vB Easy Archive - GSM1x... The Convergence

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GSM1x... The Convergence
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Posted by: VTECMAN

February 21, 2002
QUALCOMM Juggles New GSM and BREW Deals
By Michael Singer

The international film festival may be months away, but QUALCOMM is shining like a star in Cannes.

The San Diego-based wireless technology maker had several announcements at this week's 3GSM World Congress pertaining to its Global System for Mobile (GSM) and Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technologies as well as its BREW (Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless) platform.

For starters, QUALCOMM is demonstrating a convergence solution for GSM1x, a cost-effective technology evolution for GSM operators. GSM1x enables convergence of a GSM/GPRS core service network with CDMA2000 radio access. With it the company says operators can mix it into their existing GSM/GPRS core network equipment while enhancing the data capabilities and spectral efficiency of their radio access with commercially available CDMA2000 1x infrastructure.

Using existing spectrum, GSM1x offers better voice and data capacity, supporting peak data speeds of up to 307 kbps in a 1.25 MHz channel. Common data throughput will be 70-90 kbps, 2-3 times the throughput of standard dial-up modems. This solution introduces a GSM1x Mobile Switching Node (MSN) to interface an existing and unmodified GSM core network with an unmodified CDMA2000 radio access network.

The GSM1x terminals utilize a standard GSM Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) and are subject to standard GSM authentication. But as a result, QUALCOMM says operators will be able to offer global roaming and service transparency between CDMA2000 1x and GSM networks without compromising their current infrastructure. "Combining the feature-rich services of the GSM core network with the spectral efficiency of a CDMA2000 radio network creates a powerful, cost-effective solution," says QUALCOMM chairman and CEO Dr. Irwin Mark Jacobs. "With the GSM1x solution, GSM operators can offer customers advanced voice and data capabilities while maintaining the key features and services already available on their GSM networks."

QUALCOMM CDMA Technologies (QCT), the company's chipset and system software group showed off its live-call UMTS and GSM demonstrations using the company's chipset and system software-supported test mobiles. QCT also provided a technology demonstration of a Java J2ME solution executing on a Mobile Station Modem (MSM) baseband device, and profiled its high-accuracy positioning capability, based on its proven wireless Assisted GPS solution from SnapTrack, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of QUALCOMM.

The MSM5200 single-mode baseband chipset and system software, used for the UMTS test mobiles, began sampling to device manufacturers in September 2001. Interoperability testing and verification using the UMTS test mobiles is now underway with a number of infrastructure manufacturers.

QUALCOMM with the new chipsets and advances, the company says it is accelerating acceptance of 3G CDMA solutions in South Korea, North America and Latin America, which now account for over five million 3G CDMA users.

"Led by the launch of 3G over a year ago in South Korea, the wireless consumer's usage and demands have changed dramatically," says Dr. Jacobs. "The Korean experience demonstrates that the increased capabilities of 3G CDMA networks, when joined with the enhanced capabilities of QUALCOMM's Wireless Internet Launchpad and BREW initiatives, can drive a fundamentally different consumer experience and operator business model. Color screens, synthesized sounds, MP3, cameras, USB connectivity and MPEG-4, are now becoming standard features. The recent 3G CDMA launches by U.S. and Canadian operators will further accelerate the pace of product and application development. 3G networks have now moved beyond the theoretical and into the realm of the practical. We look forward to QUALCOMM UMTS solutions enabling similar color, GPS-enabled, video on demand, MP3, and BREW capable UMTS phones in the near future."

The company also inked a development deal with Comverse, a unit of Comverse Technology, Inc. and content agreements with Walt Disney Internet Group and San Francisco-based NuvoStudios. All three companies will be using QUALCOMM's BREW technology to enhance their own offerings. Comverse Zeev Bregman, Chief Executive Officer of. "Our joint efforts and resulting synergy will lead to the introduction of a vast array of attractive multimodal solutions for BREW applications. As a result, end users will enjoy a more natural user experience because they will be able to choose their preferred mode of interaction."

QUALCOMM also announced that it has won summary judgment in its patent infringement litigation with GTE Wireless, Inc. U.S. District Court for the Southern District Court of California, Judge Rudi M. Brewster ruled that QUALCOMM's products do not infringe any of the claims at issue of United States Patent No. 4,916,728.

http://siliconvalley.internet.com/n...icle.php/978711

Posted by: lowkey

that's like, whoa.

