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Message Digest
Volume 28 : Issue 109 : "text" Format
Messages in this Issue:
Re: size not a major consideration in wireline phone sets
AT&T doubling 3G capacity
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Date: Sun, 19 Apr 2009 20:08:26 -0700 (PDT)
From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Re: size not a major consideration in wireline phone sets
Message-ID: <b4afab87-9003-4f33-afdc-36c88bdb44e7@e18g2000yqo.googlegroups.com>
On Apr 19, 10:55 am, Will Roberts <oldb...@arctos.com> wrote:
> I believe that the evolution of the dial telephone set was driven
> more by the desire to reduce manufacturing, inventory, installation
> and maintenance costs than by any desire for miniaturization
> per se. (The exception to this was the "Princess" phone which was
> intentionally designed to have a small footprint so that it could be
> marketed as a bedroom extension which would fit on the typical small
> bedside nightstand table.)
The Trimeline phone was also specially designed to be smaller. Both
Princess and Trimline sets rented for a premium charge.
It is correct they were trying to reduce maintenance and installation
costs. But having all components in a single set, as achieved by the
302 set, was also an advantage for the customer as well as the
company.
> Portability was never an issue until the advent of wireless
> technology which allowed mobile telephony to be carried around
> rather than bolted to an automobile. Its precursor was the
> hand-held "walkie talkie" of World War II -- a remarkable device
> given the limitations of vacuum tube technology and its requirement
> of sufficient battery power to heat a filament and to provide plate
> voltages of 65 to 90 vdc.
Actually, "portability" was initially achieved by plug-in phones.
Railroad trains would 'plug in' at stations in the 1920s so passengers
could make calls.
Mobile phones in cars and trains after WW II was seen as a major
achievement. Initially cellular phones were so big that only cars
could accomodate them, though far more subscribers had access than in
the past.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 20 Apr 2009 06:40:11 -0700 (PDT)
From: Ergyn Sadiku <ergyn.s@gmail.com>
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: AT&T doubling 3G capacity
Message-ID: <990fac69-fadc-4e20-a981-419e12ac8c09@e21g2000yqb.googlegroups.com>
Tweaks to the HSPA network will bring 3G capacity up to 7.2 Mb/s even
before AT&T implements next-gen wireless technologies.
AT&T is in the process of doubling the capacity of its 3G networks,
using software enhancements to squeeze one last boost in bandwidth
from its current generation networks before it begins its migration to
evolved 3G and eventually 4G.
AT&T is increasing the downlink capacity on its high-speed packet
access (HSPA) from 3.6 megabits per second to 7.2 Mb/s through
software upgrades at the base station, said Scott McElroy, AT&T
Mobility vice president of technology realization. AT&T currently has
the enhanced networks running in two test markets but plans to extend
those capabilities to its entire network. Later this year, AT&T plans
to start migrating its 3G networks to evolved-HSPA (or HSPA+), which
would triple peak speeds.
Theoretically HSPA can support up 14.4 Mb/s of capacity over a 5-MHz
downlink, but when the technology was first introduced, commercial
equipment wasn't able to meet HSPA's full potential. The results have
been a series of iterations in the HSPA standard that operators have
been implementing as vendors release both the upgrade modules needed
at the base station and the enhanced device chipsets required to
support the increased capacities. AT&T, then Cingular, launched its
network in 2005, supporting 1.8 Mb/s, but boosted that capacity to 3.6
Mb/s by 2008. Most of the laptop cards and smartphones AT&T sells,
including the iPhone, have the silicon necessary to access that
additional capacity. AT&T is now in the process of field certifying
7.2-Mb/s devices on its two test networks, McElroy said.
The next obvious step would be for AT&T to further upgrade its 3G
networks and devices to its full 14.4-Mb/s potential, but McElroy said
AT&T will most likely skip the final HSPA iteration for two reasons:
There have been technical difficulties implementing the final step,
and HSPA+ is now ready for prime time. There's little point in
migrating to 14.4 Mb/s if AT&T can go straight to 21 Mb/s, McElroy
said. HSPA+ actually encompasses a bevy of upgrades, including
evolving to a flat IP core and the introduction of smart antenna
technology, but AT&T is focusing on upgrades to the baseband, which
will dramatically increase capacity without having to fiddle with the
elements on the tower or in the core.
