Emergence of the software phone : factors influencing its potential dominance

Abstract

With the recent proliferation of new wireless communication technologies in the U.S. and abroad, several competing air interfaces have emerged. This situation may soon be further complicated by compeuuon to influence upcoming international standards for 3rd-generation wireless communication systems capable of enabling global access to wireless multimedia services. For the wireless communications market, this heterogeneity poses problems for highly mobile users attempting to roam between different types of networks with phones that work over only one air interface. Brute force solutions have been introduced which combine two or more air interfaces in a single wireless communications appliance using traditional manufacturing approaches. An attractive alternative solution involves an emerging technology known as software-definable radio (SOR). This technology could enable the development of a new class of wireless information appliances, referred to here as "software phones", capable of working over any air interface. By migrating much of the radio functionality from hardware to software, such devices could switch between air interfaces and wireless applications/services much as a computer switches between applications programs. This thesis will assess the likelihood of emergence of a single dominant design standard for future generations of wireless communication systems, and the importance of software phone technologies as components of any such dominant design. The thesis is being sponsored by the Modular Multifunction Information Transfer System (MMITS) Forum, a wireless industry forum that is actively promoting software phone concepts. The analysis uses a variety of information sources and analytic techniques, and will also present a series of strategic recommendations to enhance the likelihood that software phone technologies will be included as critical components in any dominant wireless design standard.