Posted by: Casper

Quote:

Originally posted by lowkey
The GSM1x terminals utilize a standard GSM Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) and are subject to standard GSM authentication. But as a result, QUALCOMM says operators will be able to offer global roaming and service transparency between CDMA2000 1x and GSM networks without compromising their current infrastructure. "Combining the feature-rich services of the GSM core network with the spectral efficiency of a CDMA2000 radio network creates a powerful, cost-effective solution," says QUALCOMM chairman and CEO Dr. Irwin Mark Jacobs. "With the GSM1x solution, GSM operators can offer customers advanced voice and data capabilities while maintaining the key features and services already available on their GSM networks."

I says pardon?

A chipset that uses native CDMA2000 AND native GSM access?

Posted by: Treatz

Quote:

Originally posted by Casper
I says pardon?

A chipset that uses native CDMA2000 AND native GSM access?

holy mad network coverage of DEATH!

Posted by: Casper

Dual Mode Quad Band 1x phone with a SIM card? How frickin' big would that be?

Posted by: Treatz

Quote:

Originally posted by Casper
Dual Mode Quad Band 1x phone with a SIM card? How frickin' big would that be?

probably slightly thicker then the current 720?

Posted by: TELUSRookie

Quote:

Originally posted by Casper
Dual Mode Quad Band 1x phone with a SIM card? How frickin' big would that be?

I'll tell you how big hahaah say, the "brick 2" coming soon to a store near you........ haha

Posted by: dirtyjeffer

GSM using CDMA technology...but all the Fido guys were telling me that CDMA sucks and GSM is the World Standard and is more advanced of a technology than CDMA is.

what will all the GSM guys have to say about this ????

Posted by: VTECMAN

Quote:

Originally posted by dirtyjeffer
GSM using CDMA technology...but all the Fido guys were telling me that CDMA sucks and GSM is the World Standard and is more advanced of a technology than CDMA is.

what will all the GSM guys have to say about this ????

Nothing. Qualcomm knows when to admit defeat. Obviously, they realized that they can't penetrate the GSM market, so they adapted CDMA to work on GSM networks around the world.

Posted by: ConceptVBS

Qualcomm's aim in developing this chipset was most likely due to the GSM dominance in mostly European countries. I bet its their initial attempt to woo GSM operators to become more CDMA oriented. At least this company is trying to build a bridge to resolve the compatibility issues, unlike other stuborn (sp?) GSM peeps.

Posted by: meballard

Qualcomm is a smart company, they'll do what they need to do to get as many customers as they can, and finding ways to make it more attractive to use Qualcomm CDMA technology is just being smart...

Posted by: VTECMAN

Quote:

Originally posted by ConceptVBS
Qualcomm's aim in developing this chipset was most likely due to the GSM dominance in mostly European countries. I bet its their initial attempt to woo GSM operators to become more CDMA oriented. At least this company is trying to build a bridge to resolve the compatibility issues, unlike other stuborn (sp?) GSM peeps.

What need is there to adapt?? 70% of mobile users in the world are GSM users. Thats 747 million users on GSM. CDMA is at 134 million. Its quite obvious what dominating. http://www.gsmworld.com/news/statistics/substats.shtml

Posted by: VTECMAN

Quote:

Posted by: VTECMAN

Quote:

Posted by: VTECMAN

Sorry about the repost. My comp froze on me.

Posted by: Xirc

Quote:

Originally posted by VTECMAN
What need is there to adapt?? 70% of mobile users in the world are GSM users. Thats 747 million users on GSM. CDMA is at 134 million. Its quite obvious what dominating. http://www.gsmworld.com/news/statistics/substats.shtml

They need to adapt because they are realizing that GSM technology has a lot of limitations and moving to 3G GSM in many cases will prove cost prohibative.

Qualcomm is trying to showcase that you can use CDMA technology to ease the financial burden and some of the technological limitations of 3G GSM.

Posted by: dirtyjeffer

Quote:

let's not forget that CDMA is only about 5 years old, where GSM has been around for over 15 years...by your logic, if you narrowed this survey for Canada only, and did it 5 years ago...70% of Canadians use analog phones, so that means analog is the dominant technology and no one would ever want to use some new CDMA technology.

