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A Subscription To Signals Ahead Will Educate You On The "Chips And Salsa" Issues Which Look At Technical And Market Trends In The Wireless IC Industry
(M2 PressWIRE Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Dublin - Research and Markets(http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/321ca8/signals_ahead) has announced the addition of the "Signals Ahead" subscription to their offering.
Signals Ahead is a research newsletter that is delivered via email in a PDF format. Through this newsletter the firm offers thought-leading research on a multitude of issues and challenges that impact the industry. Recent topics include a two-part series on HSPA+, including identifying the features that the industry is most likely to implement, when they will be implemented, and to what degree they will be adopted in HSPA devices over the next five years, and results from extensive benchmarking of one of the world's first HSPA+ (21Mbps) networks. The consultancy is also well-recognized for its "Chips and Salsa" issues which look at technical and market trends in the wireless IC industry.
More than seventy corporations currently subscribe to the newsletter at the corporate level with clientele spanning five continents and the entire wireless ecosystem. Existing subscribers include some of the world's largest mobile operators, the top OEM's, handset manufacturers, test equipment companies and subsystem suppliers, financial institutions and venture capitalists, government regulators, and more than 20 wireless IC suppliers.
A platinum licence which includes the benefits of a global license plus 5 hours of analyst time that can be used during the duration of the subscription is also available.
Enterprisewide Includes 5 analyst hours in addition to the rights of the site license.
This subscription includes 18 issues. Summaries of past topics covered appear below. These reports may be purchased on an individual basis or they can be included with the purchase of a subscription.
List of Previous Issues:
07/01/2009: HSPA+ - up close and personal, Down Under Comprehensive performance analysis of a commercial HSPA+ network
06/08/2009: LTE - all's quiet on the European front Based on a series of meetings and participation at the LTE Summit in Berlin, Germany, the issue provides a technology and market update on LTE. Key topics include the motivating factors which are driving operators to deploy LTE and the technology/market inhibitors which could delay or at least curtail widespread deployments/adoption.
19/05/2009: Yea, The Mighty Shall Stumble
14/04/09 HSPA+: So many options, so little Time This issue examines the various features associated with HSPA+, provide the expected performance capabilities which can vary widely across vendors and operators, identify product roadmaps with stated availability dates, discuss what HSPA+ feature is in and what is out, and reveal what Signal Research believes is the first market outlook for the dominant HSPA R7, R8 and R9 features by device type through 2015.
2/3/09 MWC 2009: Brother, can you steal me a dime? The issue focuses on some of the key takeaways from this year's Mobile World Congress.
09/02/09 Chips and Salsa X: What goes down must also go up! This issue expands the industry's only independent performance benchmark test of devices and chipsets to include HSUPA and call reliability. It presents throughput results for 10 devices from 8 different wireless IC suppliers under a wide range of network conditions - 5 of the solutions were pre-commercial. The call reliability tests included 6 handsets, including the iPhone 3G and the BlackBerry Bold.
25/01/09 Femtocells Revisited The issue discuss some of the key issues facing femtocells. The major themes pertain to mitigating interference, backhaul, IMS/local traffic offload, the likelihood for consolidation or at least a reshaping of the femtocell supplier base, and the implications of femtocells on LTE (and vice versa).
05/01/08 2009 Predictions - look into my crystal ball This issue offer up six predictions for the wireless industry in 2009 that pertain to LTE, the drying up of VC capital, femtocells, the D Block and the AWS-3 spectrum. it also revisits the major events of 2008 and discuss their potential long-term implications.
15/12/08 Chips and Salsa IX - HSPA Down Under This issue provides a first hand look at Telstra's Next G HSPA network while using nine different pre-commercial and commercial HSPA solutions from the leading chipset suppliers. Many consider this network to be a best-in-class HSPA network and truly representative of the real capabilities of the technology. By showing how the chipsets/devices perform against each other, the publisher is able to also quantify the true capabilities of HSPA and compare those capabilities with Mobile WiMAX, as determined by the network in Baltimore.
