrum refarming worldwide

As mentioned earlier, the European Union has already ratified the GSM directive on spectrum refarming and it is obligatory on part of its 27 member countries to change their laws in line with this directive. However, in most of the countries, it is up to the individual Governments to allow UMTS 900. It is necessary in some countries to re-arrange the band allocations by agreement with network operators in order to enable GSM & UMTS900 in 900 MHz spectrum.

Operators who have launched commercial 900 MHz 3G services

13 operators have UMTS 900 networks across the world till date but the reasons for the roll-out on 900 MHz vary from operator to operator.

Optus Australia launched UMTS 900 to increase its coverage. With a combination of 900 and 2100 MHz, it managed to increase its coverage to 96% of population. AIS in Thailand launched UMTS 900 as the 3G spectrum (2100 MHz) auction was getting delayed. Elisa launched UMTS 900 to save costs.

UMTS 900 Device Market

As per GSA HSPA devices survey conducted in October, 2009, 190 UMTS-900 HSPA devices have been launched in market by 34 suppliers (this includes 39 USB dongles). Most of the HSPA handsets now have 900 MHz support as well.

Will the operators completely switch off 2G in favour of UMTS900

The operator business is getting complex with many operators having to manage 2G, 3G and LTE networks. It is expected that with the stabilization of LTE by 2016/17, the operators would switch off their 2G networks (so far Japan is the only country to switch off 2G networks). However, due to the migration to UMTS 900, it is possible that the operators switch off the 2G networks much before the expected timelines. This would help the operators save on opex for running multiple networks and would also make the operations less complex requiring fewer people. The 2G network can be sold off to new operators coming up in emerging countries. However, there are a few challenges that would hold the operators back from switching off 2G networks:

• Migration from 2G to 3G handsets: Though the spectrum band would remain the same at 900 MHz, the 2G users would need to replace their handsets to be able to use the 3G network. The carrier would need to provide handset subsidy to encourage the users to replace their handsets but then the benefits have to be substantially higher than the costs involved
• Inroaming Revenues: With the voice tariffs dipping, the roaming revenues are a significant portion of the revenues. In case an operator decides to switch off the 2G networks, the users from other 2G networks will not be able to log on to the operator’s network. This loss of revenues may not be sufficiently covered by any opex savings or ARPU upside
• 1800 MHz: Many 2G networks are on 1800 MHz. UMTS 1800 is still not a viable option given the low ecosystem support. Apart from this, many operators may be holding both 900 and 1800 MHz spectrum and optimizing between the two. In this situation, the operator may not want to switch off 2G network

Evolution to HSPA+

Evolution path for UMTS/WCDMA Network.

High Speed Packet Access Plus

HSPA+: High Speed Packet Access Plus

HSPA+ (High Speed Packet Access Plus) is also known as HSPA Evolution and Evolved HSPA. HSPA+ was standardized in 3GPP Release 7 and Release 8. HSPA+ will apply some of the techniques developed for Long Term Evolution (LTE) and allow operators to extend the life of their HSPA networks. 3G Americas initiated proposals at 3GPP to lead the development of the HSPA+ standards which now have received wide scale commitments from operators.

HSPA+ will bring improved support and performance for real-time conversational and interactive services such as Push-to-Talk over Cellular (PoC), picture and video sharing, and Video and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) through the introduction of features like Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) antennas, Continuous Packet Connectivity (CPC) and Higher Order Modulations.