Posted by: MethodMan

Quote:

Originally posted by Xirc
They need to adapt because they are realizing that GSM technology has a lot of limitations and moving to 3G GSM in many cases will prove cost prohibative.

If this is true why would Qualcomm even bother releasing a UMTS chipset?
http://www.phonescoop.com/news/item.php?id=340

Qualcomm was probably slammed by the CDMA carriers for not providing a solution for their clients to roam internationally. Hence the release of GSM1x to cover their asses on future cdma2000 handsets.
Ultimately the standard that claims more users worldwide can be regarded as the dominating standard.

Posted by: Xirc

Quote:

Originally posted by MethodMan
If this is true why would Qualcomm even bother releasing a UMTS chipset?
http://www.phonescoop.com/news/item.php?id=340

Qualcomm was probably slammed by the CDMA carriers for not providing a solution for their clients to roam internationally. Hence the release of GSM1x to cover their asses on future cdma2000 handsets.
Ultimately the standard that claims more users worldwide can be regarded as the dominating standard.

Its all about money. Qualcomm has dollar signs in their eyes. Just because they pioneered CDMA doesn't mean they have to limit themselves to CDMA. By offering a convergence option they get access to the entire market.

Money money money...ain't it funny

Posted by: HC - NO "i"

Quote:

MethodMan,

Perhaps, Qualcomm is getting bored with dominating the CDMA markets

Diversify... Let us think Micro$oft... Why the hell it pumps investment to Apple and why is something called Mircosoft Office v. X or Internet Explorer for Mac OS X?

"Entice you with things love and you are familiar with... Then creating addictions of "live without it"... Now, can you see it is not that bad afterall

... Mac is cool but you may run Windows on it in the future... Isn't it best of the both world Oh, BTW, Job says you are not customizing the OS X interface anymore... Isn't it just like Windows?

" - Bill smiles...

Posted by: MethodMan

Quote:

Originally posted by HC - NO "i"
Perhaps, Qualcomm is getting bored with dominating the CDMA markets

Diversify... Let us think Micro$oft... Why the hell it pumps investment to Apple and why is something called Mircosoft Office v. X or Internet Explorer for Mac OS X?

Or maybe it's a syndrome of "If you can't beat them, join them". We've seen this with Sony a long time with the Beta vs VHS format war. The majority of the masses supported VHS. Sony realized they had to reap profits from the majority so they had two product lines of VCR's. A do or die situation. We all know what happened afterwards to Beta...

Posted by: dirtyjeffer

Quote:

Originally posted by MethodMan
Or maybe it's a syndrome of "If you can't beat them, join them". We've seen this with Sony a long time with the Beta vs VHS format war. The majority of the masses supported VHS. Sony realized they had to reap profits from the majority so they had two product lines of VCR's. A do or die situation. We all know what happened afterwards to Beta...

bad analogy...beta died because sony wouldn't release the patents and license anyone else to build beta machines...JVC owned the patent on VHS and let anyone build one for a small royalty (much like qualcomm does with their chipsets)...in the dying days of beta, sony finally released the patents to allow others to manufacture Beta machines for a small royalty to sony, in an attempt to save the format, but it was too late, VHS was too popular. Sony was greedy, and wanted to be the only manufacturer of Beta VCR's...most consumers didn't see a difference in picture or sound quality between them, and VHS was available from many different brands, so choice and selection prevailed. Sony killed Beta through exclusivity.

your analogy of beta vs vhs has no similarity to this discussion, as qualcomm is doing the exact opposite of what sony did with beta...in your analogy, qualcomm would be the VHS guys, as they manufacture the chipset and sell them to other manufacturers, but they aren't the only ones who make CDMA chipsets (motorola and nokia made their own), they just make the best ones...good memory though, most people barely remember beta vcr's.

Posted by: dirtyjeffer

Quote:

Originally posted by MethodMan
"If you can't beat them, join them".

that is exactly what GSM will be doing...migrating into a CDMA based platform...it is not the other way around, like you seem to imply.

Posted by: VTECMAN

Quote:

Originally posted by dirtyjeffer
that is exactly what GSM will be doing...migrating into a CDMA based platform...it is not the other way around, like you seem to imply.

So you really think that a standard with 773 million subscribers will join 147 million???

