Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Software Radio: Implications for Wireless Services, Industry Structure, and Public Policy

From: Marcelrf <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 02 Mar 2004 00:11:24 -0500

Software Radio: Implications for Wireless Services, Industry Structure,
and Public Policy

William Lehr
Fuencisla Merino
Sharon Eisner Gillett
August 30, 2002

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Program on Internet and Telecoms Convergence
(http://itc.mit.edu)

Abstract
Software radio is one of the more important emerging technologies for
the future of wireless communication services. By moving radio
functionality into software that has previously been implemented in
hardware, software radio promises to change the economics of deploying
and operating wireless network services. This paper provides an overview
of the current status of software radio technology and then examines the
implications of wider use of the technology on the wireless value chain.

I. Introduction

Wireless services are increasingly ubiquitous and essential components
in our global communications infrastructure. The mobility, flexibility,
and reconfigurability of wireless offer compelling complements, or at
times, substitutes for wired infrastructure.  They enable many new
services and expand the usability of old services, extending our ability
to stay connected anywhere and anytime we desire.

The proliferation of new wireless services being offered over
satellites, over
cellular networks, and over wireless LANs (WLANs) is fueling concern
over how to
allocate (or reallocate) scarce radio frequency (RF) spectrum. The
research community
and industry have responded to this challenge by developing a host of
new technologies
to allow spectrum to be used more flexibly and efficiently. 1 Software
radio – the focus of
this paper -- is one of these technologies. By moving radio
functionality into software, and by moving the analog/digital interface
closer to the air-radio interface at the antenna, software radio
promises to change the economics of designing and operating wireless
networks. This has important implications for the cost of building and
operating networks in the face of rapid innovation and increasingly
complex, multi-protocol and congested wireless environments.

Among software radio’s likely implications are an increased ability to
tolerate and support interoperability across heterogeneous air interface
technologies (e.g., different standards for 3G, across 3G and WiFi
networks, etc.); support for faster and more flexible network upgrades;
the substitution of general-purpose hardware for dedicated hardware; and
support for improved congestion management solutions. These implications
suggest that software radio may be simultaneously an integrative and
disruptive technology. In the short-term, incumbent wireless service
providers will benefit from the lower production and deployment costs
promised by software radio, while longer term, software radio creates
the potential for new open interfaces that could be leveraged by new
entrants to change the structure of the wireless services and equipment
value chain.
Software radio is a critical enabling technology with important
implications for spectrum management. Software radio increases the
feasibility of moving towards more flexible spectrum usage models that
expand the range of options for implementing secondary markets for
spectrum. The ability to modify the user's air interface in real-time to
take advantage of a greater range of frequencies or multiple air
interface protocols/technologies provides opportunities to improve
interference management but also raises important policy challenges for
radio certification and enforcement. These and other important
implications for industry and public policy are explored in the paper,
which draws on recent thesis work prepared by one of the co-authors.2
The balance of this paper is organized into four sections. Section II
explains what a "software radio" is. Section III discusses key trends
that are driving the development and deployment of software radio.
Section IV examines the implications of software radio for the industry
value chain and for public policy. Section V concludes.

1 In addition to software radio, important advances have been made in
smart antennas, modulation and
digital signal processing, multi-user detection (MUD), ad hoc
networking, analog-digital converters, and power management, among
others.

More: http://itc.mit.edu/itel/docs/2002/Software_Radio_Lehr_Fuencis.pdf
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