Wireless in the local loop

Telecommunication operators and other need to address how they are going to introduce a new infrastructure which supports low cost mobile access to new services.

First: Forget spectrum availability as the problem

Second: Forget limited bandwidth as the problem

Third: Forget error rate as the problem

Problem: trade off between available high quality bandwidth and the cost of the infrastructure,
i.e., if cells shrink (thus increasing capacity, available bandwidth, decreasing error rate, ...),
then infrastructure cost increases

So what can we do to decrease infrastructure cost:

• soft or reconfigurable radios - so we make one kind, therefore increase manufacturing volume
• base stations look like mobiles, but with a connection to the wired/fibered/... infrastructure
• One chip which is made in high volume - ride the VSLI price-performance curve
• leaverage something you already have (recycling of bandwidth, wires, (content,) ...)
  • attach base stations to LANs
  • attach base stations in place of telephones
  • ...