How 6G Will Improve on 5G in the Same Spectrum

A couple years ago, I spent some time developing 5G wireless technology content for faculty to use in their classrooms. Here comes the next generation.... 6G…. and (of course) AI is playing a major role in network management.

The transition from 5G to 6G represents more than just a numerical increment—it's a
fundamental rethinking of wireless network design. Many people believe new spectrum bands are needed for meaningful improvements between generations but the situation is more complex. The radio waves used by 5G in its sub-6 GHz and mmWave 24-40 GHz bands can be utilized more efficiently by 6G technology to achieve significant performance improvements. These enhancements would represent fundamental changes to network reliability and capacity and intelligence rather than minor adjustments without needing costly spectrum license purchases. The innovations would emerge from rethinking both signal transmission physics and network management intelligence. 

Advanced MIMO Systems: 6G technology could implement massive arrays with 1,000+ elements to generate extremely precise beams which reduce interference and boost capacity beyond the 5G maximum of 64-128 antenna elements. 

Smarter Waveforms: The waveform technology in 6G would surpass OFDM by implementing adaptive waveforms which modify their patterns according to environmental conditions. The system functions like an automobile which adjusts its body shape to achieve better aerodynamics during specific situations. 

AI Network Management: Like recent advancement in 5G, 6G networks will employ AI to forecast user activities and data requirements so they can distribute resources before users initiate their requests. 

Cell-Free Architecture: Your device would establish simultaneous connections with multiple transmission points which work together to provide seamless coverage throughout the network. The 6G radio technology functions as an environmental sensor to help the network optimize signal paths through its ability to detect physical obstacles and movement patterns. 

When We'll See It: Based on historical wireless technology evolution patterns and current industry roadmaps, commercial 6G networks are likely to launch around 2030-2032, following a progression similar to previous generations:

·      Initial technical requirements and vision documents are already being developed (2023-2025)

·      Research and standardization work will accelerate through 2026-2028

·      The first official 6G specification (3GPP Release 20 or 21) is expected around 2028-2029

·      Early trial deployments would follow in 2029-2030

·      Commercial availability would begin in leading markets by 2030-2032

Several major telecommunications companies including NTT DoCoMo, Samsung, and Huawei have published 6G whitepapers targeting 2030 for initial deployment. Various international research initiatives like the EU's Hexa-X project and China's national 6G promotion group are working toward this timeline.

6G's improved features would achieve 2-3 times better efficiency without spectrum expansion but the largest benefits would emerge from incorporating additional high-frequency bands.

Spatial Diversity In Wireless Communications

Spatial diversity is one of those fundamental technologies used in wireless communications
(cellular networks, Wi-Fi, satellite communications, and broadcasting) that does not get much exposure. The technology is used to combat fading and improve signal quality, enabling reliable communication links, especially in challenging environments characterized by obstacles, interference, or long propagation distances. Let’s take an introductory look. 

Spatial diversity exploits the spatial dimension of wireless channels by deploying multiple antennas at either the transmitter or receiver, or both. By leveraging spatial separation between antennas, spatial diversity techniques minimize the effects of fading, which result from signal attenuation, reflections, and scattering in multipath propagation environments. Through the simultaneous reception of multiple independent copies of a transmitted signal, spatial diversity enhances the likelihood of receiving at least one strong signal, thus improving the overall reliability of communication links.

 

There are three key methods involved - Selection Diversity, Maximal Ratio  Combining (MRC) and Equal Gain Combining (EGC).

 

Selection Diversity: In selection diversity, multiple antennas are strategically placed to receive the same signal, and the antenna with the highest received signal strength is chosen for further processing. This technique is relatively simple to implement and offers improved diversity gain, particularly in scenarios with moderate to severe fading.

 

Maximal Ratio Combining (MRC): MRC combines signals from multiple antennas with different complex weights, determined based on the channel conditions. By weighting each received signal based on its signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and combining them coherently, MRC maximizes the received signal power, thereby enhancing the overall signal quality and reliability.

 

Equal Gain Combining (EGC): EGC employs a simpler approach by combining signals from multiple antennas with equal weights. While less complex than MRC, EGC provides diversity gain by mitigating the impact of fading through signal averaging.

 

Spatial diversity offers an effective mechanism to combat fading and enhance signal reliability. Through the strategic deployment of multiple antennas and the application of diverse combining techniques, the technology improves data transmission across a wide range of environments and applications.

FCC Proposed New 6 GHz Wifi Spectrum

On October 2, the FCC proposed WiFi access to the 6 GHz region (5.925-7.125 GHz) in addition to the currently accessible 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands of frequencies. 