Some of the key features of HSPA+ include the following:

• HSPA+ is a simple upgrade to today’s HSPA networks, protecting an operator’s investment in the network. HSPA+ enhancements are backward-compatible with UMTS Release 99/Release 5/Release 6
• HSPA+ provides a strategic performance roadmap advantage for incumbent GSM-HSPA operators providing OFDMA-equivalent performance in 5X5 MHz spectrum allocations with only incremental investment. HSPA+ could match, and possibly exceed, the potential performance capabilities of IEEE 802.16e-2005 (mobile WiMAX) in the same amount of spectrum, and could match LTE performance when using 5 MHz of spectrum.
• HSPA+ will significantly increase HSPA capacity as well as reduce latency below 50 milliseconds (ms)
• The first phase of HSPA+ with 64 QAM has already been deployed commercially and is providing peak theoretical downlink throughput rates of 21 Mbps
• HSPA+ with 64 QAM and advanced antenna techniques such as 2X2 MIMO can deliver 42 Mbps theoretical capability and 11.5 Mbps on the uplink and could be ready for deployment in 2010
• Smooth interworking will be provided between HSPA+ and LTE that facilitates operation of both technologies. As such, operators may choose to leverage the System Architecture Evolution/Evolved Packet Core (SAE/EPC) planned for LTE.
• HSPA+ supports voice and data services on the same carrier and across all of the available radio spectrum and offers these services simultaneously to users

HSPA+ is an affordable and incremental upgrade to existing HSPA networks. It provides a tremendous advantage to HSPA operators, which is not an option for CDMA operators who are already unable to compete with the higher data throughput performance of HSPA and have no future evolution commercially viable for enhancement to their EV-DO networks today. Because it offers impressive performance at an incremental cost, some HSPA operators plan to use HSPA+ as a companion to LTE.

Telstra in Australia, Starhub in Singapore, CSL in Hong Kong and Mobilkom Austria in Central and Eastern Europe were the first operators to launch commercial HSPA+ networks in early 2009, initially providing peak theoretical download speeds of 21 Mbps. Several operators such as Telstra plan to upgrade their networks to 42 Mbps in the short term.

High Speed Packet Access

HSPA: High Speed Packet Access

HSPA - High Speed Packet Access is the most widely deployed mobile broadband technology in the world today and will build upon the 3.8 billion connections with the GSM family of technologies. HSPA is the terminology used when both HSDPA (3GPP Release 5) and HSUPA (3GPP Release 6) technologies are deployed on a network. HSPA Evolved (HSPA+ in 3GPP Release 7 and beyond) is also part of the HSPA technology and extends an operator’s investment in the network before the next step to 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE, or 3GPP Release 8 and beyond). HSPA builds on third generation (3G) UMTS/WCDMA and is strongly positioned as the leading mobile data technology for the foreseeable future.

According to independent analyst firm Informa Telecoms & Media, more than 94 percent of UMTS/WCDMA operators launched HSPA by the end of 2008. At the time, Informa reported there were 82.8 million HSPA customers worldwide and that number is expected to top 800 million by 2013.

Globally, there are more than 265 commercial networks with HSDPA of which 77 have been upgraded to HSPA; in Latin America, there are 47 HSDPA networks in 23 countries (May 2009). All UMTS and HSDPA networks are expected to be upgraded to HSPA.

Many HSPA networks, approximately 70% as of 1Q 2009, offer 3.6 Mbps peak downlink rates with the bulk of the remainder offering 7.2 Mbps. However, continued progress by vendors and leading innovative operators, allows for HSPA networks capable of peak bit-rates of 14.4 Mbps. The first networks using 64 QAM modulation and offering 21 Mbps are also in operation. The use of higher order modulation schemes (from 16 QAM up to 64 QAM), along with MIMO technology, takes HSPA into ‘HSPA+’ or evolved HSPA such as developed in 3GPP Release 7.

Propelling the strong growth is a strong selection of devices supporting HSPA. The GSMA reported that more than 1,343 HSPA devices were on the market from 135 suppliers as of 1Q 2009.

Whereas HSDPA optimizes downlink performance, HSUPA uses the Enhanced Dedicated Channel (E-DCH) for a set of improvements that optimizes uplink performance. Networks and devices supporting HSUPA became available in 2007 and the combined improvements in the uplink and downlink are called HSPA. These improvements include higher throughputs, reduced latency and increased spectral efficiency. HSUPA (HSPA) is standardized in Release 6 and results in an approximated 85 percent increase in overall cell throughput on the uplink and more than 50 percent gain in user throughput. HSUPA also reduces packet delays, a significant benefit resulting in significantly improved application performance on HSPA networks.

