Cellular Technology 101 - part 1

cell_tech-101-part1.jpgAs I go through my day, I am often asked questions about how cellular networks operate, how calls or mobile data connections are made.

The answers to these and other questions can be very simple or deeply complex. Google or Yahoo! may help some, but I’ve found it difficult to find a good primer on cellular technology.

Enter Mobility 101

To help answer some of these questions, I’ve started a section on FreshlyMobile.com called Mobility 101.

Mobility 101 articles will eventually cover a wide range of topics designed to provide some perspective on the technology and business of mobile communication, to explain common terms or to generally help take the mystery in how things work.

As with many things in life, all things mobile can involve some very complex concepts and technology. In Mobility 101, (and indeed much of FreshlyMobile) we will often tend towards easier to understand generalizations rather than the often impenetrable (but technically accurate) technical minutia. If we miss the mark, miss the point or are just plain mistaken, please let us know.

Cellular Tech 101

Today I would like to introduce the first in a four-part series that will take a brief look at the history, terminology, technology, and the general anatomy of cellular networks, which I call Cellular Tech 101.

You can download the slides for part one here.

Ever wonder 1G, 2G or 3G means? Well, the “G” in 1G, 2G, 3G, etc refers to a generation of technology in the cellular industry. The first mobile phones (you remember or have seen pictures of the big brick phone or a phone in a bag) are now generally called 1G phones. Service in this period was limited and very expensive. While few people had these phones, the technology was changing rapidly and in the 1990’s we began to move into the 2nd Generation or 2G era.

With 2G, the phones moved from analog to digital. This allowed quality and capacity to improve, eventually driving down prices (most phones used in the US today are 2G phones). With the move to digital and 2G, we found cellular companies divided into two technology camps, CDMA and GSM. We will look at these camps a bit more closely next time. In practical terms it meant that phones would not interoperate across networks with a different type of technology.

Here in the US, we have been slowly moving towards the 3rd Generation technologies. With 3G comes faster speeds for data. It makes browsing the Internet or watching videos much easier. Three of the 4 major carriers in the US (AT&T, Sprint and Verizon) have been operating 3G networks for some time. T-Mobile is currently in the process of upgrading their network to 3G and is currently offering something that is often called 2.5G.

2.5G is a marketing term and it is an interim step between the 2G and 3G worlds. All the carriers took this 2.5G step as it offered faster data service than 2G, without the pain and expense of upgrading the network to support 3G. Speaking of 2.5G and 3G, you may have heard some people say that the Apple iPhone only supports EDGE and not 3G (yet). EDGE is considered a 2.5G technology and is widely deployed by AT&T and T-Mobile in the US.

Please feel free to download the slides to see a bit more about what distinguishes the various generations of cellular technology. Also let me know if you have any questions, comments or corrections by leaving a comment or sending me an email.

Until next time….

The Most Interesting Years in Wireless - freshlymobile.com

Picture 4.jpgI have a few minutes of downtime here at the Gartner Wireless & Mobile Summit and thought I’d quickly pass on a few tidbits from the first day.

Nick Jones (Distinguished Gartner Analyst) helped set the stage in his keynote by stating that the next 3-5 years are the “most interesting since the mobile started”. If you’ve read my first post to this site, you know that I’ve feel this way too.

There is little doubt that content, uses (applications) and consumer technology are king. Every presentation to date has at least touched on or more of these themes. Look to more indepth thoughts about some of these issues in articles to come.

LTE vs WiMax

Nick predicts that LTE will begin to dominate the 4G landscape in the near term and that WiMax numbers and usage (in the enterprise) will remain relatively flat for the next few years. He cites lack of ubiquity in terms of networks, devices and mobility as factors that will limit WiMax in the near term. While Intel and some of my friends at ClearWire and in Africa might disagree, I too think that LTE will gain a lot of grown before WiMax will take root in a big way. I’d be happy to be proven wrong, but that is the way things look today.

A couple of other interesting predictions from Nick:

What do you think about Nick’s predictions?

One device: smartphone or laptop?

CES_painted.jpg

As the sun set on day two of the 2008 Consumer Electronics show, I want to reflect on some initial thoughts from the first half of the show. To begin with, CES is HUGE. I’ve been here and other large shows in the past, but I’d forgotten how difficult it is just to get around. The scale dominates everything. From Best Buy sized booths spread over at least seven show floors (a reported 1.8 million square feet of exhibits), to large tents with more in the parking lots, to clogged isles, long lines, non-stop conferences and meetings, moving from place to place is an adventure. When it takes nearly 90 minutes to get from one meeting to another, a positive outlook is a must.