Currently most WiFi access points operate at either one of those 2.4 GHz of 5 GHz bands. Problems arise as more and more devices are connecting via WiFi. Due to longer wavelengths, 2.4 GHz band signals travel further but with the growing plethora of wireless devices, often suffer from congestion and interference. The 5 GHz band typically operates at higher speeds but does not travel as far due to the shorter wavelengths. 

Opening up the 6 GHz region will provide close to three times what is available in the 2.4 and 5 GHz regions - great for locations where lots of people are connecting at the same time (think college campuses, airport terminals, etc). 

The 6 Ghz frequency region is currently used for point-to-point microwave links and earth-to-space communications along with other data links and there will likely be some opposition. There is a current FCC public commenting period and there will be another vote once the commenting period is over. For details you can read the full FCC Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for ET Docket No. 18-295; GN Docket No. 17-183 linked here.

20 Gbps - In Your Home - In Your Car - In Your Pocket

Fixed wireless is a term used to define wireless services to the home, often used to provide residential broadband service where fixed broadband service (cable, DSL, etc) is not available. It's just a fancy term for cellular data service to a residence.

Currently LTE (download speeds between 5 and 12 Mbps [Megabits per second] and upload speeds between 2 and 5 Mbps, with peak download speeds approaching 50 Mbps) is used by providers offering fixed wireless service. Some nice bandwidth when you have a good connection...... 

Recently, Verizon announced  the launch of next-generation 5G wireless residential broadband services in three to five U.S. markets in 2018. The first commercial launch is now scheduled in Sacramento, CA, in the second half of 2018. 5G will be  a significant upgrade to LTE services, supporting a theoretical speed up to 20 Gbps with a latency of ~1 ms, enabling providers like Verizon to offer superior broadband access without running fiber-optic cables to the sides of homes. 

The days of fiber to the home (FTTH) products like FiOS are numbered. Full phase 5G rollouts by all major providers should be across the U.S. by 2020. Don't give up on fiber though. Additional backhaul capacity will require lots more fiber. That fiber won't be running directly to homes but will be running to cell towers - both large and small.

5G is coming and going to come quickly. ABI Research, a market-foresight advisory firm providing strategic guidance on the most compelling transformative technologies, forecasts that the global fixed wireless broadband market will grow 30% in 2018 and will generate US$18 billion in service revenue. As 5G fixed wireless broadband access is set to be launched in North America in 2018, it is set to expand and provide consumers with better quality service in the years to come. 

What could you do with 20Gbps in your home, your car, your pocket.....??

Image source: https://www.marketplace.org/2018/01/31/tech/marketplace-tech-blogs/could-antenna-fatigue-be-holding-5g-technology

The Future of Wireless is Fiber

Cactus Cell Tower
(Image source: www.extremetech.com)

I wrote this on Monday for the National Center for Optics and Photonics August 2017 Newsletter:

In the next few years wireless providers are planning the broad deployment of 5G wireless services. Here’s some details:

• Current International Telecommunication Union (ITU) specifications for 5G specify a total download capacity of at least 20Gbps and 10Gbps uplink per mobile base station.
• In contrast, the peak data rate for current LTE cells is about 1Gbps.
• Under ideal circumstances, 5G networks will offer users a maximum latency of just 4ms, down from about 20ms on LTE 4G networks.
• The 5G specification also calls for a latency of just 1ms for a stepped up service called ultra-reliable low latency communications (URLLC).

In support of the Internet of Things, 5G must also support at least 1 million connected devices per square kilometer (0.38 square miles). This may seem like a lot but when every traffic light, parking space, and vehicle is 5G-enabled, we'll easily start to hit that kind of connection density and will see 5G towers on places like major highways every 100 feet or so.

How is connectivity delivered these days to wireless towers, and how will it be delivered in the future? Fiber! 

5G networks will be predominantly fiber-based due to the combination of tower capacity and distance requirements. We will see limited microwave antennas used in niche cases when fiber is not an option. Technicians will need to have a good understanding of fiber characterization testing and troubleshooting as these super-fast high capacity networks roll out. In addition, skills in troubleshooting dirty or damaged connectors, tight fiber bends, faulty fiber splices, Optical Time Domain Reflectometry (OTDR), attenuation, and chromatic and polarization mode dispersion will become even more critical. 

Fiber to the tower is a critical enabler of 5G wireless services including The Internet of Things. 

For more information see Preparing the Transport Network for 5G: The Future Is Fiber and check out the rest of the OP-TEC August 2017 edition and previous monthly newsletters here.