12/11/08 To 3G or not to 3G, that is the question that I ask of thee This issue analyze the relative economics of a 2G network versus migrating to 3G. The analysis that the report presents was done at the CMA level with a particular emphasis on non-urban areas. In addition to presenting the relative economics of the various technologies, it also presents statistical modeling results which show the expected user data rates that can be achieved with a 3G network that is overlaid on top of an existing 2G network that was designed for voice services.
03/11/08 Damn the Torpedoes! Broadband Ahead! This issue revisit the debate over White Spaces Devices (WSDs) and take a first look at some of the issues pertaining to the AWS-3 spectrum. In theory, Signal Research has nothing against the FCC opening up the spectrum for new broadband wireless services, but their analysis of the recent OET test results suggests that the FCC could be ignoring or largely discounting a number of data points which suggest it could be opening a Pandora's Box of issues that could plague the airwaves for years to come.
Individual Issues Are Also Available For Sale
Key Topics Covered:
Five Previous Issues --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HSPA+ - up close and personal, Down Under
In part two of this series on HSPA+ the publisher provides what they believe is now the most comprehensive, independent, and publicly-available analysis of any commercially-deployed wireless network since the introduction of analog cellular technologies. As such, this report, which includes more than 50 figures or tables, offers great insight to operators and vendors who are doing strategic planning, not to mention anyone seeking competitive information on the performance of the technology.
Over the course of a five day period, the publisher transferred 41GB of data and drove 400km while testing Telstra's Next G network. During these tests, which included a Cat 14 (HSPA+, 21Mbps) USB dongle, a USB dongle that supported 5.7Mbps in the uplink, a Cat 9 (10.2Mbps) handset and a Cat 8 (7.2Mbps) handset, they used various test equipment to collect a wealth of underlying KPIs. These KPIs provided us with a rich set of data, thus allowing us to determine not only how the devices were performing (e.g., throughput), but why they were performing as they did.
They tested over a wide range of scenarios, including individual and concurrent testing, and while operating in stationary, pedestrian or vehicular modes. Nearly 90% of the testing was done from a moving vehicle (400km of driving), thus giving us performance results over a vast geographic region, not to mention introducing some very challenging, albeit realistic, RF environments.
This report is critical reading for the following reasons:
The Data. In order to be as objective as possible, the publisher publishes results for virtually all of the tests that they conducted. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that they provide include average throughput, normalized throughput, average CQI, distribution of modulation schemes, scheduling success rate, distribution of assigned HS-PDSCH codes, total receive power, length of test, latency and vehicular speed.
The Plots. For many of the test scenarios they use the geo-coded information to plot some of the most important KPIs using Google Earth, thus providing a rich and powerful means of examining the results.
The Performance. The report reveals how HSPA/HSPA+ devices perform in an HSPA+ network under a wide range of scenarios and in head-to-head tests (Cat 14 versus Cat 9 and Cat 9 versus Cat 8, etc). The report examines why there are performance differences between different categories of devices, discuss some of the debate surrounding the benefits of 64QAM, and provide very clear results which indicate whether or not HSPA+ (64QAM) can be readily achieved in a commercial network, and under what circumstances.
The Downside. For reasons that the publisher discusses and demonstrates, a typical user will not have the same experience that they had in Telstra's Next G network, or in any next-generation wireless network for that matter. They discuss why this is the case and what operators may need to do to squeeze more performance out of their existing and next-generation wireless networks.
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LTE - all's quiet on the European front
Key highlights in this research piece include the following:
The Motivators. Generally speaking, the factors which are motivating operators to deploy LTE should not be that surprising for most readers, however.
Bumps on the road? UMTS struggled out of the gate and Mobile WiMAX is facing its own set of challenges due to the rush to get something to the market. Why will LTE be any different?
Can you hear me now? One of the biggest debates surrounds how voice/SMS will be delivered over LTE. There are several solutions that exist, each with its pros and cons, while no one wants to deal with a fragmented market.
Yield Ahead. LTE adoption hinges on the practicalities of using/extending the life of HSPA through HSPA+ and the availability of suitable spectrum of LTE in Europe. The publisher discusses what operators think about LTE versus HSPA+, interject their own opinions, and explore the appropriateness of the 2500MHz band in Europe for LTE. Will it be enough or will the operators need something more before pulling the trigger?
