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Wireless Future - Telenor

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Pbit/day<br />

6<br />

150<br />

125<br />

100<br />

75<br />

50<br />

25<br />

0<br />

Figure 4 Internet growth<br />

(From OVUM, Global Telecoms<br />

& IP Markets, 1999) [9]<br />

Internet access<br />

Voice<br />

1998 1999 2000 2001<br />

This is especially visible on the network side,<br />

where existing and alternative platforms are<br />

used. Great effort has also been put into widening<br />

the UMTS term to be more than a mobile<br />

access technology.<br />

There are many opinions about what 4G represents.<br />

The EU is engaged in this development,<br />

primarily through the research framework programmes.<br />

As mentioned earlier, there have been<br />

projects with a distinct 4G viewpoint, at least<br />

viewed from a distance. In the 5th framework<br />

programme, IST, the term 4G is put forward,<br />

and there are several projects studying different<br />

aspects. The view of the European commission<br />

as well as one of the major projects in IST called<br />

BRAIN, is comprehensively described in other<br />

papers in this issue [10][11].<br />

There is obviously a development towards closer<br />

interworking between different technologies,<br />

especially on the access side. An important factor<br />

is also the development of open, technology<br />

independent application platforms like e.g. OSA.<br />

The IP platform currently has great momentum,<br />

partly because it represents a possible common<br />

denominator for transport and access to services<br />

independent of the different access platforms.<br />

In this paper, we go further into three main areas<br />

which we believe are important in order to<br />

understand what 4G is about and why the development<br />

does not stop with UMTS.<br />

In the next chapter, we address the user aspects,<br />

the trends and possibilities. Further, we deal<br />

with the radio access technology aspects, spanning<br />

from antenna systems to the notion of “reconfigurable<br />

mobile communications”. Finally,<br />

we look at the development towards realizing<br />

the so-called “All-IP” vision, which seeks to<br />

enable service mobility independent of access<br />

technology and a lot of new applications.<br />

4G seen from the User<br />

In 2G SMS has been a successful service that<br />

nobody did foresee, and it remains to be seen<br />

what will be the killer application in 3G. Trying<br />

at this point to foresee which kind of services<br />

and applications will be predominant in 4G is<br />

more like guesswork. However, there seems to<br />

be a common understanding of some trends.<br />

The development of mobile communication<br />

from 3G onwards is expected to evolve in a<br />

smoother way than the generation steps so far<br />

where new heavy technical platforms have been<br />

introduced as the bases for new generations.<br />

New technologies emerging today and technologies<br />

still behind the horizon will, together with<br />

the 3G technology, form a heterogeneous network<br />

that step by step will increase capability.<br />

Which direction or directions the development<br />

takes will to a greater extent than thus far be<br />

determined by the market. The introduction of<br />

3G will open for a multitude of different types of<br />

services and applications which are new to the<br />

users. The response to all new possibilities of<br />

mobile communication presented will in addition<br />

to paving the way for new services and<br />

applications also indicate areas where enhanced<br />

capability is required and thereby influence the<br />

development of the technical platform.<br />

Terminals<br />

For the user the personal pocket terminal will be<br />

a central part of the 4G technology. In principle<br />

the terminal will be a powerful PC with a variety<br />

of communication capabilities, and a range of<br />

terminals having different capabilities will exist.<br />

The simplest ones will be able to handle a limited<br />

set of access technologies and a limited set<br />

of services and applications. As users get used<br />

to communicating using pictures and video in<br />

3G, a video camera and a screen to view received<br />

videos will be a requirement for 4G terminals.<br />

User Interfaces<br />

The personal pocket terminal consists of a computing/communication<br />

part with a user interface.<br />

The user interface, in addition to being integrated<br />

in the computing/communication part of<br />

a 4G terminal, might also exist as a separate unit<br />

and communicate by using short range radio<br />

technology. In this case only the user interface<br />

will be a wearable for users. The computing/<br />

communication part may remain in the pocket<br />

or the briefcase during a communication session<br />

or when using an application of the computing<br />

part. One option for a remote user interface<br />

could be a screen built into a spectacle-like<br />

device which also includes a microphone for<br />

voice recognition and a video camera. Included<br />

Telektronikk 1.2001

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