Calculating Wavelength If Frequency Is Known

I get this question a lot. It’s not exactly phrased this way though. Typically it’s along the lines of “What’s the wavelength of the WiFi signals in my home or office?”

Good question and a pretty simple calculation! I do realize with a quick Google search you can look the value up but….. that takes the fun out of it J

First, let’s define wavelength. Electromagnetic radiation is sinusoidal in nature and wavelength, represented by the Greek letter lambda (λ), is a distance measurement usually expressed in meters. Wavelength is defined as the distance in meters of one sinusoidal cycle as illustrated in the figure below.

Most WiFi signals run at around 2.4 Giga Hertz (GHz) or 2.4 Billion cycles per second!

Now, in you home or office, you’ve likely got a lot of other wireless devices (microwave, ovens, cordless phones, baby monitors, etc) operating in this same 2.4 GHz frequency range. In the WiFi world, the 2.4 GHz WiFi signal range is divided into 11 channels and channels can be selected when setting up a wireless network to avoid other devices transmitting in the same frequency range.

Ok – back to our question – what’s the wavelength? Here’s how we do the calculation:

12.5 cm is approximately 4.92 inches and...... that's your wavelength.

The Rise Of The HetNet

I’m starting to see the term HetNet used in my reading and even had a student ask me for details this morning. That said – I figured it would make a good blog post.

HetNet is short for Heterogeneous Network and is a term currently being used in the wireless world. Most of us are carrying around smartphones with a number of different antennas built in for access via different network technologies. The neat thing about HetNets is they are able to maintain mobile connectivity (no dropped connections) when switching between different wireless connection technologies. 

The three different connection technologies getting all the HetNet buzz right now are LTE, Carrier WiFi, and enterprise femtocells. LTE is 4G cellular service and Carrier WiFi is just WiFi service provided by a wireless carrier. Femtocells are small cell devices that are connected to an Internet broadband connection. 

So HetNets allow a user device to seamlessly switch from network type to network type– LTE to WiFi to femtocell and vice-versa back and forth without dropping a connection. Pretty neat.

Now, not too long ago, it was believed LTE would be the dominant mobile technology and there would not be a need to alternative type technologies like Carrier WiFi and femotocells. But think about it…… there is only a limited amount of spectrum and bandwidth so providers are looking for ways to lower the number of devices per cell. There are also advantages to having users as close as possible to the different types of base stations. 

As a result, we’re seeing providers like Verizon Wireless and AT&T use HetNets to improve the coverage of their network, increase network capacity to match user demand. enhance the user experience, and lower the cost of delivering mobile broadband services.

Talking and Surfing Same Time Yet? The Verizon iPhone 5s and 5c

Most of us have taken a peak at the exterior and reviewed major specs for Apple’s two latest phones. If you are a Verizon Wireless customer there is one technical detail you may have missed. The new Apple phones are still not supporting SVLTE and SVDO. What’s SVLTE and SVDO? Here’s some details on these two protocols / technical standards:

Simultaneous Voice and LTE (Long Term Evolution)

Referred to as SVLTE, allows a mobile phone to use both voice and data networks at the same time – specifically when the voice network is CDMA 1xRTT (what Verizon uses) and the data network is LTE (what providers are calling 4G. By not using SVLTE, Verizon’s 4G data network is not available while on a voice call.

Simultaneous Voice and Data Only

Referred to as SVDO, this is the older standard for 3G networks. If you have an iPhone 4 or older, you have a 3G phone. Later iPhone (5 and on) have both a 4G and 3G radio and the device will fall back to 3G-mode when not in 4G coverage areas.  Similar to SVLTE, when the voice network is CDMA 1xRTT and the data network is CDMA 3G (also referred to as CDMA 1xEV-DO) the data network is not available while on a voice call.

Is this significant? Yes and No. The lack of SVLTE should not matter once VoLTE (Voice over LTE) launches on a large scale, allowing both voice and data to operate seamlessly on one Verizon Wireless 4G network.

What’s really interesting is Verizon Wireless has required their handset manufacturers to support both of these technical standards – that is - all manufactures except Apple.

A Family Without A Phone

I probably should be writing something about iOS7 but.... just a minute..... I gave this assignment the first week in a telecom class I'm teaching this semester. The short student essays (I know, not really technically an essay at 200 words) have just blown me away. It's so different today compared to growing up in the 60/70's. Here's what I asked them to do:

Growing up I had a friend who’s family did not have a telephone. His Mom used to whistle (really distinctively and loudly) when she wanted him to come home. When he was over our house or we were out in the woods playing we were all tuned in, listening for her whistle. Everyone knew what it meant and she was good - to this day I’ve never heard anyone who could whistle like her. 

