Programacion

Exploring the key 4G LTE architecture and opportunity drivers by Tom Nolle, President, CIMI Corp.

From the editor: Wireless operators' 4G LTE architecture and infrastructure planning decisions are being driven by a combination of emerging wireless services, a vastly expanded set of mobile devices to support, the opportunity to offer broadband access where wireline isn't suitable, and changesin users' social and content-consumption behaviors. In the first of four in-depth articles on building out 4G LTE network architecture, telecom consultant Tom Nolle, president of CIMI Corp., looks at how each 4G LTE market driver can take LTE planning in a slightly different direction.

Few people in the mobile industry dispute the inevitability of 4G Long-Term Evolution (LTE), but the timingand the nature of deploying LTE network technology and infrastructure is less certain. Rather than a one-size-fits-all approach, 4G LTE architecture is being determined by the specific competitive and opportunity drivers that provide the impetus for operators to shift to LTE. The solutions vary because of significant differences in wireless markets.

The most credible driver for deploying 4G LTEarchitecture, however, is the market-wide shift from a voice-driven wireless revenue model to a focus on non-voice services -- i.e., broadband data and video. Operators worldwide have been offering unlimited-usage models, and competition is driving down mobile per-minute prices. At best, voice average revenue per user (ARPU) is capped, and it's likely to spiral down over the next five years.Short message service (SMS) is under similar pressure, so data and content services that include video are the hope of the future.

The most effective mechanism for promoting mobile data services has been the growth in smartphone use. The Apple iPhone made smartphones a market phenomenon, spawning a host of competitive models and the entry of Google's open-source mobile Android operating system asa general competitor. To create Android, Nokia and Intel -- which both previously offered their own open-source Linux smartphone platforms -- agreed to combine their programs to boost market interest. Proving the point, industry statistics point to smartphones making up a third of all handset sales within a year.

In the U.S. alone, smartphone use has clogged cells and entire metro areas,affecting the credibility of smartphone data services and the services offered via traditional handsets. Smartphones also accentuate the competitive benefit of higher mobile data speeds, and the success of smartphones will accelerate 4G LTE architecture deployment.

Multiple wireless market forces drive 4G LTE evolution

The wireless market forces driving 4G LTE architecture deployment are manyand complex. Here's a brief overview of the main forces that operators should consider:
• Third-party developer programs. A theme related to the smartphone is the explosion of interest in third-party developers, applications and application stores. Every smartphone vendor now has one, and the GSMA -- a GSM-focused industry group -- announced an initiative to create a uniform applicationframework and store across two dozen operators, and membership is growing. Phone applications are also a main focus of Microsoft's new mobile architecture, Windows Phone 7.


• Apps provide an assist. Applications are a natural pairing with smartphones because a general-purpose browsing function is of limited value to users, owing to the small screen and the difficulty of manipulating thedevice to navigate websites while mobile. Applications can draw online information, but they package the user navigation in a way consistent with mobile device and user constraints. Applications don't require 4G LTE services, but most operators are reluctant to make substantial investments in 3G-based application stores and service layer architecture for fear that the success of the investment could...