Contents Telektronikk Ubiquitous Broadband Access Volume 102 No. 2 – 2006 ISSN 0085-7130 1 Guest editorial – Ubiquitous broadband access; Terje Tjelta Editor: Per Hjalmar Lehne 3 Ubiquitous broadband access; (+47) 916 94 909 Terje Tjelta [email protected] 14 European broadband overview; Editorial assistant: Roland Montagne, Loïc Le Floch Gunhild Luke (+47) 415 14 125 22 Requirements to and architecture of hybrid broadband access networks; [email protected] Lars E Bråten Editorial office: 39 Interoperability issues for hybrid access and backhaul networks; Telenor R&I Marina Settembre, Isabelle Tardy NO-1331 Fornebu Norway 48 The prospects of wireless broadband solutions; (+47) 810 77 000 Nils Kr Elnegaard [email protected] 58 Automated hybrid cost-optimised network design; www.telektronikk.com Stuart Allen, Steve Hurley, Desmond Ryan, Richard Taplin Editorial board: Berit Svendsen, VP Telenor Nordic 71 Technology outlook for broadband and mobile networks; Ole P. Håkonsen, Professor NTNU Chris Howson Oddvar Hesjedal, VP Project Director 77 Next generation broadband wireless access systems; Bjørn Løken, Director Telenor Nordic Ole Grøndalen Graphic design: Design Consult AS (Odd Andersen), Oslo 89 Hybrid satellite and terrestrial wireless access for rural deployment in Spain; Julian Seseña, Diego Soro Layout and illustrations: Gunhild Luke and Åse Aardal, 95 Experience of low-cost 26 GHz fixed wireless access systems in Japan – WIPAS; Telenor R&I Ryutaro Ohmoto Prepress and printing: 101 Radiowave propagation models for improved performance and use of spectrum; Rolf Ottesen Grafisk Produksjon, Oslo Michael J Willis Circulation: 3,700 Status 115 Introduction; Per Hjalmar Lehne 116 The SDL’05 conference in Grimstad; Andreas Prinz 121 A Cinderella-based prototype of a digital camera – a contribution to the SDL’05 Design Contest; Merete Skjelten Tveit Networks on networks Connecting entities through networks – in technological, societal and personal terms – enables telecommunication. Networks occur on different levels, form parts of larger networks, 131 Terms and acronyms in Ubiquitous Broadband Access and exist in numerous varieties. The artist Odd Andersen visualises the networks on networks by drawing interconnected lines with different widths. Curved connections disturb the order and show that networks are not regular but are adapted to the communication needs. Per H. Lehne, Editor in Chief Guest Editorial – Ubiquitous Broadband Access Broadband access has shown a remarkable growth phone. To bridge the digital divide is a major chal- since its introduction some years ago. It follows lenge for the involved parties. However, the infor- the success of the mobile telephone system and mation communication technology is among the may well take over to become the most important most important elements for the developing coun- telecommunication wave we have seen. tries to reach an improved quality of life. Terje Tjelta is There are several possible explanations for the This thematic issue of Telektronikk addresses Senior Research broadband access growth; the technology was ubiquitous broadband access. To a large degree it Scientist in Telenor R&I there on time, the service is affordable, and people is based on results from the EU project BROAD- trust electronically based services over the Inter- WAN. The articles provide a future perspective on net. Many have broadband access at home and we markets including selected business case analyses. expect to find access points at a growing number The broadband access for full coverage is treated of wireless zones covering business gatherings or using a multitude of technologies in a hybrid net- public areas. work architecture approach including automated software tool for cost-optimised network planning. In spite of being widespread and commonly used, Also the future broadband access needs for good the broadband access term itself is only loosely solutions for interoperable seamless user access is defined. Some may say it is an access network that addressed. The technology development for broad- provides higher two-way capacity than ISDN and band fixed and mobile networks are covered, and to which one can always be connected, i.e. where radiowave propagation information is provided. the tariff is not based on connection time. Others may specify that broadband access is a network The broadband access market is growing quickly that can support a real-time two-way high-quality and the penetration has passed 50 % in several video service. In published statistics, very many countries. Many other countries are quickly access network solutions are considered to be following the steep exponential growth rate. The broadband and many of these deserve the name by dominating