Despite, or because of, these challenges, the opportunities to meet and interact with thought leaders is second to none. In the past few days, I have met and heard from senior executives, congressmen, colleagues and even a few celebrities.

Mobility is one of the key themes of this year’s CES. It has risen from a side industry to one of the pillars of the consumer electronics industry.

Laptop or Smartphone?

“Will a smartphone replace your laptop for mobile computing?” This question came up over and over again over the past two days. Without fail, as soon as the question was asked, someone would opine about how a smartphone poor at everything. They’d point out that there are better platforms for email, web browsing, spreadsheets, video editing (???) and even phones. The logic goes that if a laptop is a good platform for email and spreadsheets, why would you want to use anything else?

The same logic came up as part of the CNET The Next Big Thing panel discussion. When asked whether panelists would prefer to have a single, integrated device or to carry separate devices for each function, most said that they’d prefer to carry a camera, an iPod, a phone and a laptop. One even stated that he had a lot of pockets so carrying multiple devices isn’t a problem. The argument goes on to point to the complexities of integrating multiple functions in a single device and that the landscape is littered with failed attempts to consolidate.

It’s the Context

I think these views miss the point. It isn’t whether a laptop is better for email or if a digital SLR is a better camera. Rather the question should be: What is the best device for the task at hand. The laptop might work best when stationary, but the weight, size and limited battery don’t make it a good choice while on the move. A camera on a phone doesn’t need to match the quality of a purpose built device, it just needs to be good enough to be useful. The mobile web browser does have to match a desktop version, but it does need to provide easy access to web resources while on the move.

The context and availability set the bar. My digital camera was of little use to me yesterday sitting in my hotel room, but my iphone was able to capture the images I needed. It was available and while better quality would be nice, it was good enough for web and email use.

While many tended to compare the mobile platforms (laptop, smartphone, pocket PC, etc) against each other, several people embraced the idea that context should drive the features and capability of a device. Leaders from from Nokia, Opera, Erico and Skype stood out as embracing and advancing these concepts. Microsoft also stands out in that their vision of Windows Anywhere is built around the idea of context based capabilities. I’ll talk more about Microsoft’s vision and practice in a later article.

Now off to the “Technologies and Emerging Countries” conference and the keynote by Nicholas Negroponte from One Laptop Per Child, Rwandan President Paul Kagame and others.

Welcome to Freshly Mobile

Ahh, the promise of seamless mobility. Over the years, I have caught the occasional glimpse and have dared to dream of what might be.

From the Osborne 1 in the early 80’s through the birth of the PDA with the Apple Newton, to the laptops of today, computers have become much more portable. The lure of portable computing is strong and it is changing the face of computing today. In fact, Gartner predicts that more than 40% of the PCs sold in 2007 will be laptops.

Yet, despite how far they’ve come, today’s laptops offer limited connectivity and are too bulky to offer true mobility. Don’t get me wrong, I carry my MacBook Pro nearly everywhere I go. Despite all the improvements it still reminds me of the Compaq “luggable” I used to carry from office to office in the mid 80’s.


From Portability to Mobility

Carrying that old Compaq from place to place, was a great example of portable computing. While today’s laptops are a far cry from that Compaq, the usage is still largely the same: working in one place, packing it up, moving it to another location and begin working there. Sure, the places and connectivity have changed. Today, I can easily carry my laptop from a meeting in a conference room to a meeting at Starbucks, and with the right infrastructure I can use wifi to access the Internet.

Moving from portability to mobility is a lot more complex. On the technical side, the move towards real mobility will require new hardware and software platforms; strong and diverse networks; and inspired ways of bringing it all together. It will require a new way of looking at the technology, at the business, education and personal drivers pushing the (r)evolution along.

I started this site, because I believe that we are on the cusp of making great strides towards that promise.

I started it because I wanted a place where people can come to learn and talk about how the promise is being realized.

I started it because, despite my 20 years working in computing and emerging telecommunications, I am now in a unique place to help host and guide this conversation. I am fortunate enough to work at one of the world’s leading research universities and to work with some of the leading thinkers in the areas of technology, medicine, engineering, physics, oceanography and more.

There are hundreds of sites on the Internet that are devoted to technology and while we will occasionally delve into the speeds and feeds or equipment reviews, our main focus is intended to open thought and discussion about how the platforms, devices, environments and networksimpact and enableto true promise of mobility.

I hope you will join me on this freshly mobile experience.

If you would like to help with the development of this site or to the conversation, please send me a message to mortonmanor at freshlymobile dot com.