Posted by: pd0x

why cant it just be seen as a covergence of two standards? CDMA raw performance + roaming capability of GSM + Sim Cards. That would be awesome...wouldnt it? Would any one complain.. i doubt it...correct me if im wrong....WCDMA or whtever is trying to achieve this..

raza

Posted by: VTECMAN

Quote:

Originally posted by pd0x
why cant it just be seen as a covergence of two standards? CDMA raw performance + roaming capability of GSM + Sim Cards. That would be awesome...wouldnt it? Would any one complain.. i doubt it...correct me if im wrong....WCDMA or whtever is trying to achieve this..

raza

Not quite. WCDMA is the migration path of GSM. CDMA2000 is the migration path of CDMA.

Posted by: MethodMan

Quote:

Originally posted by dirtyjeffer
that is exactly what GSM will be doing...migrating into a CDMA based platform...it is not the other way around, like you seem to imply.

Qualcomm is releasing GSM1x and UMTS products. How do you come up with your conclusions?

Posted by: Xirc

Quote:

Originally posted by VTECMAN
Not quite. WCDMA is the migration path of GSM. CDMA2000 is the migration path of CDMA.

The problem is that WCDMA is not a migration, its a whole new network. So when carriers are looking at their choices it makes little difference whether they choose WCDMA or a convergence solution because either way they have to overlay their network.

Posted by: VTECMAN

Quote:

Originally posted by Xirc
The problem is that WCDMA is not a migration, its a whole new network. So when carriers are looking at their choices it makes little difference whether they choose WCDMA or a convergence solution because either way they have to overlay their network.

Not according to what Qualcomm and Nortel have achieved. I guess it was important to make sure WCDMA is the chosen path of GSM providers.
http://www.howardforums.com/showthr...&threadid=55644

Posted by: MethodMan

Quote:

Damn, what's happening with cdma2000?
http://news.com.com/2100-1033-961601.html?tag=fd_top_8

Posted by: HC - NO "i"

Folks (Especially to those who are too biased),

Look, I have NEVER consider "CDMA is god", so by the same token, please do not think "the winner is decided by the popular vote" either!

I have said before: I have no harsh feeling towards any air interface, any technology, any operator / carrier in particular. It is intriguing to see many emerging development from all corners around the world.

In the meantime, I am sick and tired of engineers, policy-makers and operators / carriers keep fighting on which is the "next" best thing in the 3G communication. Now, to subscribers like us, suddenly we have so many wanna-be-RF-engineers, self-proclaim experts and die-hard geeks. I, myself, am included.

However, it will never change the fact that the foundation and principle of the "next" technological evolution is heading for...

It was a done deal when the day ETSI and GSM operators rectified the 3GPP and meet the ITU's sanctioned IMT-2000 objective - which has clearly stated that it is a CDMA-based standard regardless of 5 different air interfaces! It has decided to migrate the TDMA-based GSM to CDMA-DS based UMTS (whether it is FDD mode or TDD mode).

The TDMA-based GSM air interface has reached its ceiling and outgrow itself to a point, where the increasing demand of better utilization of spectrum must be dealt with, in order to support services like wireless video-on-demand.

It is the GSM camp who picking WCDMA, not CDMA camp put a gun to its head!

On the other extreme, I hate to see how CDG protraits the telecom world evolving around just only with CDMA2000! It keeps making the US-influenced CDMA2000 a headline that the world should follow and even claiming how it leads over all other 4 IMT-2000 air interfaces!

I guess the situation here is more or less influenced by self-serving propaganda from all sides. Please, please... I am NOT pretending to be a RF engineer or expert in this field. I expect any of you here who are not among these titles, do the same - DO NOT PRETEND you know everything to engage a pointless debate over and over again. If you are qualified, you should share your views with your knowledge and explain further to support your views. Not just bashing others or look upon those who are not as well-informed like you do.