Pick a band, any band. Call it a blessing or call it a curse, but LTE will initially be deployed in as many as six different frequency bands and the list will only get bigger over time.
Peaks and Valleys. With next-generation wireless technologies there could be vast differences in the user experience that exist based solely on the location of the subscriber in the network. Unless user expectations are managed through QoS or other mechanisms, customer confusion and backlash could occur. QoS, however, can introduce its own set of issues.
Take the Challenge. Given the hubbub surrounding the real performance characteristics of various next-generation wireless technologies, the publisher encourages readers to vote for their top picks.
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Yea, The Mighty Shall Stumble 19/05/2009
The industry is at a technology crossroads with operators on both sides of the 3GPP/3GPP2 fence looking to deploy LTE in the near, immediate, or at least distant futures. For many equipment suppliers, this crossroads is viewed as an opportunity to correct past wrongs, in other words to gain/regain market share that their peers unjustly stole from them while they were not looking. Unfortunately, as history has demonstrated these opportunities also represent huge liabilities with the strong getting stronger and the weak getting weaker.
On the handset/chipset front, the industry is continuing to consolidate. Nokia extended its 2G dominance into 3G while Motorola fell further and quicker than anyone could have ever imagined. At one point there were fourteen "wanna-be" chipset suppliers, not counting those suppliers who were working exclusively with NTT DoCoMo. Through a series of financial transactions and company strategic decisions the list has been whittled down to only a few names, including a couple of names that were not even on the publisher's list a few short years ago.
With the industry in a crisis, the publisher takes a look at the three major legs of the wireless industry: infrastructure, handsets and chipsets. For each leg Signal Research identifies the companies that they believe will be successful and the critical success factors that they believe the winning companies will need to possess.
If history is any lesson then the companies that were successful in the past will be successful in the future - a few notable exceptions exist. In the publisher's mind there are only two infrastructure suppliers and two chipset suppliers where the publisher has little doubt that they will be around in five years time. And from a handset perspective, the Nokia engine keeps moving along while its success will make it problematic for some and an opportunity for others --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HSPA+ - So Many Features, So Little Time 14/04/2009
Based on reviews of countless 3GPP submissions and interviews with mobile operators representing an installed base of more than 235 million subscribers, the top 3 infrastructure suppliers, subsystem suppliers, and all of the leading chipset suppliers, the subscription examines the various features associated with HSPA+, provide the expected
**performance capabilities** which can vary widely across vendors and operators, identify
**product roadmaps** with stated availability dates, discuss
**what HSPA+ feature is in and what is out,** and reveal what they believe is
**the first market outlook** for the dominant HSPA R7, R8 and R9 features by device type through 2015.
Key highlights in this research piece include the following:
- HSPA+ Technology Overview. The industry generally associates HSPA+ with ultra-high data rates, yet many of the most important HSPA+ features have absolutely nothing to do with "the need for speed." The publisher examines the technical aspects of HSPA from Release 7 through Release 9, including those features which generally fail to make it into the limelight.
- What's in it for me? The subscription offers industry estimates, including operator input, regarding the expected user and overall network benefits of each HSPA+ feature. The publisher also discusses and explains why the estimates, in some instances, vary quite dramatically.
- What's in and what's out. Although conventional wisdom suggests that all HSPA+ features will be adopted, the reality is starkly different. In some cases,
**infrastructure and chipset suppliers remain uncommitted** to a particular capability, while in other cases
**the mobile operators are far from committed** to deploying a feature, especially throughout large portions of their network. There are two HSPA+ features, in particular, that are widely discussed but for which the publisher gives little hope for much success in the coming years.
- Product Roadmaps.
**The publisher provides the stated HSPA+ product roadmaps and availability dates for the top 3 infrastructure suppliers and the leading chipset suppliers.** With this information, readers will be able to gain some semblance of when commercial viability for each HSPA+ feature will be possible.
- HSPA+ Attach Rate. The publisher offers what they believe is
**the first market outlook for the dominant HSPA+ features across four classes of HSPA devices (voice centric HSPA handsets through HSPA-enabled MIDs) through 2015.** The publsiher's outlook suggests that some HSPA+ features will quickly propagate throughout all classes of devices, other features will largely be relegated to certain device types, while other features will fail to achieve any measurable market penetration whatsoever.
