Protocol stacks: The fuel that powers mobiles
by Morten Bang Jørgensen
The initial phase of euphoria surrounding wireless technologies has given way to more realistic expectations of future growth.
The potential of mobile communications is nevertheless vast in terms of new services such as location-based services (LBS), media streaming and electronic payment. Network operators currently generate up to 20% of their total revenue with text messaging. With the surprising success of such simple, but widely accepted technologies as SMS, the mastery of more complex technological applications can bring bountiful gains to those with the tools required to support them. One such company is Condat.
A technology that for several reasons has yet to catch on is WAP. Insufficient bandwidths coupled with overly complicated navigation programmes have, together with the excessive costs involved with its use, meant that success was improbable from the outset. The problem lay not with the features and concept behind it, but in the poor execution and unacceptable technical limitations confronted at the time of implementation. The technical groundwork necessary to produce functional, low-cost services for the mass-market simply was not available at the time of initial introduction. This deficiency is being rectified with GPRS and UMTS. The current transmission rate of 9.6 kbit/sec available with GSM will increase as GPRS and UMTS come online, offering rates between 50 and 300 kbit/sec. Condat provides protocol stacks to support and unite all three standards.
The lessons learnt from errors of the past allow us to build on such technologies as SMS. This will form the basis of new, expanded services that include enhanced features such as chatrooms, ringing tone exchanges and video clip/image transmission capabilities.
The new technology, EMS (Enhanced Message Service), is an upgrade on SMS. It will be succeeded by MMS (Multi-media Services), a true breakthrough for consumer and network operator alike. This will allow mobile users to exchange snapshots of their recent holiday or their newborn child with family and friends. The user can send the pictures or short video clips seconds after being taken. In addition new colour displays, a major driving force behind the user-friendly services surrounding MMS and mobile Internet help solve the problem of limited display capabilities. Once more, Condat proves itself to be the tie that binds.
With its range of protocol stacks (GSM, GPRS/UMTS), together with its MMI solutions (Man-Machine Interface), the leading-edge technology company enables voice (GSM), data (GPRS) and multi-media services to be delivered on a user-friendly interface.
Another major service is the mobile Internet. The provision of greater bandwidths to users of mobile telephony, a technology entering its 3rd decade, will serve as an impetus for increased diversification of services. Hence new devices to take advantage of the whole realm of business possibilities made available by GPRS/UMTS. These include: smart phones, feature phones, PDAs, GPS devices, etc. 3G has already been in use on a trial basis in the Tokyo area for over two months. This service is due to hit Europe in the near future. When the new devices enter the market, the wireless information society will indeed become reality.
Condats role is defined and accentuated by current market shifts. The European manufacturers react to decreasing margins by outsourcing production. The position of the new Asian players is strengthened by such developments. Individual component manufacturers with established ties to the Asian market can thus exploit the tremendous sales potential during this transition period. Condat has both the ties and the software demanded by manufacturers worldwide. Our protocol stacks for the GSM, GPRS and UMTS standards enable data to be mobilised in a transparent and efficient manner, whilst our MMI solutions make EMS, MMS and mobile Internet possible.