The great thing about standards, as some wit once said, is that there are so many to choose from. Mobile phones have a multiplicity of standards, nested within one another like a messy set of Russian dolls filled with alphabet soup.
WTF is… 4G article tells about the newest hot mobile phone standard. The ‘generations’ of mobile networks are fairly loose, but appear roughly once a decade: the first, analogue, 1G cellular networks around 1981, then digital 2G in about 1992, 3G at the turn of the century.
And now 4G is the hot topic: 4G will be a pure packet-switched TCP/IP network, running everything over IPv6. Voice becomes VoIP. There are two competing 4G technologies: LTE and WiMax. Now it seems that almost everyone going with LTE. What will become the 4G mobile standard for the whole world is 3GPP Release 10: LTE Advanced. It’s a compatible enhancement of LTE to bring it up to the ITU stipulations.
The single most important characteristic of true 4G is that it doesn’t exist yet. Many of the current generation of 4G-branded phones in the US are not actually 4G, whatever their names may suggest.
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AT&T’s 4G LTE spotted in Los Angeles
http://www.cnet.com/8301-17918_1-57340913-85/at-ts-4g-lte-spotted-in-los-angeles/?part=rss&subj=latest-news&tag=title
TeliaSonera first to launch 4G in Finland
http://teliasonera4g.com/archives/108
4G marketing getting wilder in Finland
http://blog.lehto.net/2011/11/19/4g-marketing-getting-wilder-in-finland/
This week the largest mobile network operator in Finland, Elisa opened their LTE (4G) network service for consumers and businesses.
An introduction to the technology behind LTE Release 9
http://www.eetimes.com/design/test-and-measurement/4234458/An-introduction-to-the-technology-behind-LTE-Release-9?Ecosystem=communications-design
End 2008 the specifications were sufficiently stable for commercial implementation and the first commercial LTE network was launched in Sweden and Norway in December 2009. 35 commercial networks were launched by end October 2011.
TE Release 9. The Release includes a set of features that either were not completed in release 8 or which provide some smaller optimizations or improvements. These are namely:
Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Services (MBMS) for LTE,
LTE MIMO: dual-layer beamforming,
LTE positioning
PWS (Public Warning System)
RF requirements for multi-carrier and multi-RAT base stations,
Home eNodeB specification (femto-cell),
Self-Organizing Networks (SON).
As the term evolved implies, Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Services (MBMS), is not fundamentally new to 3GPP and not defined as a LTE-only feature.
MBMS in UMTS/WCDMA offers 6 mobile TV channels at a data rate of 128 kbps in a 5 MHz channel.
LTE defines also a simpler and flatter network architecture than 3G, thus there is an impact offering MBMS over LTE.
ITU designates LTE-Advanced as “True 4G”
http://www.extremetech.com/mobile/114953-itu-designates-lte-advanced-as-true-4g
Late last week, the ITU (International Telecommunications Union) finally agreed on which technologies qualify for the IMT-Advanced specification. The ITU has decided that LTE-Advanced (which is a collection of standards defined in upcoming UMTS Releases 9 and 10) and WirelessMAN-Advanced (commonly known as WiMAX 2) both qualify and are officially designated as IMT-Advanced technologies.
Sorting out 4G: Are we there yet?
http://www.edn.com/article/520722-Sorting_out_4G_Are_we_there_yet_.php?cid=NL_UBM+Electronics
Can we achieve the performance levels of the IMT-Advanced global standard for international mobile telecommunications?
Qualcomm chips complete first successful VoIP-over-LTE to WCDMA handoff
http://www.engadget.com/2012/02/02/qualcomm-chips-complete-first-successful-voip-over-lte-to-wcdma/
For now, voice over LTE is but an idea — one with unrealized potential, as Verizon, AT&T and Metro PCS all still rely on their 3G networks for voice duty. Qualcomm has edged us one step closer to a completely 4G future, though, with the first successful test of a mid-call LTE to WCDMA transfer.
Finland expects LTE phones
http://www.3t.fi/artikkeli/uutiset/teknologia/suomi_odottaa_lte_puhelimia
Finnish Internet users have access to the largest cities to use for high-speed 4G broadband connections. This year the 4G network population coverage is expected to reach 40-50 per cent, or thereabouts.
Finland’s available online is a 4G-sticks, but not the actual LTE phones.
In Finland, 4G subscriptions are marketed at present usually a monthly charge of € 40. (€ 20 with limited speed)
In the United States the situation is different, where the phones are already sold widely. Also, Nokia’s phones, Windows-LTE Model 900 Snow is coming specifically for First American 4G networks.
