Seamless Multimedia and Vertical Handover Report 2008

Seamless Multimedia and Vertical Handover Report 2008

During the 4G era, GSM, CDMA, 3G, WiFi, WiMAX, LTE, UMB, Bluetooth and UWB networks are all expected to co-exist. Handover between heterogeneous access technologies which is also known as vertical handover is therefore expected to become particularly significant in the future. There are a number of inter-technology mobility solutions currently available that are either already commercially available or are expected to hit the market soon. These are Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA), Voice Call Continuity (VCC), layer 3 mobility protocols such as Mobile IP and SIP as well as the IEEE 802.21 protocol.

UMA will be the most successful out of these standards in the short term until an increasing number of operators install IMS in their core and techniques that allow for packet switched to packet switched network handover such as VCC and IEEE 802.21 become more popular. However standards that allow for handover to circuit switched networks are clearly useful due to the vast investments already made by carriers in circuit switched equipment. It is estimated that it could take at least 20 years before all carriers get rid of their circuit switched infrastructure. Meanwhile it is expected that a requirement for handover to broadcast networks will be raised during the next few years. This is because hybrid broadcast/Mobile Networks technologies have significant financial advantages for all mobile network operators.

The IEEE 802.21 protocol is expected to be standardised before the end of the year 2008. The earliest time for deployment of this standard is expected to be sometime during the year 2009 by SK Telecom in Korea. This is feasible and possible as the technology has already been developed by a number of companies. However, it should be noted that 3GPP does not favour the IEEE standards and tends to promote other standards for the handover to broadcast networks and the handover between heterogeneous access networks.

There are a number of multimode chipsets also being developed. A number of these include the WiMAX standard. The most popular of such chips seem to be the WiMAX and CDMA 2000/EV-DO (Evolution Data Optimized) dual-mode chipsets. These are due to the Sprint WiMAX project as well as the KDDI network in Japan. Until now each air interface has been designed in isolation and therefore a separate radio/modem has been required for each standard mobile terminal. In the future it is expected that there will be a software-defined architecture present to support Bluetooth, HSPA, LTE, WiFi, WiMAX, GSM and 3G. This framework is also likely to include a multimode flexible modem. Overall it can be said that by the year 2016 it is expected that all terminals will be multimode offering support for a variety of access networks.

Operators worldwide are becoming attracted not only by the cost saving and other advantages offered by supporting vertical handover, but also to its potentially crucial role in the 4G era of increased consumer demand and multiple wireless access technologies. What exactly are these benefits and how can implementing vertical handover help you maintain your business goals? What are the hidden costs and risks associated with all the competing approaches? This report will tell you.

Visiongain's primary research has found that over the coming years, more operators will re-evaluate their network and service platforms to identify their future requirements in terms of architecture, systems performance, service quality, and profitability. Are you prepared to take advantage?

The report answers all your key questions, including:

• What will be driving the market in terms of radio access and handover technologies?
  
  
• What CapEx and OpEx savings can be realised by implementing each of the various handover techniques?
  
  
• How will the speed of service deployment and problem resolution be influenced?
  
  
• How would vendor solutions and competing technologies compare to one another?

This report examines the handover options that are available to carriers as well as the technical advantages associated with each one. It also looks at the market opportunities for these techniques. A particular emphasis on the IEEE 802.21 standard is given. Multimode chips and their role in 4G handover are also investigated. Finally this report looks at the work of various key equipment manufacturers in the area. Buy this report today to ensure you do not lose out on the significant market opportunity.

Why you should buy this report:

• Operators: Learn how you can benefit from implementing appropriate handover techniques and what issues you will have to face in the multiplatform future. The report demonstrates the significance of seamless handover as the mobile web and multimedia experience increased demand.
  
  
• Vendors: Gain insight into the issues affecting seamless multimedia handover. Identify the types of operator likely to head the queue towards implementing various handover solutions.
  
  
• Consultants: Understand the current state of the market and how it will change and evolve in the future.