Times have certainly changed. I’ve had almost instant contact with my two children with text and voice over the past ten years. Most recently we’ve all got smart phones and we’ve been able to add email and social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc) to our mobile communications tool list along with video applications like Skype and FaceTime. Although some may disagree, the ability to connect or be connected with them no matter where they are in the world has a level of assurance I know my friend’s whistling Mom did not have 45-50 years ago. 

This week, prepare a 200 word (plus or minus 10 words) essay describing how mobile technology has impacted your life.

My friend's family did not have a television either!

Verizon Trimming Some Wireline Limbs

I've been teaching Verizon technicians in a program called NextStep since the mid 1990's. The Next Step Program allows contract qualified Verizon associates who are members of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) or the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) to earn an Associate in Applied Science degree in Telecommunications Technology from a participating college. It's been a great opportunity for everyone involved to keep up and learn as the industry has transitioned.

This morning I taught my first class of the fall semester and we had some interesting discussion on where copper based landline services like DSL are going. The other night on Jim Cramer's show, Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam opened up a bit on the companies plans. Here's some back and forth from the show posted at  Stop the Cap!:

Jm Cramer, CNBC: “[Under former Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg, Verizon] took areas that really weren’t growth areas and sold them to Frontier and other players. Would you be able to get rid of some of your underperforming landline businesses to be able to increase [Verizon's] growth even further?”

Lowell McAdam, Verizon: “That is a possibility. [...] If you talk about opportunities here, now that we have One Verizon, [...] we are going to trim some limbs around the tree here. Things that aren’t performing will not be a part of our portfolio so we can invest in things that will drive the kind of growth we are excited to be able to tap here.”

In New Jersey and New York, Verizon is moving on a wireless landline replacement called Voice Link. It's optional for some customers but many are thinking it will replace copper services in there is approval from the states regulators. Verizon is calling Voice Link an improvement for voice customers dealing with repeated service calls.

Bloomberg estimates the Verizon wireless net worth is around $289 billion while Verizon wireline (landlines, FiOS and business broadband) is worth just $24 billion. Looking at revenue, Bloomberg says Verizon wireline totaled $39.8 billion last year which is down from $50.3 billion in 2007. During the same period, Verizon wireless revenue was up 73% to $75.9 billion.

It's pretty clear where this is all going - at least when it comes to Verizon wireline.

You can read a transcript of the complete McAdam interview linked here.

Crowdfunding a Super-Smartphone

Well..... it's been a while since I posted here. I like to think I took a little sabbatical for the past four months. Most of my summer was spent on the road so it feels pretty good to be back at home for at least a little while. Even though I was not posting here I was still keeping up with technology and the business of technology.

Today I wanted to write a bit about a company called Canonical that's run by Mark Shuttleworth. You may not have heard of Mark or Canonical but you probably have heard of a version of the Linux operating system called Ubuntu that Canonical makes. Ubuntu is used on millions of servers around the world - basically big high horsepower computers used to host websites, etc.

Mark has this idea to launch what many call a super-smartphone - basically a tablet computer that has all the functionality of a PC called the Ubuntu Edge.  Now, Mark happens to be a billionaire but decided back in July he wanted to crowdfund the project to the tune on $32 million using the crowdfunding website Indiegogo. Well long story short, Mark failed - at least with the crowdfunding idea. Canonical raised a little under $13 million ($12,813,501 to be exact) of the $32 million Mark was looking for.

The phone that was spec'd sounded pretty nice - a multi-core processor (fastest on the market), at least 4GB of RAM, 128 GB of storage, a sapphire crystal screen (only a diamond can scratch it), a high capacity silicon anode battery, GPS, gyro, accelerometer, proximity sensor, compass, barometer, HDMI interface for TVs and monitors, dual-LTE, dual band 802.11n WiFi, Bluetooth 4, and near field communications.

I found Mark's crowdfunding approach interesting because with Indiegogo there are two options - an all or nothing approach (that's the one Mark picked) or the second option where the company keeps everything pledged whether the stated goal is met or not.

Why did it fail? Mark may have been asking for too much. Donors that wanted to get one of the first phones made were required to pledge at least $725. Initially the campaign set crowdfunding speed records but in the end stalled once the buzz wore off.

Is it over? For Canonical it may be for now. Mark has said he will not use his own funds for the project. But Mark is not the only one with  super-smartphone desires - on July 16 (when I was in Poland right next door) Alexey Miller, chief executive officer of a Russian natural gas exporter called Gazprom offered to pay $3.7 million to anyone who could come up with one.

