EDUCAUSE Southwest Regional Conference 2003 Wireless Convergence: More or Less the Sum of its Parts? Doug Jackson Director, Technology Customer Services UT Dallas Copyright Doug Jackson This work is the intellectual property of the author. Permission is granted for this material to be shared for non- commercial, educational purposes, provided that this copyright statement appears on the reproduced materials and notice is given that the copying is by permission of the author. To disseminate otherwise or to republish requires written permission from the author.

Wireless Convergence: More or Less the Sum of its Parts? Basic Technology Concepts WiFi b-a-g Bluetooth Cellular 2/2.5/3G Convergence Driving Forces General Trends Projects & Timelines Wrapup

Basic Technology Concepts WiFi b-a-g ( wireless lans)

Basic Technology Concepts WiFi b-a-g IEEE Standards for Wireless LAN Spread Spectrum Radio Technology (802.11) b a g e- QoS services i x security

Basic Technology Concepts WiFi b-a-g Access Point - network device that links wireless stations to the wired network- $900-$500/unit Wireless NIC cards- USB or PC card -radio transceivers for the end users -- $795/card $595/card $595/card $275/card $275/card $150/card $150/card $85/card $85/card

Basic Technology Concepts WiFi b-a-g b- 11Mbps DSSS, 2.4GHz spectrum, failovers to 5.5, 2, 1 Mbps a- 54Mbps max, 5GHz spectrum, failovers to 48, 36, 24, 18, 12, 6Mbps g -54Mbps max, 2.4GHz spectrum, backward compatible with b (not ratified yet)

Basic Technology Concepts WiFi b-a-g c- work moved to 802.1D d- Extensions in other Regulatory Domains e - MAC Enhancements-Security/QoS f- Inter-Access Point Protocol h- Spectrum Managed 5Ghz i- Enhanced Security (TKIP and 802.1x)

Basic Technology Concepts WiFi b-a-g b a g Frequency band 2.4GHz5GHz2.4GHz Max data rate 11Mbps54Mbps54Mbps availability WorldwideUSWorldwide Interference sources Cordless phone Microwave oven BluetoothHiperlandevices Cordless phone Microwave oven Bluetooth The Rules of Thumb of Radio Higher data rates usually imply shorter transmission range Higher power output increases range, but increases power consumption (less battery life) The higher the frequency, the higher the data rate (but smaller range).

Basic Technology Concepts WiFi b-a-g 50 ft 11Mbps54Mbps54Mbps 100 ft 11Mbps36Mbps36Mbps 125 ft 11Mbps12Mbps11Mbps 150 ft 5.5Mbps6Mbps5.5Mbps 250 ft 2Mbps? 350 ft 1Mbps

Basic Technology Concepts Bluetooth

What is “Bluetooth”? Wireless lan technology (10 meters) or PAN 2.4GHz band with 1Mbps speed Spread spectrum frequency-hopping “always on” user-transparent cable-replacement Combination of packet-switching & circuit- switching (good for data & voice) 3 voice channels - 64Kbps each

Basic Technology Concepts Bluetooth Why “Bluetooth”? Low power Economical Transparently connects “office” devices Laptop Desktop PDA Phone printer Bridging capability: network-pda-phone

Basic Technology Concepts Bluetooth Why “Bluetooth”? Master-slave piconets Less susceptible to interference Capable of connecting a mix of multiple piconets into “scatternet” Service discovery protocol allows invisible interaction of various “trusted” devices

Basic Technology Concepts Cellular

Basic Cellular Technologies 2G (2nd generation) - Digital phones with speeds upto 14.4K 2.5G - Digital service with higher speeds and packet based always-on service (~144K) 3G - 144K in high-mobility environments 384K in low-mobility 2M indoor connections

Basic Technology Concepts Cellular Basic Cellular Technologies Cellular operates at 800, 1800 and 1900 MHz Competing technologies (and Acronym obsessive) - GSM, TDMA, CDMA, GPRS, EDGE, ?? Basic technology competitors are CDMA and GSM/GPRS SIP (Session Initiated Protocol) now replacing H.323 for voice over IP (audio services)