4G Phones Are Really Fast — At Draining Batteries
http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/12/02/08/0043228/4g-phones-are-really-fast-at-draining-batteries
With Verizon’s 4G network covering a good chunk of the country and AT&T gaining ground, more smartphone users have access to the fastest wireless service available. But because 4G coverage isn’t truly continuous in many locations, users’ batteries are taking a big hit with 4G, as phones spend an lot of battery power trying to hunt down a signal. ‘You’ve got a situation where the phones are sending out their signals searching and searching for a 4G tower, and that eats up your battery,’
In a suspect move, LightSquared calls for GPS design standards
http://gigaom.com/broadband/in-a-suspect-move-lightsquared-calls-for-gps-design-standards/
In its ongoing fight to launch its nationwide LTE service, LightSquared on Wednesday Tuesday asked the Federal Communications Commission to impose the first-ever standards on GPS device design, claiming such requirements would allow GPS and its 4G network to co-exist peacefully in the satellite bands. While LightSquared would appear to be taking the middle path, the proposal smacks of a political stunt.
Even if the FCC agreed to establish such standards, the rulemaking process and implementing those design requirements would take years, while leaving millions of interference-prone devices in the market that would need to replaced or retrofitted.
In order to prep the L-band for 4G, the government needs to create and enforce standards on the GPS devices to prevent them from stepping outside of their bands.
But in this case, LightSquared is using principle as a cudgel to beat back the commercial GPS lobby so it can deploy its LTE network before it runs out of funding.
Interference in the L-band is a big issue that will take years to fix.
LTE femtocells ready to take off as API ecosystem expands
http://www.edn.com/article/520836-LTE_femtocells_ready_to_take_off_as_API_ecosystem_expands.php?cid=NL_UBM+Electronics
Vendors are rapidly preparing the LTE technology to meet operator demand, as witnessed by 17 manufacturers adopting the APIs for their upcoming LTE products, according to the Femto Forum.
The LTE APIs enable interoperability between LTE femtocell semiconductors and protocol software from different vendors.
“As operators plan LTE networks, small cells, including femtocells, could play a critical role in enabling the fastest possible data services in metropolitan and rural public spaces, as well as in private homes and offices,” said Alan Law, Chairman of the Femto Forum’s LTE SIG, in a statement.
Curtains for LightSquared? NTIA says GPS interference is unfixable
http://betanews.com/2012/02/14/curtains-for-lightsquared-ntia-says-gps-interference-is-unfixable/
LightSquared, the aspiring 4G wireless network built in the “L band” of spectrum has been under fire from the GPS industry for the last year over the interference the experimental network was shown to create for GPS receivers.
“Based on NTIA’s independent evaluation of the testing and analysis performed over the last several months, we conclude that LightSquared’s proposed mobile broadband network will impact GPS services and that there is no practical way to mitigate the potential interference at this time,”
FCC hangs up on 4G broadband biz LightSquared
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/02/15/lightsquared_fcc/
LightSquared’s brilliant plan was to use radio frequencies formerly reserved for satellite phones to build a ground-based network.
Satellite operators are allowed to run ground-based transmitters, to fill in gaps caused by shadows and push the signal into buildings, but LightSquared got permission to drop the satellite capability from the handsets entirely.
The US regulator has issued a statement saying it plans to suspend the waiver under which LightSquared was planning to build its national 4G network, putting the kibosh on the whole plan.
The statement is in response to a letter from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) which recommended the waiver be suspended – saying that it remained unconvinced that LightSquared could ever coexist happily with GPS systems.
Falcone’s Plan B: Swapping Airwaves
http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052970204880404577225354192477944-lMyQjAxMTAyMDEwNTExNDUyWj.html
LightSquared Inc. may seek to exchange its wireless airwave licenses for similar ones operated by the U.S. Department of Defense in a last-ditch effort to revive its mobile broadband service, according to people familiar with the company’s plans.
The swap is among several options the company is considering in response to the FCC action on Tuesday, those people said.
LightSquared blew it, and here’s why
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57378764-94/lightsquared-blew-it-and-heres-why/
LightSquared may have had a great case for building its wireless network, but the fledgling company lacked the political tact to see it through.
LightSquared today fired back at the Federal Communications Commission, saying the agency’s decision to squash the company’s planned wireless network would harm the American public. But it appears to be too little, too late for the embattled company.