technology is ADSL. The remaining today’s standard, but not all. In the future the net- technologies such as fixed wireless solutions cur- works have to develop towards significantly higher rently share a smaller part. The future will demand two-way capacity to still be considered as true higher capacity and ADSL2+ or VDSL will take broadband. For example, an ADSL solution is the over from ADSL but with increasingly more fibre most common broadband access today, but the to the home. Also high speed wireless networks future will require considerably higher capacities. will become commonplace as an integrated part of the access, as a wireless home network, and as Broadband access is still in a fast development access to the home as well. As the users expect to phase. One trend is higher capacity in the future. bring the services with them also when moving The cost will most likely become lower, if around broadband mobile has to be dramatically changed. A second trend is that more and more of upgraded. the populated areas will be covered by broadband access networks. But it is a major challenge to Business case analyses show interesting opportuni- provide everyone with broadband access wherever ties for wireless solutions. These may include rural wanted and needed. A third trend is that service areas where it is difficult to provide satisfactory convergence takes places for broadband. Broad- broadband networks. For example WiMAX net- band, broadcast, and mobile access networks are works in the licence bands at 3.5 GHz may be eco- getting better at what they are already doing and nomically feasible for several realistic cases, but at the same time, they also try to deliver what the will not perform satisfactory in others. The same other two do. is the case for high frequency networks operating at frequencies above 20 GHz. In a global perspective telecommunication avail- ability varies dramatically from those with a In order to deliver broadband services wherever broadband network access to others that have to wanted hybrid network technology has to be walk many kilometres to reach the nearest tele- deployed with both wireline and wireless solutions Telektronikk 2.2006 ISSN 0085-7130 © Telenor ASA 2006 1 including satellite systems. Future wireless tech- The high expectations to broadband access are nology can offer very high access bitrates, in the there for good reasons. The broadband network order of several hundred Mb/s. At high frequencies will become increasingly more important to any there will be satisfactorily large frequency bands society as electronic means and computer and for such a capacity, whilst at lower frequencies electronic device networks are becoming more advanced signal processing is necessary and will and more wide-spread. help to some degree where there are limited band- widths. Terje Tjelta is Senior Research Scientist in Telenor R&I. He received the MSc degree in physics from the University of Bergen, Norway, in 1980, and Dr.Philos. from the University of Tromsø in 1997. He joined Telenor Research and Innovation in 1980 and has been there since except for one year (1984/85) as visiting researcher at Centre Nationale des Études des Télécommunications (CNET) in France. His research covers radio communication systems, in particular high capacity links and broadband wireless access. He has experience from several international co-operative research projects and standardisation activities for the International Telecommunication Union. He was co-ordinator of the IST project BROADWAN (Broadband services for everyone over fixed wireless access networks). email: [email protected] 2 ISSN 0085-7130 © Telenor ASA 2006 Telektronikk 2.2006 Ubiquitous broadband access TERJE TJELTA Access to broadband services has become very important and is a business area that has shown a remarkable increase over the recent years. There are several reasons for this; in particular, the technology is pushing for faster two-way networks and society is increasingly becoming aware of the potential a true broadband network is. Broadband access for everyone can only be achieved using a plurality of access methods tailored to the actual constraints given by population density, geography, and other telecommunications infrastructure. It becomes important to provide services at Terje Tjelta is an affordable cost, which means low cost in the end if a global perspective is taken. The development Senior Research in the area is very fast, probably the fastest wave seen within telecommunications. Scientist in Telenor R&I The EU project BROADWAN [1] addressed a number of key areas in business development, network architecture, next generation wireless access, network design guidance and tools, and demonstration of broadband