Open WiFi Networks and (Lack Of) Security

I get asked about open WiFi hotspots and if they are secure lots these days. Examples would be certain hotels, restaurants, etc. My short answer - these days many are not secure and.... regardless.... you should always avoid using them. Here's why. 

Most public WiFi hotspots do not encrypt information going back and forth in the air and are not secure. There's lots of free hacking tools that just about anybody can quickly learn to use to get any information you send back and forth when connected to these networks. Here's some good guidelines originally published by the Federal Trade Commission:

Use these tips to tell if a Wi-Fi network is secure:

• If a hotspot doesn’t require a password, it’s not secure.
• If a hotspot asks for a password through the browser simply to grant access, or asks for a password for WEP (wired equivalent privacy) encryption, it’s best to proceed as if it were unsecured.
• A hotspot is secure only if it asks the user to provide a WPA (wifi protected access) password. WPA2 is even more secure than WPA.

Use these tips for a safer Wi-Fi experience:

• When using a Wi-Fi hotspot, only log in or send personal information to websites that you know are fully encrypted. The entire visit to each site should be encrypted – from log in until log out. 
• To determine if a website is encrypted, look for https at the beginning of the web address (the “s” is for secure), and a lock icon at the top or bottom of the browser window. Some websites use encryption only on the sign-in page, but if any part of the session isn’t encrypted, the entire account could be vulnerable. Look for https and the lock icon throughout the site, not just at sign in.
• If you think you’re logged in to an encrypted site but find yourself on an unencrypted page, log out right away.
• Don’t stay permanently signed in to accounts. After using an account, log out.
• Do not use the same password on different websites. It could give someone who gains access to one account access to many accounts.

As a general rule of thumb, an encrypted website protects only the information sent to and from that site. A secure wireless network encrypts all the information sent over it. 

How do you get around the connectivity problem? I recommend using a personal WiFi hotspot with security implemented. You can get yourself a dedicated device like the one I have or most smartphones can be used as a hotspot if you pay an additional monthly fee. Here's more information from AT&T on different personal WiFi hotspot options.

Goodbye SMS-Based Text Messaging

ASYMCO put up an interesting piece titled What's up with text messaging? yesterday about texting in Spain. Volume is dropping rapidly with Internet Protocol (IP) based message apps like Whatsapp, Apple's iMessage and Facebook messaging replacing a voice network based text protocol called Short Message Service (SMS). SMS has been around since 1982 and has become a real cash cow for wireless providers. 

Here's more from that ASYMCO post:

• Whatsapp reported that it set a record of 18 billion messages processed over New Year’s Eve. 
• In October Apple announced that iMessage had delivered 300 billion messages during the preceding 12 months.
• Globally SMS traffic is still rising. It’s expected to reach 9.6 trillion in 2012, but at least one analyst forecasts  that SMS’s share of global mobile messaging traffic will fall from 64% in 2011, to 42% in 2016.

I'd also put Skype on the list as a disruptor.

Expect similar results in the United States and other countries. Wireless providers have seen this coming for a while now and (I believe) it's the reason we've seen most implement data caps while, at the same time, encouraging customers to consume more data (translation - go over your data cap) using services like mobile video streaming. 

If you want to know more about SMS and IP based texting I've got an earlier posted titled Why Are My iPhone Text Messages Sometimes Blue and Sometimes Green? linked here.

Wireless and VoIP Services as Carrier of Last Resort?

The shift continues for the traditional telecommunications companies away from copper based voice and DSL data services to wireless and fiber. One of the road blocks that appears to be loosening are the  Carrier of Last Resort (COLR) rules for carriers.

COLR rules are currently set at the state level (not the Federal Communications Commission) and regulate that every American has access to telephones service along with other utilities like electricity and water. A number of states have either passed legislation or are considering legislation that would end traditional landline rules and allow these services to be replaced by wireless (cell) or Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services. Bills have emerged in Mississippi, Kentucky, New Jersey and California. Ohio's Senate Bill 271 is a good example of legislation currently being reviewed by lawmakers to cut traditional landline services. 

Opponents to these changes argue landline elimination could increase phone bills, reduce quality of service and impact 911 service. AARP Ohio State Director Bill Sundenmeyer is quoted in a recent post at Community Broadband Networks saying:

... besides preserving social contact, land-line phones are needed to protect seniors' health and safety. For instance, some seniors use the phone line to transmit routine health information from equipment in their home to their doctor's office.They can make an evaluation of a person's heart and how's it working, of their lungs, etc. That information would be very difficult to transmit over a cell phone.