Typical HSPA downlink user achievable rates are 1 to 4 Mbps and typical user achievable HSPA uplink speeds are 500 kbps to 2 Mbps as of 1Q 2009. Theoretical peak speeds are significantly higher at 14 Mbps on the downlink and 5.8 Mbps on the uplink in a 5 MHz channel.

Beyond throughput enhancements, HSPA also significantly reduces latency. In optimized networks, latency will fall below 50 milliseconds (ms), relative to current HSDPA networks at 70 ms. And with a later HSPA introduction of 2 ms Transmission Time Interval (TTI), latency will be as low as 30 ms.

HSPA gives carriers an efficient mobile broadband technology that can evolve to HSPA+ to meet the advanced wireless needs of customers. To leverage operator investments in HSPA and enhance the quality of service across networks, standards body 3GPP finalized Release 7 and Release 8, which specify a series of enhancements to create HSPA+. Also, 3GPP is examining further specifications in Release 9. HSPA+ employs many of the techniques utilized for LTE.

High Speed Uplink Packet Access

High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA) is an upgrade to UMTS-HSDPA that uses the Enhanced Dedicated Channel (E-DCH) to constitute a set of improvements to optimize uplink performance. These improvements include higher throughput, reduced latency and increased spectral efficiency. HSUPA was standardized in 3GPP Release 6 and combined with High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), is commonly referred to as High Speed Packet Access (HSPA). In other words, Release 5 HSDPA upgraded to Release 6 HSUPA is considered mobile broadband HSPA.

HSUPA results in an approximated 85 percent increase in overall cell throughput on the uplink and an approximated 50 percent gain in user throughput. HSUPA also reduces packet delays. HSUPA improves HSDPA uplink speeds from 384 kbps to a peak theoretical network rate of 5.8 Mbps while providing 14 Mbps peak theoretical network rates on the downlink. Many operators initially launched HSPA at the peak rates of 3.6 Mbps, and have upgraded their networks to 7.2 Mbps. At the end of 2008, many notebooks were supporting HSPA at 7.2 Mbps downlink with 2 Mbps uplink, in addition to EDGE. In fact, more than 83 percent of UMTS-HSPA devices with speeds of 3.6 Mbps or higher also support EDGE technology (GSA, May 2009 survey).

Today, typical HSPA downlink user achievable rates are 1 to 4 Mbps and typical user achievable HSPA uplink speeds are 500 kbps to 2 Mbps. Theoretical peak speeds are significantly higher at 14.4 Mbps on the downlink and 5.8 Mbps on the uplink in a 5 MHz channel. Further evolutions of the technology to HSPA+ will deliver peak throughput rates of 21 Mbps and later 42 Mbps through techniques such as dual-carriers and MIMO antenna systems.

HSUPA was first commercially deployed by Mobilkom Austria in February 2007. As of May 2009, there were 77 commercial HSUPA networks with an additional 92 planned. It is expected that all UMTS networks will evolve to HSUPA-HSPA.

HSUPA achieves its performance gains through the following approaches:

• An enhanced dedicated physical channel
• A short Transmission Time Interval (TTI), as low as 2 milliseconds (ms), which allows faster responses to changing radio conditions and error conditions
• Fast Node-B-based scheduling, which allows the base station to efficiently allocate radio resources
• Fast Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest (HARQ), which improves the efficiency of error processing. The combination of TTI, fast scheduling, and fast HARQ also serves to reduce latency, which can benefit many applications as much as improved throughput. HSUPA can operate with or without HSDPA on the downlink, though it is likely that most networks will use the two approaches together. The improved uplink mechanisms also translate to better coverage, and for rural deployments, larger cell sizes.

