WIRELESS BROADBAND

4G: 100Mbps in your palm
The story of 4G wireless technology

3G is not even up and running yet, and they have already started talking about 4G? It is but natural. As with all technology progressions, the next upgrades have to be in planning and development. It is now time to think about the future of mobile called 4G i.e. the 4th Generation Wireless.

The cellular industry began developing 2G systems in the early 1980s. As experience shows, the lead-time for mobile phone systems development is about 10 years. Primary thinking on 3G took place in 1991 as 2G (GSM) systems just started to roll out. Therefore, it is felt that 4G should be operational from around 2011, and would build on the second phase of 3G when all networks are expected to embrace Internet protocol (IP) technology. During the last year, companies such as Ericsson, Motorola, Lucent, Nortel and Qualcomm came up with "3G-plus" concepts that would push performance of approved, though still emerging, standards beyond current ones.

3G networks—the first of which will be operational in 2001—will offer Internet speeds of up to 2 Mbps, 200 times faster than is possible today, making it possible to see live video clips. 4G speeds could be as high as 100 Mbps. Thus, 4G will represent another quantum leap in mobile Internet speeds and picture quality. Ericsson confirms that 4G could bring connection speeds of up to 50 times faster than 3G networks and three-dimensional visual experiences for the first time. "You will be able to have the experience of sitting in the stadium at the Olympics and really feeling you are there", according to Ericsson.

4G could be built on 3G-telephony spectrum, but higher capacity demand would create a need for even more spectrum. Operators—already investing huge amounts in buying 3G licences—would have to make additional investments in equipment and services.

The Japanese Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications has announced that it is setting up a panel of experts to develop standards for 4G cellular technologies aiming to launch 4G services targeted at around 2007. Japan is planning to invest $10 billion in 4G development.

Japan can claim to be the first with wireless broadband as NTT DoCoMo—a pioneer in wireless Internet services—has announced that wireless broadband would be available to its consumers in the next ten months. In February 1999, the company introduced the ‘i-Mode’, giving wireless Internet access to now 15 million subscribers (V&D, July 2000). NTT DoCoMo is planning to introduce 3G wireless services in Japan by May 2001, which may be the first mobile broadband service in the world available to consumers.

NTT DoCoMo has been lobbying to get its W-CDMA broadband technology accepted as a worldwide standard. With the Japanese marketplace being relatively isolated from the rest of the world, Japan is the only major country using PDC technology standard for 2G mobile phones. DoCoMo calls its vision 2010 as MAGIC (Mobile multimedia, Anytime-anywhere-anyone, Global, Integerated, Customis-ed personal service).

With all the 3G frenzy, the 3G systems are on the threshold. The 3G licences are being auctioned off at astronomical prices and new mobile services are being created at a rapid pace. People in the 3G world would receive the latest information–anywhere, anytime, and make use of it on a real time basis. 4G will add ‘Multimedia’!

4G terminals are predicted to be more of a "virtual reality device" that will recognize the owner’s geographical position, needs and habits. Therefore, it will be quite different from the terminal device that we are familiar with today, where one has to submit URLs, scroll, click and command. 4G will be less dependent on menus and scrolling. The thing we do hope gets addressed is the cost, considering the incredibly high 3G costs.

Major 4G applications would be based on visualized virtual navigation that allows a remote database containing graphical representation of streets, buildings and physical characteristics of a large metro to be accessed by a moving vehicle, which can then visualize the environment ahead virtually. One would be able to see the internal layout of a building during an emergency rescue. "Telegeoprocessing"—through a combination of Geographical Information Systems (GIS), Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and high-capacity wireless mobile systems—dependent on location information of several users, can have many applications including crisis management.

The other life-saving application would be "telemedicine" where a paramedic assisting the victim of a traffic accident in remote locations can access medical records and have video-conference assistance from
a surgeon for an emergency intervention.

Ericsson predicts that the number of mobile subscribers globally will jump from 600 million to 1 billion in the next two years, and that in 2003, mobile Internet users will overtake fixed-line users for the first time. The number of subscribers to wireless data services will grow rapidly from 170 million worldwide in 2000 to more than 1.3 billion in 2004, according to a study by Cahners In-Stat Group.

Messaging will be the primary driver of wireless data adoption, according to the Cahners study. The number of wireless messages sent per month will rise rapidly from 3 billion in December 1999 to 244 billion by December 2004. Other features such as mobile commerce applications, entertainment, real-time financial information, travel and location-based information services—getting directions to the closest restaurant or bank—will also be popular, but will take longer to reach the market, according to the study. It adds, "to ensure that wireless data catches on, carriers must deploy new infrastructure and install new equipment to enable location-based services, high-level security, micro-payment options and detailed billing". Other killer applications have been mentioned as "location-based services" and "streaming video and audio services".

At ITU Telecom Asia 2000 (December 4-9, Hong Kong), 4G was expect-edly one of the hot topics. Ericsson confirmed that it is expected to contribute $12 million to the California Institute of Telecommunications Information and Technology to conduct studies of wireless communication in the fourth generation of wireless technology.

In India, Karnataka has shown initiative by setting up a 4G-resource centre at Bangalore. With a large number of Indians already involved in mobile Internet development, the initiative—with a lot of foresight—needs all possible support.