Basic Technology Concepts Cellular Basic Cellular Technology Services GPRS - AT&T, TMobile, Cingular, others CDMA - Sprint, Verizon CDMA roadmap (Sprint) - Current service 144kbps (50-70 typical) kbps (may skip for next phase) Mbps to 5Mbps Current technology in place on towers

Basic Technology Concepts Cellular Basic Cellular Technology Services GPRS - AT&T, TMobile, Cingular, others Current service ~70kbps (35kbps) kbps 2005 (or later) - 2.2Mbps Current towers must be upgraded for each phase AT&T has put a hold on “3G” deployments

Convergence: Driving Forces What is “convergence”? cellular wireless technologies all competing for customers WLANs offer “hotspots” at nominal cost (sometimes “free”) Cellular services used worldwide Bluetooth offers bridging options for WLAN and cellular services

Convergence: Driving Forces Why “convergence”? Eliminate disparate devices Eliminate/reduce disparate services (and billing) Laundry list of matches current cellular services Different services available in different locations/environments

Convergence: Driving Forces Why “convergence”? Some issues… Convergence will be the “4G” service Telco carriers fear being “left out” of new technology No clear revenue model exists for new hybrid data-voice services Cellular carriers don’t want the “taint” of suspect security inherent in WLANs

Convergence: General Trends Alliances, Partnerships, Coalitions,… AT&T, Intel, IBM (and investors) form “Cometa”, a company to provide wireless hot spots across the country Motorola, Proxim and Avaya form partnership to provide seamless roaming between WiFi and cellular networks HP and Transat Technologies collaborating on project to link 2G/3G to WiFi “hotspots”

Convergence: General Trends Competing Technologies… BWA (Broadband Wireless Access) is now being planned with the IEEE standard for 10GHz to 66GHz as well as e (2GHz to 11GHz), new WiMAX (similar to WiFi) IPWireless offers broadband mobile services (1.9 & 2.5GHz) with 2.5Mbps speeds at upto 80mph (cell sites cover 500x b area) UWB (UltraWideBand) is an emerging short-distance technology operating at 100Mbps to 500Mbps (Bluetooth is 1Mbps)

Wrapup Impact of these technologies moving toward Convergence… Hybrid b/a/g cards offering cellular services Seamless roaming between WLANs (free access) and cellular (billed service) Best signal connectivity and/or Least cost connectivity (user selectable?)

Wrapup Impact of these technologies moving toward Convergence… Dual WiFi/cellular phones using SIP 6 party conference call with 1-button drop/add/transfer functions Single mailbox for user, regardless of service type (WLAN, Cellular, etc) Service charges that take into account roaming between free and cost wireless environments

Wrapup Thank You! This presentation can be found at the following URL:

Wrapup URLs Pittsburgh Public Hotspots: Bluetooth SIG: DSSS and Bluetooth coexistence:

Wrapup URLs FCC 3G Service Description: 3G “mobile multimedia” resources page:

Wrapup URLs UWB background: Sprint BWA FAQ: WorldCom BWA Services:

Wrapup Terms CDMA- “Code Division Multiple Access” Spread spectrum technology for managing multiple access by assigning digital codes and broadcasting the signal across a broader spectrum. TDMA- “Time Division Multiple Access” Technology for managing multiple access by dividing channels (available radio spectrum) into time slots with access in a round-robin fashion. CDMA advantages over TDMA- call clarity, network capacity, more service provisioning, improved privacy, fewer dropped calls, fewer upgrades at the tower.

Wrapup Terms GSM- “Global System for Mobile telecommunications” Designed as international digital cellular service based upon TDMA. European version operates in 900 and 1800 MHz band and is not compatible with North American 1900 MHz version. Multi-band GSM phones can overcome this problem. GPRS- “General Packet Radio Service” GPRS for GSM provides higher-speed data services for mobile users. It is a packet-switching technology better suited to the “bursty” nature of data communications.

Wrapup Terms EDGE - “Enhanced Data for Global Evolution” EDGE for GSM offers 300Kbps (or better) and both circuit-switched and packet-switched data communications. Use an adaptive modulation scheme and is designed for GSM operators that do not have third-generation licenses but wish to remain competitive with wideband services. “True” 3G Technologies: Wideband cdmaOne, W-CDMA, and W-CDMA/NA are three competing wideband CDMA technologies for “true” 3G services. A TDMA solution for 3G is also being considered.