Q&A: The future of mobiles - Part II

The second part of the Q&A with Professor Rudy Lauwereins, vice president of Belgium’s Interuniversity Microelectronic Centre (IMEC), on the future of handsets. For the first part of the Q&A, click here

NGN: Fixed mobile convergence (FMC) is a central policy for carriers at present. How does true FMC integration happen? For now the wireless infrastructure upgrade race just seems to be in parallel with the DSL/Fibre fixed network race. Apart from WiMax there doesn't seem to be a convergence path. Is that really a wrong interpretation, and is IMEC seeing signs of FMC as part of future handset designs?

RL: This is difficult for me to answer as we don't work on fixed. But FMC in terms of making calls in the home from a mobile handset via broadband is happening, as are the technology capabilities for FMC [such as dual mode GSM-Wi-Fi handsets]. But most operators aren't happy. Even if a mobile arm is part of the carrier, it is still a separate entity with its own profit and loss. And then there is the prospect of third party VoIP providers taking business.

It's the same story with cognitive radio: operators don't like it. It's ok if the phone picks and choices a standard as long as it's a standard the carrier provides: I offer all and I am in control. That is why they are pushing for the basestation to take the decisions but that doesn't make sense. The decision-making should really be in the terminal and that is what they are scared of.


NGN: Are the fast-moving wireless market trends making mobile design for 2012 a continual moving target? Here is just one example: Nokia have said there is a working group at 3GPP looking at inter-working between WiMAX and 3G-LTE. Clearly they see the technologies co-existing and think mobile WiMAX will be for non-3G operators.

RL: It is a moving target and it is moving faster and faster. You need to make sure you have a flexible platform in case things change, then it is just software you adapt not hardware. With software-defined radio, it is not just about multiple standards but the evolution of standards. IMEC is implementing IEEE 802.11n, IEEE 802.16e and 3GPP-LTE [all on the one platform] and the three aren't standards so we aren't standard-compliant but we are confident the platform will be able to handle the standards when they will be finalized. Companies are now saying let's start earlier - pre-standard- and we will adapt using the same platform.


NGN: Next Generation Networks keeps asking this question: By 2012 the 4G standard will be starting, offering 100Mbit/s (mobile) and 1Gbit/s (static) data rates. Just what will such data rates be used for?

I have been asked this already many times. You only have to look at wired connections. A friend of my son was sharing his music library between their PC hard drives and were copying over a 100Mbit/s link and it took 4 hours. This would be less than 30 minutes over a 1Gbit/s link.

What will 1Gbit/s be used for? As a cable replacement and for sending video wirelessly in bursts. Solid-state storage in a video camera will be 256 Gbyte by 2012. Sending it over 100Mbit/s will take forever.

In the home, video is likely to be sent uncompressed from a central hard disk store to displays around the house uncompressed. Three uncompressed HDTV channels will be greater than 1Gbit/s in total.

NGN: Will that be 4G?

RL: No one agrees what 4G will be. We expect the air-interface to be flexible. If used indoors it will be wireless LAN-based while outdoors it will use a different set of radio parameters.


Professor Lauwereins heads one of IMEC's four research divisions. His group develops enabling technologies for consumer and battery-operated devices in the nomadic and mobile arena.