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Femtocell-Aware Handsets, June 2008
Contents
1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Highlights
Methodology, definitions and assumptions
Structure of this report
2. RECOMMENDATIONS
For femtocell suppliers and network system integrators
For mobile operators
For handset and silicon vendors
For OS providers and application developers
For standards and requirement-setting organisations
For investors and consultants
3. INTRODUCTION
4. BACKGROUND: THE FEMTOCELL RATIONALE
What are femtocells?
Femtocell market drivers
“Femtocells work with standard handsets”
Market status & timelines
Network architectures
Problems with femtocell models
Advocates, players & leaders
Standards and requirements bodies
5. HANDSETS & OPTIMISATION – AN OVERVIEW
What’s in a handset? Basic device architecture guide
Structure of the handset industry
Smartphones vs featurephones
Case study: how have handsets been optimised for WiFi
Why haven’t picocells required special handsets?
Practicalities of developing femto-specific handsets
Time-to-market for femto-aware handsets
Addressable market size
Devil’s advocate: workarounds & normal handsets
6. FEMTO-FRIENDLY DEVICE DESIGN & FORM FACTORS
Introduction
Lessons from WiFi, DECT & other wireless technologies
Optimising handset design to work better with the femto itself
Modifying handsets to cope with new femto-based use cases
New form-factors for femto-optimised devices
Handset accessories
7. FEMTOS & RF, PROTOCOL STACK & HARDWARE LAYER
Overview
Introduction
The role of handset hardware platforms
Femtocell network architecture – is it relevant?
RF components
Baseband and 3G/4G protocol stacks
A central problem – handset cell selection/reselection
The medium-term future: 3GPP Release 8 & closed subscriber
groups
Administering femtocell CSGs – impact on handsets?
Home registration areas
3GPP2 and femtocells
WiMAX and femtocells
Interference management
Handset hardware – other issues
Power management & battery
Processor and memory architecture
Display and other input/output components
Test and measurement
Should femto-aware handsets have WiFi as well?
8. HANDSET OS AND THE “CONNECTION MANAGER”
Mobile OS overview
Bearer information layer
Killing the “bearer agnostic” and “seamless mobility” myths
The role of the femto-aware connection manager
Non-IP connections and femtocells
Current work on handset OS connection managers
Symbian OS and Freeway
The Java Community’s extension JSR-307
Windows Mobile
Google’s Android platform
LIMO - LiMo (Linux Mobile) Foundation
LiPS
Apple iPhone
RIM BlackBerry OS
Third-party PC connection managers
Standardisation efforts
Other issues
Service vs. access
APIs and developer tools
Operator-provided vs. “vanilla” handsets
Can the OS or connection manager be updated on existing
phones?
Handset resource management
DLNA / UPnP client
9. FEMTOCELL-SPECIFIC APPLICATIONS & USER INTERFACE
On-device application issues
What is a femto-aware or femto-optimised application?
Femto-aware vs Homezone-aware
Lessons from WiFi handset applications
Telco 2.0 and femto-aware applications
Bearer-aware vs. bearer-managing applications
Alternatives to femto-specific operation
Network-driven femtocell applications
Can femtocells replace WiFi/wireless LAN?
Femtozone icons and UI elements
Updating applications for femto-awareness without replacing
the phone?
Major categories of handset client software
Photo / video / content backup
Mobile multimedia – including TV
Local file and content-sharing
Downloads and updates
Browser
Core applications: dialler, phonebook, SMS/MMS etc
Security and m-commerce
Advanced presence
IMS framework / Rich communication suite (RCS)
VoIP
Enterprise
Femto provisioning and management applications
Accessory for consumer electronics products
Environmental applications
Advertising and marketing
Location-specific applications
Summary
10. ABOUT DISRUPTIVE ANALYSIS
Intellectual Property Rights / Disclaimer
Figures & charts
Figure 1: Forecast femtocell shipments, 2008-2013, baseline/optimistic
Figure 2: Baseline forecast femtocell shipments, 2008-2013
Figure 3: Simplified representation of handset architecture
Figure 4: Example handset software architecture: Access Linux Platform
Figure 5: Example of handset hardware architecture
Figure 6: Femtos risk hype/bust cycle if handset time-to-market ignored
Figure 7: Forecast femto installed base, 2008-2013, baseline/optimistic
Figure 8: Baseline forecast femtocell installed base, 2008-2013
Figure 9: Potential addressable market for femto-aware phones, 2008-13
Figure 10: New WiFi-based devices highlight possible path for femtos
Figure 11: Femto selection / reselection issues with legacy handsets
Figure 12: Handset aware of “home area” limits femto attach attempts
Figure 13: Example 2 - Access Linux OS architecture
Figure 14: Example - Google Android OS architecture
Figure 15: The role of a handset “bearer intelligence layer”
Figure 16: The connection manager paradox
Figure 17: Java JSR307 architecture
Figure 18: LIMO handset architecture
Figure 19: Total operator wVoIP opportunity, VoIPo3G vs VoWLAN
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