HSUPA-HSPA is an upgrade to UMTS networks that usually requires only new software and base station channel cards, instead of necessitating the replacement of major pieces of infrastructure. As a result, operators can deploy HSPA quickly and cost-effectively. Vendors, 3G Americas and many analysts expect that virtually all of the operators who deploy UMTS will also choose to deploy HSPA and in fact, most new deployments are HSPA-ready today.

HSPA also benefits operators by making more efficient use of spectrum: up to three times more capacity than UMTS. This efficiency means that operators can easily and cost-effectively accommodate more users and services without having to buy additional spectrum just to keep up with growth. That efficiency also reduces operators' overhead costs, and thus makes them better able to price their HSPA services at a point that is competitive yet profitable.

HSPA is backward-compatible with UMTS, EDGE and GPRS. This design benefits customers when they travel to areas that haven't yet been upgraded to HSPA, as their HSPA-enabled handsets and modems will still provide fast packet-data connections. This design also benefits operators and application developers because applications designed for UMTS also run on HSPA networks.

HSPA benefits from the scope and scale of the GSM ecosystem of vendors. Vendors currently offer more than 1,300 models of HSPA devices at a variety of price points. Besides handsets and PC card modems, HSPA is also embedded in many laptops from major vendors such as Acer, Dell, Fujitsu Siemens, HP, Lenovo and Panasonic. HSPA devices also are available at most GSM frequencies, enabling global roaming.

High Speed Downlink Packet Access

HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) is an upgrade to UMTS/WCDMA. HSDPA increases the download speeds by up to 3.5 times, initially delivering typical user data rates of 550 to 800 kbps. Improvements to the downlink, through HSDPA, were the first upgrade steps available to operators seeking to deploy mobile broadband services as a part of 3GPP Release 5. There is some confusion regarding the use of acronyms involving HSDPA, and its further evolution to High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA), as the terms are often used interchangeably along with the acronym HSPA which refers to the both HSDPA and HSUPA in their evolved state.

HSDPA speeds are ideal for bandwidth-intensive applications, such as large file transfers, streaming multimedia and fast Web browsing. HSDPA also offers latency as low as 70 to 100 milliseconds (ms) making it ideal for real-time applications such as interactive gaming and delay-sensitive business applications such as Virtual Private Networks (VPNs).

High Speed Downlink Packet Access is predominately a software upgrade to Release 99 of the UMTS standard. HSDPA has been commercially available since December 2005, when Cingular Wireless – now AT&T – launched the world's first large scale HSDPA service. There are more than 300 HSDPA networks commercially deployed or in various stages of deployment in more than 115 countries (May 2009). International roaming is available as the technology falls back on UMTS, EDGE and GPRS for the continuation of voice and data services.

HSDPA usually requires only new software and base station channel cards, instead of necessitating the replacement of major pieces of infrastructure from UMTS and does not require additional spectrum for deployment. As a result, UMTS operators can deploy HSDPA quickly and cost-effectively. In fact, most operators that deploy 3G UMTS are deploying an HSDPA-ready network.

HSDPA technology significantly improves the UMTS downlink performance through techniques, such as adaptive modulation and coding, hybrid ARQ (HARQ) and fast scheduling. On the receiving side, initial HSDPA User Equipment (UE) solutions were based on single antenna CDMA rake receiver structures, similar to Release 99 UMTS receiver structures. The corresponding minimum performance requirement for HSDPA rake receivers was specified in Release 5. While the single antenna rake receivers worked very well for conventional UMTS and met initial system needs for HSDPA, advanced receiving technologies were later used to achieve even higher HSDPA throughputs. To achieve this goal, 3GPP studied two applicable techniques (receive diversity and advanced receiver architectures) as well as their minimum performance improvement and has specified them in Release 6.

HSDPA also benefits operators by making more efficient use of spectrum, up to three times more capacity than UMTS. This efficiency means that operators can easily and cost-effectively accommodate more users and services without having to buy additional spectrum just to keep up with growth. That efficiency also reduces operators' overhead costs, and thus, makes them better able to price their services at a point that is competitive yet profitable.

