Piece by piece: ETSI patches together GSM evolutionary framework

The results of the first round of decision-making on next generation wireless network standardization indicates that the future of wireless may not be all that different from the current multitechnology state of the industry.

The European Telecommunications Standards Institute recently issued its proposal for third generation network evolution for European GSM networks, but the organization fell short of its goal of forging a single standard. Instead, ETSI members agreed to implement dual proposals, one for wideband code division multiple access (CDMA) and one for a hybrid time division multiple access/CDMA solution.

The European standards body's solution calls for the wideband CDMA air interface to be used for wide area applications and the TD/CDMA solution to be used for low-mobility applications. The GSM Memorandum of Understanding Association and GSM North America both favored the proposal, indicating that North American carriers employing GSM technology might opt for a standard similar to the ETSI solutions for their own evolutionary needs.

One industry analyst questioned ETSI's logic in endorsing multiple architectures, saying that in the long run it might make more economic sense to settle on just one.

"Is that really going to be cost-effective?" said Ira Brodsky, president of Datacomm Research. "Are they choosing the best technology, or are they choosing something that will placate both camps?"

Although ETSI bypassed the IS-95 CDMA format as part of European GSM network evolution, the fact that CDMA technology factored so prominently into ETSI's decision is a strong endorsement of its potential for wideband platforms, Brodsky said.

"ETSI was very anxious to come up with a third generation standard, and it appears that there was strong consensus that it be based on some form of CDMA," he said. "I look at that as a tacit admission that IS-95 is going to be a very significant player."

An evolutionary path for CDMA networks has not yet been established, although strong support for IS-95 evolution from the CDMA Development Group-the members of which include CDMA heavy hitters such as Lucent Technologies, Northern Telecom and Motorola, as well as many North American and Asian wireless carriers-is likely to make the IS-95 version at least one path of choice for network evolution.

The ETSI decision is the first official move toward standardization of 3G technology, a topic that has been the source of growing debate between backers of different digital wireless platforms. Regardless of the technology their companies support, most network equipment vendors are confident that the next generation of wireless will be structured much as it is today, using different platforms based on historical decisions, market conditions and carrier preference.

"The world is changing to a large extent vis-a-vis how things are standardized," said Mike Buhrmann, head of the Universal Wireless Communications Consortium, the organization that supports the IS-136 TDMA standard. "As the world is deregulated, some of those things become more market-d riven. There should be multiple standards based on multiple approaches to the marketplace."

Network equipment vendors that voiced support for the ETSI UTRA standard included Alcatel, Bosch, Ericsson, Fujitsu, Panasonic, Mitsubishi, Motorola, NEC, Nokia, Nortel, Siemens, Sony, Samsung and Texas Instruments. Several European wireless operators also backed the standard, as did NTT DoCoMo of Japan.

DoCoMo had also been evaluating a next generation architecture based on IS-95.

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