AT&T isn't just adding capacity through upgrades; it's also adding
HSPA carriers at many cellsites. "It's being done on a market-by-
market basis," McElroy said. "We're adding second and even third
carriers according to demand. We're also in the early phases of an 850-
MHz overlay." Though the initial 3G network was built over AT&T's PCS
spectrum, AT&T has started using its cellular band for expansion,
giving its 3G network far more range and the ability to reach into
buildings.
McElroy added that AT&T is upgrading its backhaul network, where
possible, to handle the increased data traffic resulting from its
network upgrades, though McElroy said he could not reveal the exact
extent of those efforts. In cases where the AT&T mothership has built
fiber to cell sites, AT&T Mobility is taking advantage of its high-
bandwidth transport. AT&T is also using microwave backhaul in some
cases, and in some areas has moved sites entirely over to carrier
Ethernet transport.
AT&T PURSUING NEW DATA DEVICES
As AT&T beefs up its network capacity, it's seeking out new categories
of data devices beyond smartphones and PC cards. At CTIA Wireless
earlier this month, AT&T's president of emerging devices highlighted
new data-only gadgets, ranging from digital cameras to e-book readers
AT&T was testing and certifying for launching. The first of these new
devices were announced at the show: netbooks from Acer, Dell and LG
embedded with HSPA and WiFi chips that would connect to both AT&T's 3G
and hotspot networks.
Essentially miniature Internet-centric laptops, the netbooks come with
3G DataConnect plans, just like its PC Card and embedded laptop
services, but as AT&T starts offering more specialized data devices,
its billing models will change, Lurie said. A customer won't pay for a
$10- to $20-a-month data plan simply to upload a digital photo
wirelessly from a camera to a picture frame, Lurie said, but that
customer may pay a set nominal fee per photo. These new data models
will have to "break some rules," Lurie said, discarding the notion of
a steady monthly subscription. "This may be the single biggest
opportunity in the wireless industry today going forward: growing
incremental revenues," Lurie said.
Sprint was the first operator to test these types of per-transaction
billing when it partnered with Amazon to launch the Kindle e-book
reader. While the Kindle remains constantly connected to the Sprint EV-
DO network, much like a smartphone, the customer never incurs a
monthly data charge. In fact, the customer usually isn't even aware of
the Sprint network. Whenever he or she purchases a book or a magazine
or newspaper subscription from Amazon, the customer is billed only for
the purchase, while Amazon compensates Sprint for use of its data
network. Verizon, too, has launched its own open developer program to
encourage new types of devices and business models on its 3G networks,
though the results of those efforts haven't been so public. Most of
the devices the program has certified so far have been machine-to-
machine devices used in industry, and the few consumer devices on the
network are being sold by third-party service providers.
Lurie didn't offer any specifics on what types of devices besides the
netbooks will come out of the program, but he said AT&T is working
with multiple vendors big and small to certify their products. "We're
talking to OEMs coming out of the garage with duct tape on their
devices, and we're talking to $100 billion companies," Lurie said.
THE ROAD TO LTE
While AT&T will continue to upgrade and expand its 3G network into the
foreseeable future, AT&T is taking the initial steps toward 4G.
McElroy said AT&T is now in the process of selecting vendors for its
future long-term evolution (LTE) network and plans to have its first
test markets up in 2010.
When LTE goes commercial in 2011, it will initial be a very data-
focused network, utilizing LTE's high capacity for bandwidth-intensive
devices like laptops, but eventually AT&T plans to scale LTE support
down to handsets, extending voice services to the network using VoIP.
AT&T will use both its 700 MHz and advanced wireless services (AWS)
spectrum to launch LTE, McElroy said. Even if AT&T fills up both
bands, it still has reams of cellular and PCS spectrum it could
eventually allot to LTE if demand for 4G broadband balloon. Once voice
starts migrating over to LTE, AT&T's 2G and 3G channels could be
repurposed for LTE.
"We feel very good about our spectrum position," McElroy said. "And we
say that with full understanding of what the data demands will be."
- - - - - - -
(Disclaimer)
I have no business with [any] of them. Saw that the article is
interesting and [I hope] some might enjoy reading it as a news article
provided with source location. Thats all.
Regards
Ergyn Sadiku
------------------------------
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