HSDPA is backward-compatible with UMTS, EDGE and GPRS. This design benefits customers when they travel to areas that have not yet been upgraded to HSDPA, as their HSDPA-enabled handsets and modems will still provide fast packet-data connections. This design also benefits operators and application developers because applications designed for UMTS also run on HSDPA networks and devices.

HSDPA benefits from the scope and scale of the GSM ecosystem of vendors. Vendors currently offer more than 1,300 models of HSPA/HSDPA devices at a variety of price points. Besides handsets and PC card modems, HSPA/HSDPA is also embedded in many laptops from major vendors such as Acer, Dell, Fujitsu Siemens, HP, Lenovo and Panasonic. Embedded modems are particularly attractive to enterprises because CIOs and IT managers do not have to worry about whether a particular modem is compatible with a particular laptop model. Devices also are available at most GSM frequencies, enabling global roaming.

UMTS/WCDMA - 3G Technology

UMTS: Universal Mobile Telecommunications System, or WCDMA: Wideband Code Division Multiple Access

Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is a voice and high-speed data technology that is part of the International Telecommunication Union’s (ITU) IMT-2000 family of third-generation (3G) wireless standards. Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) is the radio technology used in UMTS. As a result, the terms UMTS and WCDMA are often used interchangeably. UMTS is based on Internet Protocol (IP) technology with user achievable peak data rates of 350 kbps and more typical speeds for both the uplink and the downlink at 200 to 300 kbps.

UMTS has garnered the overwhelming majority of new 3G spectrum licenses with 282 commercial networks in operation by May 2009. Compared to emerging wireless technologies, UMTS technology is more mature and benefits from research and development that began in the early 1990s. It has been thoroughly trialed, tested and commercially deployed. UMTS deployment offers stable network infrastructures and attractive, reliable mobile devices that have rich capabilities. With the addition of HSPA for high-speed packet data services, UMTS-HSPA is quickly emerging as the dominant global mobile-broadband network.

UMTS employs a wideband CDMA radio-access technology. The primary benefits of UMTS include high spectral efficiency for voice and data, simultaneous voice and data capability for users, high user densities that can be supported with low infrastructure costs, support for high-bandwidth data applications, and a clean migration to VoIP in the future. Operators can also use their entire available spectrum for both voice and high-speed data services.

3G Americas is just one of the many industry groups to endorse UMTS technology; others include the Association of Radio Industries and Businesses (ARIB) in Japan, European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA), GSM Association (GSMA), International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) and UMTS Forum.

UMTS builds on GSM, which is the world’s most widely used wireless technology. GSM has captured more than 89 percent of the global wireless market with more than 3.8 billion subscribers. UMTS is available from over 282 operators in more than 123 countries as of May 2009. UMTS enjoys a global cost structure, equipment selection and user adoption that is unmatched by any other 3G technology.

UMTS has been in commercial service in Japan since 2001 and is now available on every continent. On July 20, 2004, AT&T Wireless (U.S.) became the first operator to launch commercial UMTS service in the Western Hemisphere. In April 2009, Informa Telecoms & Media reported more than 330 million UMTS subscriptions worldwide, with expected adoption to top 1.9 million worldwide by year-end 2013.

UMTS works in a variety of spectrum bands offering operators more flexibility and is currently available worldwide for use in 850, 900, 1700, 1800, 1900, 2100 and 2600 MHz bands. Additionally, it is expected that the UMTS standard will be expanded for uses in the 450 MHz and 700 MHz bands. Currently, UMTS TDD equipment is available for the 450 MHz spectrum band. Because signals travel farther at lower frequencies, UMTS networks at 850 or 900 MHz are a good fit for covering sparsely populated rural areas.

UMTS operators can use a common core network that supports multiple radio-access networks, including GSM, EDGE, WCDMA, HSPA and evolutions of these technologies. This is called the UMTS multi-radio network and it gives operators maximum flexibility in providing different services across their coverage areas.

