Vision

Standards

Performance Metrics

interoperability, bandwidth, security

Usage and Dependencies

Industry Position: Packet-switched data services: The major development trends in the next six months focus on the introduction of packet-switched mobile data services, general packet radio services (GPRS) and CDMA2001X. GPRS will provide speeds that are six to eight times higher than the present 9.6Kbps data speeds by the end of 2001 [.8p]. The AT&T Wireless and Cingular Wireless announcement that they are abandoning time division multiple access (TDMA) removes this technology from the third-generation (3G) race. Present TDMA clients must decide in 2001 whether to wait for their present providers to deploy a global system for mobile communications (GSM) or move to a code division multiple access (CDMA) or GSM operator.

Mobile Internet access: A whole series of wireless protocols have been developed as counterparts to the web-based protocols. Wireless Markup Language (WAP) maps to HTML; WAP Session Protocol (WSP) and WAP Transaction Protocol (WTP) map to HTTP; Wireless Transport Security Layer (WTSL) maps to SSL and TCP; and WAP Datagram Protocol (WDP) maps to TCP/IP. However, these protocols don’t have the same rules and properties; converting from one protocol to another and one markup language to another presents serious problems for developers.

Wireless Access Protocol (WAP) will make a lot more sense in an IP-based packet-switched environment, providing much faster access when changing URLs and providing an always-on service, allowing information to be pushed to the handset. This will lead to a slew of new products and services from junk mail to mission-critical information updates. WAP will also become more stable with the next version in the third quarter, featuring interoperability and public key infrastructure (PKI) security. The next version of Wireless Markup Language (WML) will also improve remote monitoring and updating of handsets, making it easier to use the thin client. On the downside, we expect to see the first virus attacks on the handsets damaging stored address and log-on information [.7p]. WAP success may spell trouble for i-Mode as the two wireless access modes compete head on. As i-Mode remains a proprietary NTT DoCoMo standard, the open WAP environment will be much faster to develop new types of services [.8p].

New mobile services: GPRS will create a mobile environment that carriers will populate with three types of services: (1) unified messaging, (2) e-commerce portals (micropayment services, e-malls, games and music) and (3) location services (yellow pages, traffic info, find a friend, etc.). Some of these will be WAP or i-Mode based, others will use GSM or GPRS standards like short message service (SMS) and unstructured supplemental data (USSD). However, ongoing disagreements over location standards (COO, E-OTD and TOA) will create location services with limited interoperability.

Wireline/wireless integration: Wireless IP developments and the arrival of Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) standards for Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) will allow companies to integrate wireline and wireless voice traffic over IP-PBX equipment.

Key Trends for 2001: Wireless WAN Services, Bernt Ostergaard, Giga

SC Usage: Forrestal and Germantown LANs are connected via OC3 links (155.5 Mbps) with the old DS3 system (44.7 Mbps) in place as a backup. DOE upgrade plans include moving to OC12 (622 Mbps). The SC network connects to the Internet using ATM via Sprint, which functions as the ISP for SC. Preliminary measurements indicate that, on average days, there is ample bandwidth on the current network for the near term. The situation during peak loads may be different, but more measurements are needed to determine this.

SC Application Impacts: Wide-area networking with high bandwidth capacities are critical to present all applications to users at the Forrestal site, since current and planned applications and other network services are located in Germantown. Desktop and wireless demand are expected to grow gradually, as users adopt more audio, video and other capabilities, but this will happen at a slow rate.

References

Previous TPS Report