Chapter 1 Introduction

1.1 The significance of handover

1.2 The meaning of seamless handover

1.3 Anytime, anywhere, any service connectivity

1.4 The need for vertical handover

Chart 1: Percentage of LTE/UMB/mobile WiMAX subscribers out of the total number of global cellular subscribers

1.5 3GPP and vertical handover

1.6 Mobility requirements for Convergence

1.7 Scope of this Report

Chapter 2: Technical Focus and the IEEE 802.21 standard

2.1 The IEEE 802.21 standard

Figure 1: Future telecom landscape

2.2 Why 802.21?

2.3 Media Independent Handover (MIH) Services Figure 2: The media independent handover function

2.4 MIH and the end user perspective

2.5 IEEE 802.21 Technical Focus

2.6 Typical IEEE 802.21 Usage Scenario Cases

2.7 Mobile IP and 802.21

2.8 General challenges in Inter-technology handovers and the solutions 802.21 can provide Table 1: Issues with inter-technology handovers and the solutions that 802.21 can provide

2.9 Example of 802.21 support for WiMAX to UMTS handover Figure 2: 802.21 support for WiMAX to UMTS handover 2.10 Terminal vs Network Initiated Handover Figure 3: 802.21 support for WiMAX to UMTS handover

2.11 IMS and 802.21

2.12 Implementing the 802.21 standard

2.13 Multimedia handover and full FMC

Chart 2: Chart showing a forecast for the number of mobile broadband subscribers between the years 2008 and 2013

2.14 The IETF MIPSHOP (Mobility for IP: Performance, Signalling and Handoff Optimization) Working Group

2.15 FMCA and 802.21

2.16 802.21 Security/Network Authentication issues

2.17 802.21 and Satellite Networks

2.18 Video Codecs and handover

2.19 When is the 802.21 standard expected to be deployed in the market?

Chapter 3 802.21 and other handover protocols

3.1 Key issues for Operators

Table 2: Issues with inter-technology handovers and the solutions that 802.21 can provide

3.2 Inter-technology Mobility Solutions

Table 3: Inter-technology mobility solutions

3.3 Unlicensed Mobile Access

Figure 4: A UMA network

Table 4: Commercially available UMA compliant dual-mode handsets Chart 3: Chart showing the increase in dual-mode handset revenues between the years 2008 and 2013

3.3 VCC, UMA and IEEE 802.21

Figure 5: VCC network architecture

Table 5: Key Pros and cons of UMA and VCC Table 6: UMA vs VCC

3.4 OMA Device Management

3.5 Market Potential of OMA-DM

3.6The handover between fixed networks and wireless networks Chart 4: UMA subscriber forecast Chart 5: VCC subscriber forecast

3.7 Mobile Operators and modern handover techniques

3.8 The Handover between 3G and 4G networks

3.9 The Co-existence of 4G and 3G telecommunication networks 3.10 Roaming between 4G and 3G

3.11 BT and Intel

3.12 VoIP and modern handover techniques Chart 6: Mobile VoIP subscriber forecast

Chapter 4: Multimode mobile terminals and chipsets

4.1 Multimode chips

Table 7: Multimode chipsets that include WiMAX

4.2 Wavesat

4.3 Telcordia

4.4 Converged Devices and IEEE 802.21

4.5 QualComm and handover

4.6 The future of devices

Table 8: Key features of future mobile devices

4.7 Interdigital

4.8 Interdigital Mobility Solutions for SK Telecom Table 9: Key features of a PC-USB client and of a Smart-Phone Figure 6: An 802.21 compliant converged mobile device

4.9 802.21 and the success of WiMAX/WiBRO technology Chart 7: Chart showing a forecast for the number of fixed and mobile WiMAX subscribers between the years 2008 and 2013 4.10 Can 802.21 increase the WiBRO/WiMAX subscriber base?

4.11 Cost of 802.21 compliant devices

Chart 8: Chart showing a forecast for the number of 802.21 enabled devices between the years 2009 and 2013

4.11 802.21 and the iPhone

Chapter 5 Handover to Broadcast Networks

5.1 Scenarios where handover to broadcast networks is needed

5.2 Motivation for broadcast Handovers

Chart 9: Chart showing the estimated number of mobile TV subscribers between the years 2008 and 2013

5.3 Uncertainties in the mobile TV market

5.4 The DVB-H market potential

5.5 Handover to the DVB-Sh ,DVB-IPTV and MediaFLO standards

5.6 3GPP and Mobile TV handover

5.7 The future of Wireless Networks

Companies mentioned in report:

Apple

Alcatel-Lucent

Aruba

BenQ

Blackberry Rim

BT

Cisco

ComSys

Contella

DiVitas

FirstHand Technologies

HTC

HP

Intel

Interdigital

Kineto Wireless

Korea Telecom

Kyocera Wireless

LG Electronics

Microsoft

Mobile 3.0

Motorola

Nokia

NSN

Nortel Networks

Orange

Panasonic

QualComm

Sagem

Samsung

SK Telecom

Sprint

Sony-Ericsson

T-Mobile

Tango

Telcordia

UT Starcom

Vodafone

Wavesat