Initial UMTS network deployments were based on 3GPP Release 99 specifications, which included voice and data capabilities. Since then, Release 5 has defined HSDPA and Release 6 has defined HSUPA. With HSPA-capable devices, the network uses HSPA (HSDPA/HSUPA) for data. Operators with Release 99 networks are upgrading them to Release 5 or Release 6.

In UMTS Release 99, the maximum theoretical downlink rate is just over 2 Mbps. Although exact throughput depends on the channel sizes the operator chooses to make available, the capabilities of devices, and the number of users active in the network limit, the peak throughput rate a user can expect to achieve is about 350 kbps in commercial networks.

MTN Ghana UMTS 900 with Ericsson

Ericsson says that it has successfully trialed a 3G network at 900 MHz for the first time on the African continent with operator MTN Ghana. Under the terms of the agreement, Ericsson will be responsible for the access, transport and transmission of 3G UMTS 900 MHz, where roll-out will begin in Q2 2010. Additionally, Ericsson developed advanced special features and assisted with the spectrum optimisation of GSM to free up just 3.8MHz required for UMTS 900 MHz.

Lars Lindén, President, Ericsson sub-Saharan Africa, says; "By leveraging off their existing installed Ericsson 3G Radio Access Network and enabling UMTS in 900 MHz, not only can voice, video and high speed data calls be carried over the network, but operators benefit from having one network delivering all services with the lowest total cost of ownership."

According to a GSMA report, UMTS 900 provides between 44% (in urban areas) and 119% (rural areas) increased coverage per Node-B compared with UMTS 2100. This is primarily due to the propagation characteristics of the lower frequency band and leads directly to lower CAPEX and increased mobility benefits, providing a new option, with greater service capability, for operators who may wish to replace their GSM networks.

MTN Ghana CTO, Eben Albertyn says; "Ericsson's solid position as an established infrastructural provider in the local and international market and the diverse connectivity services they are able to offer MTN Ghana, allows us to continue to grow our network coverage locally as well as into many rural and remote sites - bringing voice and data services to our growing subscribers."

The trial was completed with legacy 3G RBS 3418 main-remote equipment, previously installed by MTN Ghana.

Singtel LTE trails

Singapore's SingTel and Ericsson have shown off their LTE trial showcase at SingTel's headquarters, Comcentre. SingTel's mobile broadband network will be upgraded progressively over the next 12 - 24 months to be LTE-ready. Commercial deployment is slated to take place in phases, subject to the availability of frequency spectrum and commercial LTE mobile devices.

Mr Yuen Kuan Moon, Executive Vice President of Consumer, SingTel, said: "This trial gives a glimpse into what the future can offer our customers in the mobile broadband space. We are excited by the breakthrough applications that will be supported on an ultra high-speed and robust mobile network that is able to satisfy consumers' growing appetite for bandwidth.

"LTE technology will further enrich our customers' multimedia mobile lifestyle and experience, offering them access to a wide range of 3D and HD services concurrently. SingTel is working closely with our pool of mobile applications developers to turn ideas that work on the latest technology into reality."

Mr Fadi Pharaon, President and Country Manager, Ericsson Singapore & Brunei, said: "Today's demonstration is one clear example of how LTE enables richer lifestyle for consumers and businesses alike. Ericsson is proud to be part of this exciting showcase and we will continue to use our leading technology and services to support SingTel in offering even higher quality services and more extensive applications to their customers."

Alcatel-Lucent Bidding High on LTE- Saudi Arabia trial network

Alcatel-Lucent has been selected by Saudi Arabia's Saudi Telecom Company (STC) to conduct an end-to-end LTE trial, to begin in the second half of 2010. Alcatel-Lucent will also provide a range of professional services including project management, planning, installation, integration and commissioning, and testing.

"As a major operator, STC is committed to providing its customers superior service. It is clear to us that LTE has evolved to being more than just a promising technology," said Dr. Zeyad Al-Otaibi, STC's vice president Networks. "As STC and Alcatel-Lucent are both on the edge of innovation, we are confident that this trial will help us fulfill our customers' needs for innovative mobile broadband services."

