UMTS: Mobile Communications for the Future

• Authors: Flavio Muratore
• Venue: UMTS: Mobile Communications for the Future
• Year: 2000

From the Book:Commercial start-up of the third-generation mobile system is scheduled for the year 2002. The name given to this system, at least in the European context, is the universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS). Of the original idea conceived in the early 1980s, what remains today are the ambitious service features that the system must provide to the user: the ability to communicate in movement, anytime and anywhere, through an enormous variety of applications and universally usable terminals. These expectations are attracting increasing attention from the mass media, and are seen by the public at large as the natural evolution of a process which in a few short years has enabled the cellular telephone to enjoy a success that few would have thought possible. The mobile systems that we have now come to take for granted have done much to change how we live and communicate. Together with the potential offered by the Internet, they have even changed some of our ways of thinking, at levels that are far deeper than might seem at first sight. How we work, use information, represent concepts and exchange messages have all changed. To an ever-increasing extent, the new media bring together voice, images and data, or even make these different communication modes interchangeable. This is possible because of the common digital representation shared by information content, and the synthesis and coding techniques associated with it. Thus, the UNITS system springs from convergence between the worlds of telecommunications and information technology. The new mobile system could well prove to be an ambitious synthesis of the evolution of these two worlds, especially at the level of services.Aside from the shared expectations, however, preparing the way for the UNITS system has been a far from straightforward process, and many of the system's basic aspects are still open to different interpretations and solutions. At the moment, for example, specifications are addressing at least three different radio interface modes, two of which have been adopted at the European level. These different ways of responding to a shared vision of UNITS reflect the variety of interests at stake, and the unequal rates and stages of evolution in the countries involved. The different stances that have been taken up regarding the system's implementation are confirmed, however involuntarily, by the first letter in its acronym, which stands, not for unique, but for universal. And this latter characteristic is most likely to be achieved by making different techniques compatible at the service level, rather than by developing a single solution for all continental regions. Be this as it may, the system's complexity and the enormous economic interests hinging on it have led to the consolidation of certain technological and systems-related aspects, where a common vision now prevails. The major innovations that have been achieved range from the service creation approach to the associated features' independence of the network layers, and to the flexibility of the transport functions, which can cover a broad range of application requirements. In addition, the UMTS system's evolution is seen as a continuation of existing systems and services. The new system, in fact, grows from a mobile market that is now firmly consolidated, at least with regard to voice services. GSM operators, who have deployed (and continue to invest) massive financial resources and know-how in the complexities of specifying the system, are aiming at a relatively graceful transition (a sort of soft handover, as it were) from today's system to UMTS. Indeed, the UNITS specifications acknowledge this need for gradual migration by calling for multimode terminals and the adoption of network architectures that are largely derived from GSM solutions. Today, the standards-writing groups in Europe, Japan and to some extent in the United States are collaborating in defining a system which, if not unique, can truly be termed universal. This degree of convergence is by no means accidental, and has largely been achieved through the determination shown by TIM in its strategic contributions at the international level. This book deals chiefly with the technical and service solutions that have been adopted in this context. Though the topics covered are highly specialised by nature, every effort has been made to ensure that the basic concepts are accessible to a wide readership, as the book is addressed to decision makers in related industries in addition to those working in the specific technical sectors concerned. There can be no doubt that the book is one of the first to be published on the topic. With specifications still in a state of flux, any such effort to organise the many issues involved and put them in context is of enormous value, as it provides a consistent view of the entire system and the services it is expected to support. The preview of the UMTS system's content, technical scenarios and services that the book offers has been made possible by TIM's early commitment to drawing up specifications for UMTS, and the importance which the operator has from the outset assigned to meeting this new challenge. A significant part of this commitment was channelled through CSELT, which was directly involved in developing specifications and in assessing and testing candidate solutions. CSELT was thus able to consolidate its mastery of the mobile systems of the near future, building up a broad-based understanding of these systems and operative skills of great value. This is no mean achievement, if we think of the vital impact that this know-how can have on our country's growth prospects. Flavio Muratore Torino January 18, 2000