There's more. Even though the FCC has stayed out of COLR regulations, leaving them to individual states, AT&T submitted a letter to the FCC back in August asking the FCC to effectively reclassify the public switched telephone network as an "information service", effectively removing all PSTN regulations and obligations. What does this mean? I think Bruce Kushnick describes it pretty well over at the Huff Post Tech Blog:

This means that almost all of the remaining wires, networks or even the obligation to offer services over those wires and networks are all removed -- as much of this infrastructure is classified as "telecommunications". The Public Switched Telephone Networks, the utility, would suddenly be reclassified as an information service. Sayonara any telco rules, regulations and oh yes, your rights. Your service breaks... tough. Prices go up and there's no direct competition -- too bad. Networks weren't upgraded -- so what. Net Neutrality? Neutered.

I'm not sure where you live but I'm in a relatively rural area of a fairly populated state. I've only got one wireless provider option at my home unless I climb up to the very peak of my roof where I can usually catch one bar of another provider. After the 2011 Halloween snowstorm cell service was out for almost a week at my home while landline service did not go down. 

Wireless service is great when it works. Wireless as carrier of last resort - someday yes but not just yet. AT&T has opened a window and the FCC now has an opportunity to step up and put a logical transitional process in place. 

Why Are My iPhone Text Messages Sometimes Blue and Sometimes Green?

Lately I've been getting this question a lot. Here's what's up.

Green messages on your iPhone use a voice text protocol called Short Message Service (SMS). SMS was developed way back in 1982 and designed to run on voice networks using a separate channel used for signaling. Technically SMS was easy to implement and, with the popularity of mobile phones, it became very popular really fast. Messages are limited in length 160 characters and as a result many of us have learned to abbreviate words using text-speak shorthand.

iMessage is different. It's Internet Protocol (IP) based and does not require a voice connection. You can use IP based text services like iMessage on cellular data networks along with WiFi networks and your computer.

Now here's the big advantage - you don't need a text message plan to send and receive iMessage based texts. You do need some kind of text message plan to send and receive SMS (green) messages.

When are messages green? Here's a few common scenarios:

1. You or your friend have not updated your iPhone to iOS5
2. You or your friend are not registered with Apple iMessage. 
3. You or your friend are in a place where there is no cellular data signal but there is a voice network signal.
4. You send a message to someone not on the same network as you and only one of you has an iPhone. For example, you've got an AT&T account and your friend has a Verizon Wireless account. If you both have iPhones and both have data connections iMessage will work cross-carrier. 
5. You're on the same network but one of you has iMessage turned off. To turn iMessage on and off on your iPhone use Settings -> Messages -> iMessage On/Off

Is SMS sticking around? Not for long with "free" services like iMessage and this is rapidly becoming a problem for the providers. SMS has been a huge cash cow for wireless providers earning an estimated $114.6 billion in 2010.

Sprint 4G LTE Comes to Massachusetts and Texas and Kansas.....

It's been a crazy month with a major National Science Foundation proposal submission deadline last week. To everyone who submitted (including us) - Good Luck!

I've been catching up on email the past few days and finally have time for a quick post. I've written here in the past about Sprint's planned and inevitable migration from WiMAX 4G services to LTE..... well it started today: 

Sprint Brings 4G LTE to Customers in New Bedford/Fall River, Mass.

Sprint Brings 4G LTE to customers in Hutchinson and McPherson, Kan.

Sprint Brings 4G LTE to Customers in Wichita Falls, Texas

And they're even starting in Chicago:

Sprint Brings 4G LTE to Customers in Chicagoland

Sprint's plans are to get 115 locations up and running LTE in the next few months. Good news for Sprint and customers. Watch for ads/commercials to start.

eReaders Becoming Niche Market Players?

I've always been a fan of the Kindle and other eReader type devices, especially when compared to bulkier and heavier tablets that are difficult to view in direct light conditions. Lately though, I've been wondering how long eReaders would continue to exist as tablets become lighter and smaller with better displays. Well, I just read an interesting study from ABI Research titled eReaders and the Digital Publishing Market that takes a look at where the eReader market is going.

Here's some details from the ABI report:

• Eleven million eReaders are projected to be shipped globally in 2012, down from a peak volume in 2011 of 15 million devices.
• The growing popularity of media tablets along with declining US “baby boomer” population and lack of organized digital bookstores outside of the US and Western Europe will reduce the eReader opportunity over the next five years.
• Despite the average tablet selling for more  than $465 as a result of Apple’s dominant market position, tablets are expected to outsell eReaders 9 to 1 this year. 
• Over the next five years, annual eReader shipments are projected to drop by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.1%. In contrast, global media tablet shipments are predicted to increase from approximately 102 million annual device shipments in 2012 to nearly 250 million in 2017.