Alcatel-Lucent will be providing an end-to-end integrated solution including LTE base stations (eNodeBs), the Evolved Packet Core (EPC), IP service routing network elements as well as operation, administration and maintenance (OAM) systems.

"This trial is a major step in the adoption of LTE technology in the Middle-East. STC can count on our technical leadership and transformation expertise to unleash LTE's full business potential," said Amr El Leithy, head of Alcatel-Lucent's activities in Africa and the Middle East. "We consider this agreement to be a strong endorsement of Alcatel-Lucent's innovation and forward-looking strategy in the area of mobile broadband solutions and efficient high-performance IP-based network."

Huawei Claims HSPA+ @ 42 Mbps

Huawei says that it has completed trials of HSPA+ Dual Carrier technology on the Portugese network operated by Optimus. Dual Carrier technology, together with the HSPA+ technology which has already been implemented in Optimus' network, allows maximum download speeds of up to 42 Mb/s on wireless Internet access.

The tests reached maximum download speeds of 41.4 Mb/s, very close to the theoretical limit of this technology, and the average download speed reached 39.7 Mb/s.

Dual Carrier technology is based on the principle of using two carrier waves, both on the transmitter and the receiver, which allows the increase of the transmission rate to double the current maximum value (21 Mb/s).

Mr Pinto Correia, Optimus Board Member, stated "The success of the HSPA+ Dual Carrier technology tests reinforces the high quality of our network and represents the confirmation of Optimus as the best integrated telecommunications operator in Portugal. Optimus was one of the first European operators to develop a technological partnership with Huawei, and that has allowed us to introduce several innovations in the Portuguese market, which represent truly benefits to all our customers".

Mr. Xie Xinping, Managing Director of Huawei Portugal, said, "We are working closely with leading operators, such as Optimus since the introduction of 3G technology. Implemented with dual carrier capabilities, Huawei's HSPA+ solution will enhance spectral efficiency and provide capacity gains for operators. With the widespread adoption of mobile broadband, Huawei is well positioned to provide its customers with a faster and better mobile broadband experience."

As of January 2010, Huawei has established 36 HSPA+ networks with global operators, among which 20 HSPA+ commercial networks and 16 HSPA+ network in deployment or in trial.

FCC Tests Spectrum Dashboard

Currently in beta, the tool enables users to search the entire 225 MHz to 3.7 GHz mobile wireless spectrum range.

In a move that promises to remove much of the mystery surrounding mobile wireless spectrum for consumers, the FCC has unveiled a Spectrum Dashboard that transparently reveals many of the intricacies of the cell phone universe.

Currently in beta release, the dashboard enables users to search the entire 225 MHz to 3.7 GHz spectrum range. One particularly valuable feature enables users to produce maps depicting the geographic service area of licensed carriers.

Established this week in conjunction with the FCC's release of its National Broadband Plan, the dashboard will serve as a companion to the FCC's new service that enables users to measure the actual online speeds they are receiving.

"The Spectrum Dashboard allows users to more easily review how spectrum bands are allocated and used," the FCC stated in a release, adding that the dashboard "also allows users to identify license holders in specific areas."

The dashboard will also deliver information of value to commercial interests, because it will help stakeholders interested in deploying additional wireless broadband. Business interests will be easily able to find areas in need of more spectrum that are candidates for new service deployment.

Viewers accessing the dashboard may browse an FCC interactive spectrum chart and, for instance, may examine cellular, backhaul, mobile, or TV bands. Spectrum license holders can be identified over the dashboard, too. Raw data on spectrum may be accessed for export into spreadsheets.

Consumers exposed to advertisements proclaiming wireless coverage by competing carriers may use the dashboard to produce their own spectrum coverage maps. The maps can be broken down by geographic area, county-by-county, or even by specific carrier or licensee.