Part II. In the second part of the series on HSPA+ the publisher will closely evaluate the performance capabilities of HSPA+ (64QAM) and HSPA R6 under nearly identical conditions in a commercial network in order to determine the real benefits, if any, of the HSPA+ feature that is first out of the gate.
In this issue of Signals Ahead the publisher provides results from what they believe continues to be the only independent performance benchmark test of HSPA devices and chipsets. With access once again to Spirent test equipment and engineering support, the publisher expands their benchmark tests to include results for uplink performance tests, specifically HSUPA Cat 5 (2.0Mbps), not to mention other tests to measure handset call reliability.
MWC 2009 - Brother Can You Steal Me A Dime? 02/03/2009
Depending on your perspective, operators at this year's Mobile World Congress were either shunning or embracing LTE. The publisher's view is that the answer is a little bit of both. What has happened is that operators are now more likely to openly embrace HSPA/HSPA+, but from Signal Research's perspective this does not necessarily mean that they are delaying the deployment of LTE.
In this week's issue of Signals Ahead the publisher discusses a number of salient topics based on a week of meetings at the Mobile World Congress.
Is it ready? At the beginning of the decade the industry learned a hard lesson when it launched UMTS before it was ready. The March 2009 release of the LTE standard will be the go-to-market release and the first release that is also backwards compatible with future releases. Interoperability testing against this release and the certification of LTE devices has yet to occur. When it occurs could have implications for operators that are planning launches in 2010.
The Issue Discusses:
Hype - will we ever learn? Vendors are somewhat backing off of earlier claims regarding the performance of LTE. Still, the most likely LTE network design decisions will significantly reduce the performance from what it could be while comparisons with HSPA tend to understate the earlier technology in order to advance an agenda. In many cases the Achilles heel of next-generation wireless networks will be latency or the Internet itself. Even if MIMO and 64QAM fail to deliver, there is at least one more feature of HSPA+ that could have a meaningful impact on network performance.
Which way do we go? Although the publisher does not think the economic crisis is entirely to blame, operators are publicly highlighting their desire to extend the life of their HSPA networks. In many cases this will mean deploying new multi-protocol RAN hardware now and then adding LTE at a later date. This issue discusses the implications for predicting future LTE vendor market share and why the likely action of operators means that the WiMAX community must first compete and win against HSPA/HSPA+ before tackling LTE.
Chips and Salsa Update. The publisher offers a quick update post their extensive Chips and Salsa X issue. In particular, they discuss the implications of Nokia's new bedfellows.
Companies mentioned in previous and up-coming issues include:
- a la mobile
- Access
- Symbian
- Agere
- Alcatel
- ArrayComm
- AT&T
- Beceem Communications
- British Telecom
- Broadcom
- Bytemobile
- China Unicom
- Cingular Wireless
- Cisco
- Clearwire
- Datang
- Deutsche Telecom
- E28
- Ericsson
- Freescale
- Haier
- Huawei
- Icera Semi
- Infineon
- Intel
- InterDigital
- IPWireless
- Korea Telecom
- KT Freetel
- LG Telecom
- Lucent
- Microsoft, Palm
- Mitsubishi
- MIZI Research
- Montavista
- Motorola
- Navini
- NEC
- Nokia
- Nortel
- NTT DoCoMo
- Orange
- Panasonic
- Philips
- Qualcomm
- Red Hat
- Redline Communications
- Reliance Infocomm
- RF Micro Devices
- RIM
- Samsung
- SEQUANS Communications
- Siemens
- SK Telecom
- Sky MobileMedia
- Skyworks
- Sonus Networks
- Sony Ericsson
- Sprint Nextel
- Tata Telecom
- TD Tech
- Tekelec
- Telecom Italia
- Telefonica
- TensorComm
- Texas Instruments
- T-Mobile
- Trolltech
- Verizon Wireless
- Vodafone
- ZTE
For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/321ca8/signals_ahead
((Comments on this story may be sent to info@m2.com))
(c) 2009 M2 COMMUNICATIONS
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