Home Asia-Pacific II 2008 The promise of telecommunications

The promise of telecommunications

by david.nunes
Lin Chi HungIssue:Asia-Pacific II 2008
Article no.:5
Topic:The promise of telecommunications
Author:Mr Chi Lin
Title:President & CEO
Organisation:Altai Technologies Limited
PDF size:188KB

About author

Mr Chi Lin is the President and CEO of Altai Technologies. Prior to his current role, Mr Lin was the Vice President of Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute ASTRI). He has also served as the President of Lucent Technologies (China) Optical Networking Group. Before Lucent was spun off from AT&T, Mr Lin had been a system engineer, software developer, and system architect for Bell Labs. He has been called, ‘The Father of DACS IV-512 Switch’. Mr Lin received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from McGill University and M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Columbia University.

Article abstract

Telecommunications – from the first telephone line to today’s fibre-optic networks, wireless networks and the Internet – has changed the course of human history. Today, they hold the promise of connecting the world’s people not only to each other, but to the entire, vast storehouse of human knowledge. More than making information available, telecommunications will soon deliver first-class education to whoever wants it, wherever they may be, thereby opening a world of social and economic opportunity to previously disadvantaged people.

Full Article

Over a hundred years ago, the world got its first telephone line. This groundbreaking technology totally changed communications; people can connect with another side of the world with just a telephone line. People used wire-line communications and then looked for mobility; cellular networks appeared in the 1980s. When the Internet opened to commercial use in 1988, history repeated itself. People want more than Internet access by ADSL; they also want mobile broadband Internet everywhere. They want unlimited Internet access everywhere; they want to stay in touch anytime, anywhere. They constantly want better data, voice and video convergence and mobility. We have cellular and wireless broadband – what’s next? To bring about voice and video convergence, operators are migrating to Next Generation Networks (NGN). The core network, the public switched telephone network (PSTN), the major carrier of voice communications today, will gradually be replaced by IP-based Internet backbones and voice content will be transformed into voice packets and transmitted via voice over IP (VoIP) standards. IP-Virtual Private Networks (IP-VPN) will gradually replace legacy data transmission platforms such as X.25, frame relay and ATM. The demand for expensive International Private Leased Circuit (IPLC) for integrated voice and data communications has already gone down in the past few years, since the reliability, security and flexibility of MPLS IP-VPN networks were proven in the field. The traditional wired broadband xDSL (digital subscriber lines) in local telephone exchanges are being migrated to IP-based Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexers (IP-DSLAM), which directly support VoIP. In the application layer, the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), which supports multi-media communications over the Internet, is replacing the ITU-T H.323 audio-visual communication sessions protocol. The NGN is a key architectural evolution in the telecommunication history. Core networks and access networks deployed during the next decade will follow this architecture. NGN permits the transmission of all kinds of information and services including data, voice and multi-media together on the same Internet Protocol-based network in the form of IP packets. NGNs support the independence of service-related functions from the underlying transport-related technologies. This made the quick emergence and growing popularity of WiFi wireless access technology for home networks, enterprise networks, city-wide networks, mobile phones, game consoles, digital cameras and nearly all modern PCs. Using the IP-based platform, the wired to wireless migration became the second major trend in telecommunications. WiFi was originally a standard for wireless data transmission; however, it is even more attractive for voice communications. How will it affect the existing CDMA2000, WCDMA and TD-SCDMA cellular technologies? Most agree that WiFi will complement cellular technology rather than compete with it – especially if the cellular operator is itself a WiFi/WiMAX operator, offering subscribers the best of both technologies. With these two technology migration paths, an operator’s services will become less specifically defined by the network it uses, be it fixed line or wireless access, 3G mobile, city-wide WiFi, television content or Internet services. Governments throughout the world are now working on a new kind of carrier licence – a unified carrier licence – a single licence for all kinds of services and access technologies, for voice, data, multi-media, wired and wireless. What can we expect during the next two decades? Will wireless communications reach the Moon; after all, public space shuttle services should be available in a few years? Which of the following will happen in technologically advanced countries during the next two decades? • Disappearance of fixed line subscribers? – Since today’s almost ubiquitous cellular service can access entire families, do you still need a residential phone line? A traditional style telephone receiver equipped with a 3G SIM card and a backup power supply can suit the needs of those who like privacy and prefer