All bad news for eReaders. Well, not so fast.... the report continues... However, eReaders maintain advantages over media tablets for reading purposes. Electronic paper (ePaper) displays are able to better replicate the print reading experience and are usable in direct sunlight conditions unlike LCD technologies. The eReader battery life of weeks between charging is significantly greater than the media tablet. And of course, eReaders are priced significantly less than entry-level tablets.

ABI senior mobile devices analyst Joshua Flood is quoted “Regardless of the tremendous historical eReader success, the market tides have already begun to turn. Nevertheless, the eReader market will not be totally cannibalized by media tablets. We believe there will always be a niche market for the dedicated reading device for voracious readers, business travelers, and educational segments, particularly ones that are low-priced.”

ABI senior practice director Jeff Orr continues “The decline of buying audiences for dedicated digital readers in the US is more rapid than the digital publishing ecosystems organizing for growth in Asia or Eastern Europe. Development of content digitalization systems and services in all world regions should continue without delay as the effort will be necessary for developing mobile app catalogs that provide easy search, discovery, and monetization.”

Be sure to check out the full ABI Research report.

Curiosity on Mars Bringing Back Memories

The Mars landing of Curiosity has brought back some memories when it comes to sensors and systems in space.....

It was 1980. I was a year out of college with an undergrad degree in microbiology and working in a hospital lab trying to figure out what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. At one time I had thought I wanted to go to medical school but the more time I spent in a hospital working in a clinical setting the more I realized I was not cut out for that kind of work. I loved the biology but I was struggling with the procedures - the work was 100% protocol - the same procedures over and over again with zero room for mistakes. So many of the people I worked with were so good at it - they thrived on it.  Me - I had always loved tinkering, taking things apart and trying to put them back together. Trying new things that did not always work was what I liked. Trying this instead of that. What if I did this? What would happen?

But.... when you are dealing with people's lives you can't do that kind of stuff. I have so much respect and envy for people who do this kind of work but I knew it ultimately was not for me. I loved the science but knew I had to change directions with respect to my career. Fortunately, something came along (as it often does in life) that helped me with my dilema.

In the lab one day we started testing a machine called the VITEK for McDonnell Douglas and NASA. VITEK was a fully automated microbial identification and susceptibility system that had been developed in the 1960's for use in space. The system is based on microbial growth in thin plastic identification cards that have small wells with sugars, enzymes, etc. After the cards have been inoculated with sample they are incubated at 37 degrees C and photometrically scanned every hour for either color change or turbidity. Different bacteria ferment different sugars, produce different byproducts, grow or don't grow based on nutrients or conditions, etc. Basically how they grow or do not grow is how they are identified.

McDonnell Douglas was looking to move the product from outer space into the hospital lab and we had engineers coming in and out of the lab weekly tweaking the system. We were running tests in parallel - we'd run a sample using traditional microbiological ID methods and run the same sample through the VITEK, comparing identification results. There was about a three week period when the engineers were in lots - the system was not working properly - something was screwed up in the incubation cycle and they were having a hard time figuring it out.

One of the engineers I had got to know came in with a large stack of green-bar  paper with thousands of lines of code one day. I had never seen actual code before - it was so logical and simple and organized. Really cool! I was able to look at it and quickly pick out where the error was - the incubation line was not properly placed in the incubation cycle loop. I showed the engineer what code lines needed to be swapped around and remember him scratching his head and shrugging his shoulders. Still, he made the mod and....... it worked! It was so trivial but it worked!! The engineers were looking too deeply into the code - this was sort of like a TV not working because it was not plugged in type of thing. That simple. I remember the guy telling me I should have been an engineer. I also remember him telling me the first time someone writes a program it never works and you always had to go back and troubleshoot it. I was intrigued - engineering - could it be for a tinkerer like me who likes to learn from my mistakes?

Well - long story short - my sister and two brothers had degrees in electrical engineering. They had been bugging me for a while to check out engineering. They talked me into going to see Dr Jim Masi (the same Jim Masi who was our first Director at www.ictcenter.org) at Western New England University and we were able to work out an agreement where I could pick up the undergrad courses I was missing and then move into an MS Electrical Engineering program. It took a while and most of the time was incredibly hard but I was able to complete the degree.

As an engineer I could now tinker and try new (sometimes off the wall) things and make mistakes and learn from those mistakes. And that microbiology background has never gone to waste - I know it has helped me think and approach problems a little differently than traditionally trained engineers. All good!