The data included in the dashboard includes the 700 MHz Band, Advanced Wireless Service (AWS), Broadband Personal Communications Service (PCS), Broadband Radio Service (BRS), Educational Broadband Service (EBS), Cellular, 2.3 GHz Wireless Communications Service (WCS), Full Power TV Broadcast, and Mobile Satellite Services (MSS).

Gemalto going big on banking technology

Gemalto says that it has inked a deal to incorporate its Mobile Financial Services on Texas Instruments' OMAP platform and M-Shield security technology for mobile devices. Applications can be secured with strong two-factor authentication - verifying the user and the phone - which requires the user to enter securely a personal identification number (PIN) prior to gaining access to financial services applications.

"Gemalto's Mobile Financial Services applications are currently used by millions of people around the globe," stated Philippe Vallée, Executive Vice President, Telecommunications Business Unit, Gemalto. "This partnership with an industry leader like TI to place secure software within an OMAP platform provides the end customer of our combined offering the ability to enjoy the convenience of banking from their mobile device while resting assured that the application they are using is secure."

"This integration brings together the domain expertise of companies with a long history of serving the banking, telecommunications and mobile industry," added Dominique Bolignano, President of Trusted Logic. "This combined effort enables to now demonstrate a complete and immediately operational solution for m-banking, with a strong level of integration and end-to-end security."

Gemalto acquired Trusted Logic in September 2009.

Nokia Siemens Network Data Network Optimisation feature

Nokia Siemens Networks has unveiled an upgrade to its core mobile network technology that enables operators to offload Internet traffic at an optimal point in the network - typically close to an Internet peering point - in order to minimize the distance it is transmitted. This saves transport and traffic processing costs.

"Operators typically need to deploy relatively costly servers to process mobile data traffic," said Matti Palomaki, head of Packet Core product management at Nokia Siemens Networks. "Our new approach allows a high volume of Internet traffic, or any operator-specified traffic, to bypass these processing servers and legacy packet core gateway nodes (GGSNs). In the era of smartphone-induced data growth, such "offloading" of traffic can deliver significant savings in next-generation HSPA and LTE networks."

Traffic offload can be deployed across Nokia Siemens Networks' Flexi Network Gateway (NG) and as a simple software upgrade to the Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN). The Flexi NG and SGSN are key elements of Nokia Siemens Networks' evolved packet core (EPC). Traffic offload can be deployed in both distributed and centralized gateways in 2G, 3G or LTE networks. The first phase of traffic offload is already available.

The network architecture for traffic offload is the simplest possible. As offloading takes place in the Flexi NG mobile gateway, it does not require additional network elements along the signalling and data paths. The solution supports subscriber mobility in an optimal manner and can reduce delays in data transmission to improve the experience for people using real-time applications over mobile networks.

In instances where an operator has distributed Internet peering points, the Flexi NG can easily be deployed as a distributed gateway at each of these points to reduce transport network costs, while the SGSN intelligently selects which of the distributed mobile gateways is closest to the subscriber.

Strategy of Operator for 3G Auction

Reliance Communications will throw its bid for all the circles while the other demonstrated a business case for RCom to bid aggressively in only 9 circles and stick to it and wait for more clarity on 3G spectrum for CDMA operators.

• Bharti Airtel – Likely to bid for all the 22 circles independently
• Vodafone India – Will throw in its bid for 18 circles and is unlikely to participate in H.P, J&K, Assam and N.E
• Tata DoCoMo -The new operator with disruptive pricing model and deep pockets is likely to bid in all the 22 circles

Idea Cellular – Aircel Complementing bid strategy: Circles where only Idea is likely to bid and Aircel will abstain are – Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, UP(W), UP(E), MP and Rajasthan. Circles where Aircel will bid and Idea will abstain are – Kolkata, West Bengal, TamilNadu, HP and Orissa.

Top 10 Circles on the basis of Demand for 3G Spectrum in India are as follows:

1. Delhi
2. Mumbai
3. Maharashtra
4. Karnataka
5. Gujarat
6. Kolkata
7. Tamilnadu
8. Andhra Pradesh
9. Kerala and
10. Haryana