Subject: [NEXTEL-1] All-in-one wireless will be a boon

From: NEXTEL-1
Date: Sun, 04 Jul 2004 14:38:49 -0400

All-in-one wireless will be a boon
the scrutineer | Bruce McCabe
JUNE 08, 2004

MOBILE computing and telephony will change profoundly with the spread of
software-defined radio. This year we are seeing a steady increase in the
number of radio chips embedded in laptops, personal digital assistants
and smart mobile phones.

Every time a device gets a new GSM, WiFi or Bluetooth capability it also
scores another radio chip, but SDRs will replace all of these with a
single multi-purpose radio that can be reconfigured with whatever
protocols are necessary, and operate on whatever frequency is required,
simply by updating the software.

There are huge advantages in this. An obvious one in a world constantly
looking to improve portability through thinner and lighter devices is
that SDRs require less real estate.

More important is the fact that SDRs provide the user with flexibility
to connect to any network anywhere by downloading local protocols and
"bootstrapping" themselves into a connection — a godsend for users who
switch between many different business networks and public telephone
networks.

Then there are future-proofing benefits: consumers and business buyers
can invest in wireless devices knowing that updates and extensions to
existing radio standards (think 802.11) will be supported, without
losing sleep over the long-term viability of technologies such as
Bluetooth.

Everything can be updated by downloading software.

The future-proofing advantages hold for manufacturers too. SDRs mean a
big reduction in the number of models they support, and thus a reduction
in inventory as well as reducing risk by making it possible to remotely
fix bugs in radio software instead of recalling thousands of devices.
Handset manufacturers may even sell you phone upgrades in the form of
software downloads.
Why, I hear you ask, don't SDRs already saturate the market? Partly
because spending even an additional 50 cents on a reprogrammable chip to
replace cheaper mass-produced application-specific chips (ASICs) can
translate into millions of dollars for handset manufacturers, so we have
been waiting for Moore's Law and the growing importance of radio
flexibility to make the cost-benefit equation worthwhile.

Higher power consumption is another issue, and power matters an awful
lot in mobile devices. Furthermore, regulators have to get used to the
idea of certifying radios that can be reprogrammed to operate on many
frequencies, and only a few countries (the US and Japan, for example)
have made much headway here.

As you might imagine, the power of SDR technology will be proportional
to the extent to which we agree to common approaches across
manufacturers, regulators and network providers.

Rising to this challenge are people like Al Margulies, head of the SDR
Forum (www.sdrforum. org), who updated me on its activities recently.

It is this organisation that provides the platform for many global
stakeholders to co-operate and develop SDR technologies, and Margulies
tells me he is particularly keen to establish more connections with
stakeholders interested in SDR in Australia.
Early adopters of SDRs have been the military, including the Australian
military — for which radio interoperability is critical and costs less —
and telephone infrastructure providers, for which the upgradability and
future-proofing advantages of putting SDRs into base stations make this
a no-brainer.

Currently, the hot area is emergency services radio.

It will not be long, however, before SDRs become a standard offering in
laptop devices, and Intel Labs has demonstrated a prototype supporting
WiFi, Bluetooth and GSM/GPRS in the same device.

On the mobile phone front, I hear that an Asian manufacturer plans to
bring an SDR-enabled handset to market within 12 months.

Ultimately, every aspect of mobile connectivity, from wireless PDAs to
in-car telematics, will be transformed by SDRs.

BOUQUETS
I'VE just finished interviewing a whole lot of chief systems architects
in Australian companies and came away greatly impressed. Tasked with
making incredibly complex and challenging decisions about software
deployment and integration, their work will, I assure you, underpin the
future competitiveness of their companies, but most senior executives
have no idea what they do. They are definitely among the most
underappreciated and undervalued people in IT.

BRICKBATS
AMID all the security-related hype around AusCERT 2004, I saw yet
another article on the SmartGate face-recognition system, reminding me,
once again, how dangerous it would be if Australian airports relied too
heavily on such an imperfect technology. Acceptable accuracy levels will
only come with multi-modal biometric systems that combine multiple
identity measures such as iris, voice, face and fingerprint. If the
Australian government is truly serious about technology-based security,
instead of simply wanting to appear serious, it will head down that path
as soon as it can.

Bruce McCabe is an independent analyst and managing director of S2
Intelligence. [email-masked]

http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,9752876%5E15397%5E%5Enbv%5E,00.html

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