TECHNOLOGY: 4G! Learn from 3G

"I would recommend that the newspaper community forget about 4G"-Dr
Keiji Tachikawa, president and CEO, NTT DoCoMo

This reaction came a year back from the head of a company that is now being
looked at as a pioneer in the 4G space. To be fair, Dr Keiji was just answering
the question on commercial arrival of 4G and had said it was at least a decade
away. And, earlier this year NTT DoCoMo demonstrated 300 Mbps, in a moving car.

Based on the R&D being carried out, 4G can be defined as a wireless
standard that would enable data rate of at least 100 Mbps between any two
points, stationary or mobile, across the globe. However, it would be realistic
to expect 20 Mbps over a dynamic network free of congestion.

But why are we talking of welcoming 4G when 3G has not yet taken off fully?
The answer lies in the question itself. Though the debate on commercial launch
of 4G is still hot, the stakeholders are of the view that many networks would
skip 3G to adopt 4G. Dayanidhi Maran, minister for communication and IT has
expressed similar views for India. The reason such views are gaining ground is
the failure of 3G to take off profitably The confusion surrounding the
availability and viability of services has strangled 3G and people are looking
at 4G well ahead of the scheduled 2012 timeframe. In the current scenario, 3G
has been reduced more to the role of a capacity enhancer standard for the 2.5G
services.

What Will Make 4G?

International Telecom Union (ITU) recommends three basic areas of
connectivity for 4G. Within the personal area networking (PAN), it should enable
devices to connect with each other. Within the high-speed access points, or
hotspots, it should provide connectivity speeds of about 10 Mb per second.
However, by 2010 this should reach speeds of about 1Gb per second. For cellular
connectivity it recommends connection speeds of about 30 Mb per second by 2005
and 100 Mb per second by 2010. Going beyond the LANs, 4G would also include
Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) to enable voice over IP (VoIP) to be
deployed.

3G vs Wi-Fi vs WiMax vs 4G

When 3G was introduced the primary aim was to take connectivity beyond
simple voice and data. It was meant to facilitate faster delivery of multimedia
content. But to everybody's disappointment, 3G has at the most been able to
deliver data at better speeds than 2.5G technologies and has failed when it
comes to streaming video.

DARPA Again Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has been responsible for the original plan for fourth generation (4G) wireless. The success of wired Internet, which was conceived by DARPA, prompted the same distributed architecture for the wireless Internet too. End-to-end Internet Protocol (IP) would ensure wired Internet applications to be incorporated in the wireless scenario too and the peer-to-peer networks would eliminate the spoke-and-hub weakness of cellular architecture. Though a final definition and many aspects of 4G are yet to be finalized, the basic framework provided by DARPA has shown the way for its development. Graphics: naveen k Saini

Similar hype has been created around 4G also-high-speed video and
high-speed data-but to a larger audience. In fact, Wi-Fi and WiMax have evoked
greater interest than 3G and are being seen as stepping-stones to 4G. Many
believe that the coverage area limitation of Wi-Fi has been instrumental in
giving the push for 4G technologies. Though WiMax also promises multimedia
applications while on the move, 4G would be a step further and customers would
get richer media experience.

According to the initial plan, 4G licenses are to be opened up in 2007 and it
would take another three to five years for the commercial launch. However,
considering the investments being made by companies like Samsung, NTT DoCoMo,
Nokia, KDDI, and Ericsson in research and development, it would not be
surprising if 4G gets soft launched within the 3G framework. Though no company
has laid down a clear 4G plan, Samsung claims to hold over 200 patents in this
field and has tied up with Nokia for 4G equipment.

Korea is one country that has clearly stated its disillusionment with 3G and
the operators there are already planning for 4G commercial launch by the end of
2005. The Chinese government and operators are also trying to implement 4G
extensively, in time for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

And the Old Technologies?

The Beijing games would have more of a combination of 3G and 2.5G services
over high-speed downlink packet access (HSDPA) technology. HSDPA is likely to be
a preview of the things to come (4G) and can be referred to as 3.5G or a 3G
evolved.

With European operators sinking in almost $100 billion in the scramble for 3G
licences, some would want to wait more before trying their hand at 4G.

Till 4G technologies are really out in open EDGE, GPRS, Wi-Fi, WiMax will
hold good. They may have limitations but have not been rejected outright. These
are likely to be present when 4G technologies are ushered in and customers will
be able to select between 3G and 4G for.

It is the DSL and fixed-broadband operators who are more under threat from
4G. Being IP based, the 4G would provide seamless high-speed connectivity
between homes and offices. Further, the pricing of these services is not
expected to exceed DSL or fixed-line services, thus increasing their
competitiveness.

But among this all hype, defining a business model is important for 4G to
succeed. Though Wi-Fi and WiMax do not have technological flaws it is the lack
of returns that is killing them. Their service providers are still struggling to
find ways of generating revenue.

The success of any technology depends on what the users are demanding and how
much he is ready to pay for it. The 4G developers are banking heavily on the
demand for high speed data services and video downloads. But if 3G and WiMax are
going to deliver the same, why rush in for 4G? The overlapping among
applications in 2.5G, 3G, and 4G would effectively ask the user to shell out
more, only for higher speed. Unless compelling applications are offered in the
converged environment, and they can project 'real' value for money, 4G would
also not take off and 5G would be knocking at the doors.

Anurag Prasad

Wireless Telecommunications

First generation (1G): First step of cellular architecture, still
offered in some places, represented by brick-like phones

Second generation (2G): Introduced digital technology, allowed many
callers to use the same multiplexed channel. Primarily used for voice
communications but data features like short messaging service (SMS) allowed

2.5G: Currently the most prevalent technology standard, has better
software allowing increase data rates

Third generation (3G): Promises greater bandwidth, bigger data pipes
to users allowing more information flow

Fourth generation (4G) wireless: High-speed multimedia delivery, still
in R&D stage, and standards not finalized.

Challenges for 4G technologies

Device standards: The 4G services would require to provide the user
with one device which would be programmed to automatically and seamlessly switch
to the appropriate network

Power consumption: WLANs are today energy intensive. If powerful and
long-range mobile devices are being considered for the future, finding an
adequate power source or reducing the size of the battery could be a challenge
and this area still requires extensive research

Bandwidth issues: Bandwidth has been a problem for data transfer, even
in 2.5G and 3G networks. If 100 Mbps is being targeted on a congestion free
network, spectrum and bandwidth need careful allocation

Economies of scale: Many service providers already have GPRS, EDGE,
Wi-Fi, and WiMax installed and have sunk in huge investments in these networks.
Unless they are assured of good returns on the new networks, they have no reason
reinvest in a new networks