Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Software Boosts Cell Phone Transmission Quality

From: [email-masked]
Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2004 20:18:56 -0500

Software Boosts Cell Phone Transmission Quality

Christoph Hammerschmidt, CommsDesign.com , 6-Feb-2004
Mobile phone designers are suffering from a growing dilemma: Phones need to
transmit ever greater quantities of data, but transmission protocols are not
optimized to handle the load. Functions typical for mobile radio such as
hand-over or changing quality of the radio connection also slow transmissions.

Now, startup fg microtec has developed a technology that significantly improves
quality and transmission speed while at the same time potentially increasing
user acceptance.

Most new cellphones are equipped with a camera. Often it takes several minutes
to transmit images. Future applications such as interactive games and software
downloads will increase data quantities still further, said Arno-Alexander
Filbig, vice president of business development at fg microtec.

Cellphone users can talk while data is being transmitted. If mobile subscribers
connect to overloaded radio signal cells, if a hand-over occurs or if the
connection is not optimal, data packets must be resent - drastically increasing
transmission times.
"This could significantly impede acceptance of new technologies such as GPRS,
Edge or UMTS," Filbig said. Transmission quality will degrade further,
especially for 3G networks such as UMTS, estimates Filbig. "All you need to do
to negatively impact the quality of the connection is walk around in the room,"
he added.

The company has developed an algorithm called "predictive flow control" (PFC)
that improves transmission speed by increasing effective transmission bandwidth
by a factor of up to four in field testing.

The algorithm, for which a patent is pending, is embedded between the transport
protocol and air interface, making it possible to predict network behavior in
the 1-millisecond range. Hence, the algorithm can adjust packet size and
efficiency of data transmissions, he said.

The software controls, prioritizes and optimizes data flows, thus ensuring that
multimedia data is handled in the fastest possible method depending on the
network status.

As the provider sees it, integration of software offers a competitive advantage
to manufacturers of end devices since complex real-time applications such as
hi-fi audio or streaming video, interactive games, instant messaging or
push-to-talk can run at the highest possible speed.

The software runs on a client in the cellphone, eliminating the need for
corresponding software at the other end. This tuning effect does not depend on
the level of network development. fg microtec's product portfolio includes
various implementations of the algorithm.

The company is offering what it says is the first quality- of-service manager
(QoSM) for mobile phones called QoSM6251. The embedded solution can be
integrated into designs of 2.5G, EDGE and UMTS cell phones. The primary goal is
to set priorities, provide specific bandwidths and improve loss characteristics
for real-time and interactive applications.

One goal of the manager is to ensure that the data flow of one or more
applications does not result in the failure of other data flows. The software
not only prioritizes data packets on the transmission path, but also gives
priority to time-critical applications on the processor.

The company is initially targeting the European and Asian markets. The growth of
Edge networks in the United States means North America could also become a
promising market, the company said.

"Nowhere else in the GSM market " and EDGE is a GSM technology " does grow
faster than in the USA", explains Filbig.
The first implementations of the quality-improving software are already in use
in various mobile phones. The company will demonstrate the software at the 3GSM
World Congress in Cannes, France, from Feb. 23 to 26.

http://www.cmpnetasia.com/ViewArt.cfm?Artid=22813&Catid=8&subcat=45

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