All I am asking you is that learn from all sides, and keep educating yourself. In the end, it will enrich our lives and open our eyes. :havadrin

Posted by: HC - NO "i"

Quote:

Originally posted by dirtyjeffer
bad analogy...beta died because sony wouldn't release the patents and license anyone else to build beta machines...JVC owned the patent on VHS and let anyone build one for a small royalty (much like qualcomm does with their chipsets)...in the dying days of beta, sony finally released the patents to allow others to manufacture Beta machines for a small royalty to sony, in an attempt to save the format, but it was too late, VHS was too popular. Sony was greedy, and wanted to be the only manufacturer of Beta VCR's...most consumers didn't see a difference in picture or sound quality between them, and VHS was available from many different brands, so choice and selection prevailed. Sony killed Beta through exclusivity.

your analogy of beta vs vhs has no similarity to this discussion, as qualcomm is doing the exact opposite of what sony did with beta...in your analogy, qualcomm would be the VHS guys, as they manufacture the chipset and sell them to other manufacturers, but they aren't the only ones who make CDMA chipsets (motorola and nokia made their own), they just make the best ones...good memory though, most people barely remember beta vcr's.

dirttyjeffer,

Actually, the Betamax camp DID consist of many members from the beginning included, but not limited to, Hitachi, Toshiba, Sanyo, and NEC. However, some of them also have sold both formats and limited the sales overseas to VHS only.

Posted by: HC - NO "i"

Quote:

MethodMan,

Not quite... By drawing a parallel with Mircrosoft, I am saying Qualcomm is trying to diversify its portfolio to other air interfaces but may also have a bigger plan. Not to make this move should be a mistake because like it or not, the migration of GSM to WCDMA will have a huge market potential with the largest group of subscribers.

My consipiracy theory is: Tucking these subscribers / operators with something they are asking and waiting for, it will increase its market share and client base. Then perhaps, it will land the title of the world's "biggest supplier to WCDMA and CDMA2000 equipment" in the near future. Suddenly when it adds something "spicy" beyond the IMT-2000 "receipe", it would turn the WCDMA into something more like CDMA2000 in the end... or even something totally new yet more proprietary unification! It is a scary thought but possible too.

In your analogy, Sony is always trying to lead the world with its proprietary innovation. Some work, some don't. If it cannot beat them, join them! Of course, when something like Betamax cannot be successful in the consumer market, it must cut the arm. But Sony, in the Betamax era, had yet to learn about the arts of unification of formats, not even close when comes to the "game of world domination". Unification of formats is one thing; Domination is another.

In Sony's history archive, it reports:

"Deputy president Masaaki Morita, who had worked nonstop on promoting home-use VCRs since around 1972, put it this way to employees, 'Speaking frankly, we didn't want to manufacture VHS. However, you don't conduct business according to your feelings. Let's look at reality. The demand is getting stronger in the marketplace for Sony-made VHS products. Even if we have to bite the bullet, we ought to begin manufacturing VHS products for the sake of future growth. In any event, Sony aims to posture itself as the number one comprehensive VCR manufacturer, with Betamax for high quality picture and recording, 8mm formats for optimal compact personal use, and VHS for home video rental. Drawing on these strengths, we will be able to effectively respond to diverse consumer needs.'..."

From this time on, Sony has finally realised the ball was not in its court. Over the course of Sony's history, we have seen certain unification of formats with other the industrial leaders like all the "books" built upon Compact Disc, but yet to see a real world-dominated, proprietary standard in consumer electronics. Unless it has something solid to built up a momentum like Qualcomm has the stronghold in CDMA chipsets or Microsoft has dominated the PCs with Windows, to simply diversify its product portfolio or to unify formats alone is not enough to crush the competitors.

P.S. the death of the Betamax was also partially due to the Hollywood-influenced efforts - just like DMCA in the US to deal with DVD and emerging digital recording medium nowadays. Betamax, by nature, was better in quality. (Even as we speak today, many broadcasters are still using Betacam or DigiBetacam, the professional branch of Betamax). In 1976, Sony was dragged into the 8-year legal battle brought by Universal Picutre.

Posted by: meballard

Quote:

Originally posted by MethodMan
Damn, what's happening with cdma2000?
http://news.com.com/2100-1033-961601.html?tag=fd_top_8

That article isn't factually accurate, being that you do have to build a new network for W-CDMA (with new spectrum), and it does not triple the capacity/efficiency of CDMA (Qualcomm) networks.

Posted by: HC - NO "i"

Quote:

Originally posted by meballard
That article isn't factually accurate, being that you do have to build a new network for W-CDMA (with new spectrum), and it does not triple the capacity/efficiency of CDMA (Qualcomm) networks.

And, the author has mistaken put the "GPRS is a rival technology of WCDMA UMTS" even though it is the Phase 2+ Core element along the migration path to WCDMA set out by 3GPP