to hide their whereabouts, but like the feel of classical handset. • Disappearance of PSTN network? • One portable number? – Will everyone have their own personal number where they can be reached via any type of service no matter where they are or which device they may be using – be it a cellular phone, a fixed line or a computer, be it an e-mail, short message or a multimedia message (MMS)? Although everything will use the same number, the receiving terminal will identify the type of call and initiate the corresponding service. • Disappearance of International Direct Dialling (IDD)? – The Internet Protocol functions in the same manner no matter what terminal is called, no matter the distance or the country called. The shared-based IP backbones cost much less as compared to IPLC in building up global networks. The web-based VoIP services are now free of charge for intra IP network subscribers, if all residential phones are replaced by IP-phones and all other terminals in city areas are IP-based; there will be no difference between calling a friend locally or overseas: • Multiple terminal types? – Many people have multiple devices – mobile phone, PDA, laptop, digital camera, MP3 etc – each of which duplicate at least some of the features of the other. How many terminals one uses is a matter of personal preference; some may use several devices, others only one or two. You might use one device for all your communications – voice, data, video streaming, Internet access, and the like – and another mainly for entertainment – music, video playback, game playing, photos and so forth. Many functions and applications can already be handled by a single terminal, for example, ticketing, reservations, payments, personal banking. There are many other features still at their initial stage of integration, and many others are still too complicated to use. • Integrated media storage on the Web? – Nowadays information is stored in different formats and in different locations. Music on CDs, video on DVDs, television programmes recorded on DVDRs and VCRs, photos initially stored in SDRAM cards and then transferred to PCs, and files, emails, all sorts of databases and information are stored on computer hard disks. In principle, all this can be stored on a single common server at home. With IP technology at home, a wireless LAN can connect all your multi-media equipment into the same network and link it to a hard disk data base with all your text and media files. In the future, all this content will be stored on highly secure sites on the Web for anytime, anywhere access while on the move or even for backup. All this technology will be available; it is just a matter of time. But do you really like this lifestyle? You might prefer going back to a time when life was more natural, when you could see your family and friends more often and enjoy the calm without being bombarded by information. Twenty years ago, if you had forgotten your wallet when you left home you might worry; today, you worry more when you forget your mobile phone. In your office, you might have nothing to do if your computer or the network goes down. As communication technologies develop, we should all be careful not to become slaves to the technologies themselves. Ubiquitous telecommunications connect people anywhere at any time; however, technological connectivity can replace human connectivity. Youngsters get used to staying at home connecting to their friends with instant messaging via PCs and SMS or speaking on cell phones. They watch TV and films, read the news, play games on-line, listen to music and study using a PC at home. At the office people use e-mail; telephone conversations and meetings are reduced. E-mails can improve communications, but not always. A ten-minute meeting might result in an immediate decision that might have taken days to reach using e-mails. For the past two decades we have been migrating to an all-IP and wireless environment and we are halfway there; during the next two decades we will complete the trip. The migration will result in a unified, global, door-to-door telecommunications platform. We are now learning to use this platform to improve the quality of our lives and the economy. This task will continue from generation to generation. How far and how fast we go will depend upon how well we educate the next generation. By improving the education of children we can speedily boost the growth of technology. Research shows that most people cannot fully use their capacity – and poor education is part of the reason. Talent can be found worldwide, but talent can go undiscovered when a child comes from a poor family or is poorly educated. The wireless revolution is benefiting countries that previously lacked an adequate telecommunications infrastructure. Wireless telecommunications and the Internet can provide access to the world’s knowledge to homes and schools in even the remotest regions. These networks, coupled with on-line teaching systems on the Web can greatly improve the reach and efficiency of educational systems. On-line systems that continually test students to evaluate their strengths, interests and talents, and generate individually targeted teaching programmes that foster their individual talent and correct their weaknesses can shorten and improve the learning cycle. Several programmes are already underway to develop this sort of intelligent learning system, either as a stand-alone programme for remote areas or to reinforce classic teaching methods. Next-generation communications platforms will be there; the applications they support will be limited only by our imaginations.

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