“Politicians, rather than engineers and scientists, dictated the solution to the problem from Washington,” CEO Sanjiv Ahuja said in a statement issued today
Why should you care about this startup only known in wireless circles? LightSquared’s planned 4G LTE network actually had the potential to threaten the way wireless business is conducted. LightSquared planned to act as a neutral wholesaler of wireless service. Any company looking to offer wireless service, or connect its gadget to a wireless network, could go to LightSquared.
The opportunities that came from a brand new network, however, were overshadowed by the concerns brought up by the GPS industry. While most GPS equipment was shielded against interference, critical ones such as farming equipment, some aviation GPS equipment, and GPS devices used by the government were affected.
“The FCC tried really hard to create a competitor out of thin air, and it badly backfired,” Entner said.
LightSquared, meanwhile, already spent $4 billion on its planned network deployment and spectrum, and is left with what is essentially a toxic asset.
EU states must allow 4G Internet use on analogue TV spectrum by January 2013
http://thenextweb.com/eu/2012/02/15/eu-states-must-allow-4g-internet-use-on-analogue-tv-spectrum-by-january-2013/
The rollout of 4G wireless data connectivity in Europe took a step forward today as the European Parliament approved plans to free up radio spectrum for this and other uses.
The Programme includes a ruling that by 1 January 2013, EU member states will have to authorise the use of the 800 MHz band, currently used for remaining analogue TV transmissions, for wireless broadband, unless they can obtain an exemption by that date. This band is seen as particularly useful for transmitting data due to its ability to travel long distances without losing strength, and to penetrate buildings well. The digital TV switchover is scheduled to be complete by the end of 2012.
LightSquared scrabbles to save itself after FCC stops LTE plan
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/02/16/lightsquared_spectrum_swap/
LightSquared is reportedly trying to swap radio spectrum with the US military in an attempt to salvage its business model after the FCC pulled the rug from under the mobile broadband biz – but its customers are already abandoning it.
The FCC has decided (or been told to decide, depending on whom one believes) that LightSquared’s network will never be able to coexist with GPS, and therefore can’t be allowed to exist, which leaves LightSquared almost $4bn out of pocket with customers waiting and a collaborative-infrastructure deal with Sprint on the table, but no usable radio spectrum within which to deploy a network.
LightSquared owns two bands, one right beside the GPS band and one some way below it
The FCC is certainly in a slightly embarrassing position. Ground components are allowed as part of the satellite-use licence, and LightSquared intended to exploit that loophole back in 2005. In 2010 the FCC added a coverage requirement to the licence, and, when the GPS industry started kicking up a fuss, a clause that required LightSquared to prove that it wouldn’t interfere with GPS signals.
http://www.3t.fi/artikkeli/uutiset/teknologia/700_megahertsia_langattomalle_laajakaistalle
International Telecommunication Union ITU Radiocommunication Conference has decided to make 700 MHz frequency band for wireless broadband systems after 2015. The final decision is made in 2015 be held in Congress
LightSquared Hires Lawyers To Prep For GPS Battle
http://yro.slashdot.org/story/12/02/20/0513242/lightsquared-hires-lawyers-to-prep-for-gps-battle
“Following Tuesday’s FCC ruling saying that the company’s LTE network interferes with GPS, LightSquared’s primary investor Philip Falcone is looking to sue the FCC and the GPS industry.”
Why LightSquared failed: It was science, not politics
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2012/02/why-lightsquared-failed.ars
The seeds of LightSquared’s failure to win government clearance to build a 4G-LTE network can, ironically, be found in the “approval” the company received just 13 months ago.
Despite the FCC’s glowing remarks about LightSquared, the conditional approval made it clear the plan would never gain final clearance unless it could be implemented without interfering with GPS devices. In a nutshell, LightSquared needed a special waiver because it is trying to use spectrum allocated for low-power space-to-ground transmissions for something it was not originally allocated for: high-power ground-only transmissions that could fuel a nationwide wireless mobile broadband network.
Rather, most GPS devices are incapable of filtering out signals from adjacent frequencies—particularly when those signals are many times stronger than the signals GPS devices are supposed to receive.
Blame GPS makers as much as you want, but interference is still a problem
But given the simple reality that most current GPS devices cannot filter out LightSquared signals, government-commissioned studies have concluded that it would be impractical to force GPS makers to retrofit all existing devices in time for the mobile network’s proposed launch in 2012. If one just ignores the question of whose fault this is, the government has concluded that the GPS system is simply too important to disrupt.
Exclusive: LightSquared plans to cut 45 percent of workforce
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/21/us-lightsquared-idUSTRE81K1XN20120221
it will cut 45 percent of its 330-employee workforce