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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 organised around IP/SIP and differ primarily in bandwidth and degree of quality needed to satisfy the applications, voice, or video entertainment. The overriding requirements drive to the use of most effective wireless broadband systems and 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 recognised 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.

The overriding motivation for such a shift is the requirement to deliver increasingly higher bandwidths at reasonable cost. 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 not bring the improvements 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. Although the Wi-Fi/WiMAX track started out from humble beginnings just a few years ago, it has benefited from an open, competitive market and development environment to see rapid sales growth and uptake of new technologies.

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.

A major reason for the shift to MIMO/MAS-OFDMA is that a new evolutionary wireless platform is needed which has the ability to evolve and adopt new methods of network organisation 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.

Cellular wireless systems have developed on the needs of the huge voice communications market—primarily as a bases station to users or as a ‘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

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. 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.

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