The Future of Wireless: Spectrum and Cell Technologies

John Garvey from Garvey Communications dropped me an email last week and asked if I could write up a post about small cell wireless technologies. He had read a piece in Business Week titled Want to See the Future of Mobile Coverage? Go to a Baseball Game that describes how Verizon Wireless is using 4G LTE COWs (Cells On Wheels) and COLTs (Cells on Light Trucks) at sporting events. Both of these technologies provide portable bandwidth where and when it is needed. If you've ever been in a packed stadium and tried to make a call, upload a picture to Facebook, or post a tweet you've likely had problems getting a connection.

The more I thought the more I realized a good discussion will take a little more than a single post so I'm going to write a series on new antenna technologies over the next few weeks. Today let's discuss the way cellular is done now and why it's not going to work in the future.

Everyone know what a cell tower looks like and most would describe them as big, tall and ugly with lots of antennas hanging on them. If you look on the ground at the base of the towers you'll typically see a few "huts" that contain (among other things) large amplifiers that provide signal up to the antennas at the top of the towers. Connectivity to the towers (referred to as "backhaul") is provided by fiber. Here's a simplified drawing of a big tower setup.

The towers are fed by fiber and optical signals transmitted on the fiber get converted back and forth to wireless signals, giving us connectivity on our mobile devices. Seems pretty simple and if we need more capacity all we need to do is run more fiber to the towers, right? Well..... not really. Providers can bury as much fiber as they want and convert it to wireless frequencies but that's not going to solve the problem. The bottleneck today is spectrum and (especially) in congested areas this bottleneck is causing the dropped calls and slow wireless data access we've all experienced.

So, spectrum is a problem - what exactly is it? Each provider - AT&T, Verizon Wireless, etc - have licenses from the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) to use specific frequencies for information transfer. It is important each providers spectrum be allocated in a way that it is kept separate for interference free communications so different providers cannot typically share licensed spectrum. When I think about spectrum I think about tuning the radio in my car - each station is licensed by the FCC and has it's own "channel", broadcasting at a specific frequency.

Now - just like the numbers on your car radio tuner - there is only a finite amount of total spectrum available. This finite availability, along with not being organized in the most efficient way, limits things like coverage, connection speed and quality of service. The spectrum issue is really coming to a head now with high bandwidth LTE services being rolled out by all providers - higher speeds, more bandwidth requirements and more people using their phones for voice, video and data services.

What's being done by the wireless providers to get around this spectrum bottleneck? There's been a mad scramble to purchase as much spectrum as possible but..... utilizing a finite amount of spectrum the way it is currently being used is not going to solve the problem long term. They'll still end up running out. What's being done?

There are a number of solutions. We're also seeing providers building WiFi networks (WiFi uses unlicensed spectrum) to offload some of the licensed spectrum traffic. There's a bunch of other technologies including small cells (the COWS and COLTS John was asking about), spectrum re-farming and cell-splitting that look promising. I'll take a look at some of these in my next few posts.

Wireless Options: Virgin, Verizon, Sprint and CDMA

Virgin Mobile has announced they will soon be selling a pay-as-you-go iPhone4 and iPhone 4S, offering contract free service starting at $20 per month, moving all the way up to $50 per month for unlimited talk and data.

What's interesting about this is Virgin uses something called CDMA for channel access - that's the same technology used by Sprint and Verizon Wireless. And get this - Virgin is considered a virtual mobile network operator, purchasing network capacity from Sprint. This means when you use a Virgin phone, you're using the Sprint wireless network. Sprint service is just as good as AT&T or Verizon in my opinion. The latter two just do a lot more advertising to make us thing they are better.

So, let's think about this, Virgin uses the same access technology as Sprint and Verizon and Virgin's a lot cheaper. You're also not locked into a 2 year contract. Hmmmmm......switching sounds like a no brainer. There is a catch though - Virgin is charging $650 for a iPhone 4S - full price. It's still cheaper though over the long run. Let's compare Sprint's $80 per month unlimited data service (two year contract) to Virgin's $50 per month service (pay as you go).

I have not included Verizon Wireless in the table because Verizon is eliminating the unlimited data plans. If you've recently bought a Verizon iPhone 4S though you could switch by unlocking (not recommending you do this but many have or are considering) it and switching over to the Virgin network. To break your Verizon contract you would have to pay around $600 which sounds like a lot but it may be worth crunching some numbers to compare total cost.

If you've got an AT&T iPhone you're out of luck - it uses a different technology for channel access called GSM which is not CDMA compatible.