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PRESS RELEASE
Clash of the Titans – WiMAX and 4G: The Battle At few times in the course of international business development have major industries come together in such a way that they become hinged upon the same enabling capabilities and market dynamics. The stage is now set for major players in the fields of wireless mobile communications, the information technology, and the media entertainment industries to challenge for leading roles in Next Generation (Mobile) Networking (NGMN) converged wireless broadband. The broadband data that comprises the entertainment, information and programs, and increasingly richer mobile communications is fundamentally similar: the bytes and packets of data are becoming organized around IP/SIP and differ primarily in bandwidth and degree of quality needed to satisfy the applications, voice, or video entertainment. In a real world sense, these all care little about how they are delivered and more about the ease of use, cost and value of the content. The overriding requirements drive to the use of most effective wireless broadband systems. In addition, that drives the industry forward to the use of similar sets of technologies and network delivery methods. Intel has helped champion WiMAX under the banner of the WiMAX Forum trade group. WiMAX has developed upon the IEEE 802.16 framework standard for wireless broadband systems based on MIMO-OFDMA and other advanced technologies. Over the past several months, this set of technologies has become recognized as the wireless platform technology for Next Generation Mobile Networks, NGMN, or 4G. The emerging field of technologies comprises a major shift from technologies used in 3G wireless mobile systems. This also represents a major shift away from Qualcomm’s core CDMA intellectual property, which has come to dominate much of the landscape of wireless communications. This is the first major shift in core wireless technologies used for wide area wireless systems since the emergence of CDMA over 15 years ago. The overriding motivation for such a shift is the requirement to deliver increasingly higher bandwidths at reasonable cost. In addition, such a shift must deliver a large improvement to justify the cost of starting on a new upgrade path that makes prior generations incompatible and sometimes obsolete. A look at system performance features such as the core spectral efficiency might lead to a conclusion that a shift from WCDMA to OFDMA based systems would bring relatively marginal improvements: less than needed to justify such a move. The reason both the emerging wireless broadband field and incumbent cellular industry is shifting from WCDMA to MIMO/MAS-OFDMA is the ‘total performance package’ and evolutionary roadmap that this enables.
The fields of wireless have contributed to each other along their increasingly convergent paths of development. Both tracks have been enabled by the field of high speed, highly integrated semiconductors and design capabilities and component developments. The Wi-Fi/WiMAX track started out from humble beginnings just a few years ago but has benefited from an open, competitive market and development environment to see rapid sales growth and uptake of new technologies. The wireless mobile industry has continued the huge growth trend to deliver hundreds of millions of handsets to new and existing users. Moreover, it has improved upon systems performance to enable broadband wireless access to millions of customers. Although the WiMAX track has benefited greatly from technologies, components and methods developed for mobile cellular systems, the field has increasingly spawned developments that are pushing the other way: MIMO/MAS and MESH networking which are rapidly adopted by Wi-Fi and WiMAX will find their way into commercial use in cellular systems moving forward. Figure one points out that convergence of wireless systems technologies is taking place and will align on a similar set for new systems that emerge for wide scale cellular deployments by 2010. It is important to note that WiMAX will arrive first in terms of technology implementation and that the development tracks occur over a period of several years. Rome was not built in a day and neither are new fields of wireless development. A major reason for the shift to MIMO/MAS-OFDMA is that a new evolutionary wireless platform is needed. The next generation wireless platform must have the ability to evolve and adopt new methods of network organization and technologies that enhance overall performance well beyond that of the core wireless link technologies employed in either CDMA or OFDM based systems. This not only requires wireless broadband technologies that are able to deliver high spectral efficiencies, and manageable Quality of Service, QOS, but new methods to use and co-habitat spectrum in a wide range of arrangements and must support growth of system architectures from point to multipoint, point-to-point, tiered and mesh networks. Data centric NGMN systems must meet diverse sets of requirements that structure information storage and network intelligence as close to the user as practical. Figure 2 displays a commonly ignored aspect of wireless industry evolution: the ‘Network Topology’ or system architecture that is enabled from the low-level segmentation of spectrum and increasingly cognitive and selective use. Cellular wireless systems have developed on the needs of the huge voice communications market: primarily as a bases station to user or ‘hub and spoke’ communications network. Next Generation Mobile Networks will meet a variety of different sets of needs. Moreover, they will communicate increasingly rich and high bandwidth data to and between users and applications. This shifting nature of end user demands is what is propelling the adoption of technology platforms that can better evolve to meet them over an evolutionary path of several years. Not surprisingly, NGMN/4G wireless systems are similar to wired networks: data storage is increasingly needed at the ‘network edge’ and networking optimization starts to be organized and the discrete byte and data packet level. “Network intelligence” is as much a buzzword for NGMNs as it is for new generations of wired networks. The greatest gains in wireless systems performance will be delivered by advancements that effect network topology rather than core wireless link efficiencies. This is THE reason for the shift to MIMO/MAS-OFDMA from incumbent cellular technologies. The evolutionary path gains compel the costly, disruptive change. Qualcomm helped to usher in an era of digital methods of wireless communications: they hammered through that data could be spread out over spectrum, making for more robust, tolerant and efficient wireless networks. Full commercial deployments of their CDMA systems gained momentum by 1993. Along the way, the company filed key enabling patents that overcame crippling limitations of prior CDMA for use in wide area cellular systems. Subsequently, Qualcomm has been able to validate their patent position in courts and has successfully negotiated royalties for use of CDMA with all major suppliers. The shift to MIMO/MAS-OFDMA has only recently been acknowledged by Qualcomm: they acquired Flarion, a leader in mobile OFDM systems and have rapidly filed for patents related to the field. Qualcomm must play a role in NGMN or their future revenues are in jeopardy. Intel has become the world’s largest semiconductor supplier by delivering products that increase user’s performance and add entertainment value. As the network becomes wirelessly enabled and increasingly intelligent, Intel must play a role in delivering the increasingly integrated wireless system, network and device processors and controllers. The ‘Clash of the Titans’ is real and is being joined on several fronts. About the Author Robert Syputa, BSEE, MBA, is Senior Analyst and has over 26 years experience in the broad field of electronics and six (6) years experience as a telecommunications industry analyst and consultant, particularly in the merging fields of Wireless Broadband and related businesses and technologies. His background experience includes technical sales at Fairchild Semiconductor and sales management at Philips. Robert ran TEAM Associates, an independent manufacturer's representative firm whose clients included Honeywell and GE-Druck. Several years ago, Syputa developed an interest in emerging wireless communications fields including cellular and 802.11/802.16 standards for WLAN and WMAN systems. He developed a broad understanding from grounds up analysis of the technologies, companies and business trends shaping the developed and emerging sectors of the converging industry. He has consulted with both startup wireless companies and leaders in the merging WiMAX/WMAN field, with private investment groups and large telecommunications industry hedge funds on products, business strategies, company image and market positioning, and emerging or slated to emerge industry trends and catalysts. Mr. Syputa obtained a Bachelors of Electrical Engineering from Southern Polytechnic State University and a Masters of Business Administration from Seattle University.
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