Wireless Future - Telenor

Dave Wisely (39) graduated in
1982 with a first class degree in
physics. He worked at the Atomic
Weapons Research Establishment
(AWRE) and at Marconi
Space and Defence Systems.
He obtained a higher degree in
optics from Reading University,
winning the Pilkington prize for
best student, and joined BT
Labs in 1988 doing research into
micro-optic devices. He then
took another MSc in telecommunications,
winning a prize for his
thesis. Since 1995 Dave Wisely
has been working on various
aspects of mobile communications
and is now head of UMTS
research at BT Labs leading a
large team looking at IP for UMTS
phases I and II, IP mobility and
roaming, GPRS evolution, etc.
dave.wisely@bt.com
Werner Mohr (45) obtained his
Masters degree in electrical
engineering from the University
of Hannover in 1981 and his
PhD in 1987. From 1987 to 1990
he was senior engineer at the
Institute of High-Frequency
Technology at the University of
Hannover. In 1991 he started
work for Siemens AG, Mobile
Network Division in Munich. He
was active in the RACE-II project
ATDMA, ETSI SMG5 for
UMTS standardisation, and was
manager of the ACTS FRAMES
project. Since 1998 he has been
Vice-President Pre-Engineering
in the Chief Technical Office of
the Communication on Air business
area of Siemens ICM with
responsibility for cross-functional
research activities.
werner.mohr@icn.siemens.de
58
The BRAIN Developments for a
Broadband Mobile Access Network
beyond Third Generation
DAVE WISELY, WERNER MOHR AND JOSEF URBAN
The licenses for third generation mobile systems are currently allocated and auctioned
across Europe. Some first UMTS networks will be operational in 2001. At the same time
activities are starting to define and to develop the next generation of mobile networks. An
important characteristic of these future systems is the user-friendly access to services
across heterogeneous networks using different technologies including traditional cellular
networks as well as other radio technologies such as Wireless LAN. The European research
project BRAIN is contributing to these developments by defining an open architecture for
wireless broadband Internet access. This article will provide an overview of major achievements
of the BRAIN project during the first year of the project’s lifetime.
Introduction
The licensing process for the provision of third
generation networks is well under way. It is
anticipated that around 100 licences will be
awarded over the next 12 months. Some first
UMTS networks will be operational in 2001 [1].
While 3G networks are rolled out, the research
community is already thinking about the next
generation. For example, NTT DoCoMo and
Hewlett Packard announced recently a joint
research effort with the aim to improve multimedia
delivery and network applications over
fourth generation (4G) wireless broadband networks.
Alcatel, Ericsson, Nokia and Siemens
decided to create the Wireless World Research
Forum (WWRF) [2]. The objective of this new
forum is to develop visions on strategic research
directions in the wireless field and to identify
technical trends for mobile and wireless system
technologies. The European research project
BRAIN (Broadband Radio Access for IP based
Networks) is contributing to this discussion
about systems beyond 3G by defining an open
architecture for wireless broadband Internet
access. The BRAIN project is also actively contributing
to standards bodies with contributions
to the IETF, ETSI BRAN and the HiperLAN/2
Global Forum delivered or under preparation.
The BRAIN Project
The project is sponsored under the IST (Information
Society Technologies) programme of the
European Commission [3]. The project consortium
consists of the following manufactures,
operators, and research institutes: Ericsson,
Nokia, Siemens, Sony, BT, France Télécom
R&D, NTT DoCoMo, T-Nova, INRIA, King’s
College London, and the Spanish Internet startup
Agora Systems [4].
The general objective of the BRAIN project is to
propose a system architecture which combines
broadband radio access systems such as HIPER-
LAN/2 – in hot spot areas like railway stations –
with UMTS and GSM to enable full coverage of
seamless IP based services for users in hot spot
areas and on the move. The design of the BRAIN
system is optimised across application, network,
and air interface layer with regard to QoS and
mobility management. This enables the system
to provide human-friendly services and applications
to the mobile user of the future.
An overview of the most important aspects of
the BRAIN work in the three areas of applications
and services, the network layer and the air
interface is given below.
The BRAIN Business Model
and the Support for Adaptable
Multimedia Services
The project has adopted a top-down approach to
define the architecture and protocols needed for
the seamless provision of IP services. In order to
define the requirements on the terminal, network
and air interface, the project described and analysed
several scenarios which illustrate the usage
of advanced mobile services [5]. For example, a
scenario called ‘leisure time’ describes a situation
in which a user is connected from the same
terminal to a private HIPERLAN/2 network of
a shopping mall as well as to public cellular networks
(Figure 1).
The private WLAN network of the shopping mall
offers to their visitors access to high bandwidth
applications. Users are offered a range of services
related to shopping in the big hall. These include:
price and availability checks on goods, news of
special offers, restaurant menus and booking and
even transport timetables. Within the stores there
are further customized services available, such as
video-tailoring: based on your stored profile you
can see an image of yourself wearing clothes for
sale in a tailor’s shop.
Telektronikk 1.2001