broadband Wireless Communication Ushers New Era

The country has witnessed a telecom boom in the recent past and is now poised to see growth in broadcasting which is also a high growth industry in India. The revenues of CATV industry have reached the mark of 70 billion rupees. The IT industries are growing by leaps and bounds. New services on the horizon are the broadband services, the future growth vehicles of the converging technologies of telecom, broadband casting and IT.

The broadband access has an important role to play, which means to open a new technology frontier for TV viewers. DTH has arrived in our country. Already, there are two DTH operators in the country, namely Dish TV of Zee group and Direct Plus of DD.

Tata Sky of Tata & Star group is going to be inaugurated on August 1 and many more are joining the DTH service, including Reliance. DTH provides clear picture quality and digital sound, converting TV set into a 250-plus channel entertainment sources and a work station for handling all sorts of data, music and video. The broadband services which are going to be launched, shall realize this concept of all the services in the one package.

The growth of ICT is phenomenal. So, in this context, it is pertinent to see the development of a wireless information and the growth of broadband systems, particularly wireless delivery platform. Such wireless based services shall play a leading role and the wireless technologies are helping in the convergence of fixed telecommunication, mobile communication, computer and media into an Internet Protocol (IP) to achieve real convergence. The 3-G networks shall be fully converged solutions for full motion video, integrated voice/data and new high speed data networks. 

The marriage of Internet and Wireless in this century is leading to IP based systems and the birth of the wireless information society seems to be the next challenge. User is interested in the final content delivered to them and not into technical delivery system. Now, boundaries between various distribution platforms are fading out.

Digital technologies are enabling one-chip cheap components. Steps towards 3-G and General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) provide efficient data & internet connectivity to Mobile Terminals, Wireless Access Protocol (WAP) and other related technologies. 

This is going to provide a two-way video to customers on the any time, any where basis. So, future Wireless Information Society is ushering in.

What is Broadband? 

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has defined broadband as “an always on connection that is able to support various interactive services, and has the capability of a minimum download speed of 256 kbps” 

. Mobile Broadband & 3-G Solutions:

When we talk of broadband, mobile broadband using 3-G technology is the most optimal broadband solution for our country. The reasons are:

i) Rapid growth of mobile subscriber—where fixed mobile cross-over has taken place in the last quarter of 2004.

ii) It is estimated that by 2007, the subscriber-base reaches 200 million.

iii) As the evolution from 2-G to 2.5 G and 3-G is taking place, bandwidth is becoming more efficient and narrow.

iv) It is easy and fast to install mobile networks as compared to wireline networks.

Mobile Standards:

1.Evolution of GSM has taken place through GSM to GPRS to EDGE to W-CDMA to HSPDA to HSUPA.

2. In the case of CDMA (code division multiple access),evolution has taken place through CDMA – one to CDMA 2000 1X to CDMA 1X EV-DO to CDMA 1XE-DV.

High Speed Downlink Packet Access.(HSDPA) provides typically average bit rates between 1.0-3.0 MBPS with peak bit rate upto 10 MBPS. This is 2-3 times than that in 1XEV-DVsystem. Due to this reason, mobile telephone networks will be preferred with broadband circuits and 3-G technology as the ideal solution for India.

Wi Fi and Wi Max Technology:

Wireless fidelity is meant to be used when any type of 802.11 network is referred. This is started by Wi-Fi Alliance. These access points are put in Malls, Restaurants, Hotels, Airports, Railway stations, etc. They provide Wireless Internet Access. Users, having Wi-Fi compatible laptops or PDAs can be connected within a certain range from these points.

Wi-Max technology is a high speed wireless backbone covering 32-56 kms, with a data rate upto 70 MBPS with 2-11 GHz systems. It can connect Wi-Fi hotspots to the Internet.

IMT-2000 is an efficient technology for mobile broadband as far as 3-G evolution is concerned. It has worldwide roaming.

ITU Radio Standards for IMT-2000:

ITU has developed radio interface for IMT-2000. This covers five Radio Interfaces based on FDMA, TDMA & CDMA Access Technologies. In the whole world, majority of the countries are adopting CDMA or 3-G GSM. There are 43 WCDMA networks in 22 countries with 8 million subscribers.

Frequency Spectrum for 3-G:

Five bands have been identified by ITU for this. These bands are: 1885-2025 MHz, 2110-2200 MHz, 1710-1885 MHz and 2500- 2690 MHz & 806 – 960 MHz. The band 1920-1980 along with 2110-2170 MHz, is the only band which is accepted internationally for interference-free co-existence for GSM & CDMA technologies. India has opted for this band along with other Asia-Pacific countries like Japan, South Korea and China.

4-G Mobile Systems:

Requirements beyond 20 MB PS are being projected. So, new radio access schemes such as wide-band radio access for high mobility are to be developed. These systems have to be transparent with fixed network. The network of 4-G may be one with IP capability. Seamless service area should be supported. Flexible mobile terminal with multi-mode function will be needed.

Deployment of 4-G will happen only after 2015. This will provide real time video & streaming which 3-G cannot provide. Movies can be watched on phones. Virtual connections can be established regardless of where ever you are. Using Wireless Access Protocol (WAP), customers can trace their account and credit card transactions, fund-transfer, pay bills, read mails, shop in virtual malls.

Satellite Based Internet:

Today, VSAT networks, coupled with DAMA allows Internet Service Providers, to use SATCOM to serve business and institutions where terrestrial or wireless networks do not exists, or if exists, then unavailable and unreliable. Private corporate organizations use this service for their high speed intranets over their existing networks. The services can be extended to rural as well as urban areas for high speed internet access.

The IP capability available on satellite technology brings high-speed, high scalable, asymmetric Internet and Intranet Access to remote locations, providing an effective two-way satellite link for delivering data to group of users at varying data rates upto 30 MBPS which is 1000 times faster than today’s 28.8 KBPS modem over dial-up phone lines, up-stream 9.6 to 160 KBPS and down stream 1.5 KBPS.

With the success story of India’s Space Programme, India has a great opportunity, which it can hardly miss, in terms of leapfrogging ahead in the Internet Age.

National Clearance for Satellite-based Broadband Services:

Currently 1.8 m / 2.4 m VSAT antennas with height less than 3-m over the roof top and minimum 3 kms away from the nearest airport are processed under the most height exemption category. NOC from SACFA members is not necessary. The max. output power is 5 W.

Future Scenario in India:

The role of frequency spectrum for the broadband services is very important for the growth of broadband wireless services. Use of satellite for broadband services is going to be the thrust area for the Government of India in general and ISRO in particular.

Next generation system will co-exist as far as GSM and CDMA technologies are concerned. 3-G mobile systems will suffice the need of the country, but 4-G will emerge by 2015.

Source: http://cablequest.org/articles/broadband/item/1279-broadband-wireless-communication-ushers-new-era.htmlSource: http://cablequest.org/articles/broadband/item/1279-broadband-wireless-communication-ushers-new-era.html