Integration of WMAN/WLAN/WPAN and Mobile Cellular

As mentioned above, B3G systems will need to assimilate and integrate existing technologies, rather
than supplant them. It is envisioned that present mobile cellular systems will be “blended into” B3G technology, which will enable mobile cellular devices to roam seamlessly from Wireless Metropolitan
Area Network (WMAN) toWireless Local Area Network (WLAN) toWireless Personal Area Network
(WPAN) and vice versa without difficulty. Various WPAN technologies have emerged, and Bluetooth
is well on its way to becoming the most widely deployed WPAN technology in handsets and other
devices – with projections of nearly 300 million Bluetooth-enabled devices in the marketplace by
2007. In addition, a number of other wireless technologies are being tested and/or deployed. For
example, Global Positioning System (GPS) is slated to ship in over 10 million phones this year, and
several major device manufacturers are already shipping products with TV and/or radio receivers.
Several operators and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are also experimenting with the
inclusion of digital video broadcast (DVB) receivers in handsets, in some cases with general packet
radio service (GPRS), which is a radio technology for GSM networks that adds packet switching
protocols, shorter set-up time for ISP connections, and offers the possibility of charging by the
amount of data sent rather than the connect time. To prepare for a future in which there are no
barriers to access using a handheld device, engineers are investigating what measures are needed
to create a “universal communicator,” a device that is capable of communicating regardless of the
connection options available to the user.
A B3G network, a “heterogeneously networked environment,” will require that handheld devices
evolve considerably, from the limited (often fixed function and fixed network) devices that predominate
today, to powerful, flexible devices that can intelligently interact with multiple, heterogeneous
networks and services. A universal communicator-class device is projected to be a flexible, powerful
personal communication appliance that provides users with transparent access to any available
network, at any time, including the ability to seamlessly roam across those networks. Such a device
must also provide support for key usage models that are made possible by a mixed-network environment.
These usage models include the following: (1) infofueling (smart data transfers using best
available/most appropriate network); (2) simultaneous voice and data sessions; (3) rich media that
scales across networks (for example, video quality increases in a higher-bandwidth environment); (4)
cross-network voice, including support for seamless handoff; and (5) location-based services.
Enabling such ubiquitously connected devices poses numerous difficult technological challenges.
These include the following:
• Multiple radio integration and coordination: the device integrates multiple radios.
• Intelligent networking – seamless roaming and handoff: users can expect to roam within and
between networks like they do with today’s cell phones.
• Power management: future handsets and other devices will run richer applications, and power
management will become an even greater challenge.
• Support for cross-network identity and authentication: providing a trusted and efficient means
of establishing identity is one of the key issues in cross-network connectivity.
• Support for rich media types: the addition of a high-bandwidth broadband wireless connection,
such as a WLAN, will open up new opportunities for the delivery of rich media to handheld
devices.
• Flexible, powerful computing platform: the foundation of a universal communicator-class device
must be a flexible, powerful, general-purpose processing platform.
• Overall device usability: meeting all these challenges must not render the device “userunfriendly”
[536].
The plethora of network models that will be connected by B3G technology is shown in Table 6.2.
Because the Internet and cellular systems were designed and implemented by people with different backgrounds in computers and communications, respectively, their integration will not be a simple
task. Such integration, however, can be considered to be a first step toward B3G networks, where
heterogeneous networks must work together in order to provide differentiated services to users in a
seamless and transparent manner [538].
Table 6.2 Wireless technologies [537]
Standard Usage Throughput Range Frequency
UWB 802.15.3a WPAN 110–480 Mbps Up to 30 ft 7.5 GHz
Bluetooth 802.15.1 WPAN Up to 720 kbps Up to 30 ft 2.4 GHz
Wi-Fi 802.11a WLAN Up to 54 Mbps Up to 300 ft 5 GHz
Wi-Fi 802.11b WLAN Up to 11 Mbps Up to 300 ft 2.4 GHz
Wi-Fi 802.11g WLAN Up to 54 Mbps Up to 300 ft 2.4 GHz
WIMAX 802.16d WMAN
Fixed
Up to 75 Mbps
(20 MHz BW)
Typical 4–6
miles
<11 GHz
WIMAX 802.16e WMAN
Mobile
Up to 30 Mbps
(10 MHz BW)
Typical 1–3
miles
2.6 GHz
EDGE 2.5G WWAN Up to 384 kbps Typical 1–5
miles
1900 MHz
CDMA2000
/1xEVDO
3G WWAN Up to 2.4 Mbps
(typical
300–600 kbps)
Typical 1–5
miles
400, 800, 900,
1700, 1800,
1900, 2100 MHz
WCDMA
/UMTS
3G WWAN Up to 2 Mbps
(Up to 10 Mbps with
HSDPA Technology)
Typical 1–5
miles
1800, 1900,
MHz