ATLANTA-While it’s evident most of the world’s standards bodies will adopt some form of Code Division Multiple Access technology for next- generation systems, the CDMA Development Group said it is concerned about the fragmented versions of the technology that could be adopted around the world.
The group’s executive board passed a resolution last week at the Wireless ’98 show indicating it is eager for consolidation of CDMA technologies, including wideband cdmaOne, which are being developed to establish one common worldwide CDMA standard that leverages the strengths of cdmaOne and meets the spectrum needs of existing CDMA systems.
The CDG’s concern comes from the European Telecommunications Standards Institute’s recent decision in Europe for a third-generation standard incorporating wideband CDMA technology and parts of a Time Division Multiple Access-CDMA proposal. The solution is not compatible with cdmaOne technology.
“ETSI is not that interested in convergence. We believe operators will be in the future,” said Perry LaForge, executive director of the CDG. “We’re worried about the economies of scale, and the growth of third-generation technology … We want interconnection.”
LaForge said the CDG is encouraged that Japan’s standards body, the Association of Radio Industries and Business, has been studying ways to achieve the convergence of CDMA proposals through its coordination group. NTT DoCoMo, Japan’s largest cellular operator, already has plans to push ahead with W-CDMA technology by 2000, while other operators there are ready to deploy cdmaOne technology next month. Japan adopted cdmaOne technology last year as an official standard.
“They (ARIB) stated recently that there was no technical reason not to adopt some of the key parameters specified within our proposed wideband specification,” said LaForge. “Based on the discussions at the most recent multilateral meeting in Japan, we are more optimistic than ever that we will achieve consensus on parameters that will harmonize the standards.”
Korea, the starting place of cdmaOne commercial systems, also is looking to incorporate both cdmaOne and W-CDMA technologies. SK Telecom, Korea’s largest wireless operator, is moving ahead with a solution that combines W-CDMA and cdmaOne. SK Telecom and DoCoMo plan to jointly develop commercial systems by 2000.
ETSI has yet to set the parameters of its new proposal. It may be forced to look for ways to converge with cdmaOne technology proposals if the world’s standards bodies are finding solutions themselves. In the United States, the Telecommunications Industry Association’s TRA 45.5 committee, one of the association’s several standards bodies, has selected wideband cdmaOne as its core proposal for IMT-2000.
The CDG has noted that many of the Global System for Mobile communications and CDMA operators the CDG has talked to favor convergence.
Meanwhile, Kansas City, Mo.-based Sprint Spectrum L.P. in conjunction with Lucent Technologies Inc., Motorola Inc.’s Cellular Infrastructure Group, Northern Telecom Inc. and Qualcomm Inc. announced their joint vision and development plans for third-generation wireless systems based on the evolution of cdmaOne. The five companies also announced that they will trial the new technology no later than 2000 with commercial deployment to follow.
The five companies, outlining their vision for 3G wireless technology, specified backward compatibility with CDMA technology of today, increased data rates and the use of existing licensed spectrum as three areas of initial focus for the joint development.
Sprint PCS has created a dedicated team in its network engineering and operations organization to specifically lead all technology development programs including 3G wireless technology, said the company.
