Ultra Mobile Broadband

UMB (Ultra Mobile Broadband) is the brand name for the project within 3GPP2 to improve the CDMA2000 mobile phone standard for next generation applications and requirements. The system is based upon Internet (TCP/IP) networking technologies running over a next generation radio system, with peak rates of up to 280 Mbit/s. Its designers intend for the system to be more efficient and capable of providing more services than the technologies it replaces. Commercialization is unlikely as Qualcomm, its main developer, 3GPP2 and major CDMA carriers are concentrating on LTE instead. [ [http://news.digitaltrends.com/news-article/15692/qualcomm-embraces-lte Qualcomm Embraces LTE - Mobile News - Digital Trends ] ]

To provide compatibility with the systems it replaces, UMB supports handoffs with other technologies including existing CDMA2000 1X and 1xEV-DO systems. However 3GPP2 added this functionality to LTE, allowing LTE to become the single upgrade path for all wireless networks.

According to the technology market research firm ABI Research, Ultra-Mobile Broadband might be "dead on arrival" [cite web | title = A Poor Market Outlook for Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB) Says ABI Research, but Qualcomm's Future Still Secure | date = 2007 | url = http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/index.jsp?epi_menuItemID=887566059a3aedb6efaaa9e27a808a0c&ndmViewId=news_view&ndmConfigId=1000017&newsId=20071228005150&newsLang=en] . No carrier has announced plans to adopt UMB, and most CDMA carriers in Australia, USA, China, Japan and Korea have already announced plans to adopt HSPA or LTE.

Summary

*OFDMA-based air interface
*Frequency Division Duplex
*Scalable bandwidth between 1.25-20 MHz (OFDMA systems are especially well suited for wider bandwidths larger than 5 MHz)
*Supports mixed cell sizes, e.g., macro-cellular, micro-cellular & pico-cellular.
*IP network architecture
*Supports flat, centralized and mixed topologies
*Data speeds over 275 Mbit/s downstream and over 75 Mbit/s upstream

Features

*Significantly higher data rates & reduced latencies using FL advanced antenna techniques
**MIMO, SDMA and Beamforming
*Higher RL sector capacity with quasi-orthogonal reverse link
*Increased cell edge user data rates using adaptive interference management
**Dynamic fractional frequency reuse
**Distributed RL power control based on other cell interference
*Real time services enabled by fast seamless L1/L2 handoffs
**Independent RL & FL handoffs provide better airlink and handoff performance
*Power optimization through use of quick paging and semi-connected state
*Low-overhead signaling using flexible airlink resource management
*Fast access and request using RL CDMA control channels
*New scalable IP architecture supports inter-technology handoffs
**New handoff mechanisms support real-time services throughout the network and across different airlink technologies
*Fast acquisition and efficient multi-carrier operation through use of beacons
*Multi-carrier configuration supports incremental deployment & mix of low-complexity & wideband devices

Fourth-Generation Cellular Technology Benefits

UMB is intended to be a so-called fourth-generation technology. These technologies use a high bandwidth, low latency, underlying TCP/IP network with high level services such as voice built on top. While no 4G networks have been deployed yet, the much greater amount of bandwidth, and much lower latencies, should enable the use of various application types that have previously been impossible, while continuing to deliver high quality (or higher quality) voice services. The improved bandwidths of the network provided by more efficient technologies may also result in networks with better capacity.

UMB's use of OFDMA eliminates many of the disadvantages of the CDMA technology used by its predecessor, including the "breathing" phenomenon, the difficulty of adding capacity via microcells, and the fixed bandwidth sizes that limit the total bandwidth available to handsets.

References

External links

* [http://www.3gpp2.org/ 3GPP2] Standards and specifications
* [http://www.cdg.org/ CDMA Development Group (CDG)]

See also

*3GPP2, CDMA2000
*LTE - the predominant standard for 4G
*OFDM
*4G
*Flash-OFDM real mobility
*WiMAX