by Hideaki Takagi and Bernhard Walke (Editors)
Wiley Series on Wireless Communications and Mobile Computing
Hardcover
368 pages;
April 2008
Processing units and memory are no longer bottlenecks in computers. Similarly, the bandwidth of wireline communication is virtually unlimited in communication networks. Unfortunately, this is not the case in wireless communication networks. The spectrum bandwidth that can be used for public terrestrial and satellite communications is restricted for physical reasons. Only few communication channels are available at a given time and place from a given frequency band. While considerable efforts are being dedicated to exploring higher and higher frequency spectrum for mobile use, we have to share the available spectrum bandwidth, which is a limited resource, among the services (e.g., mobile radio, broadcasting, public authority, military, radar navigation and surveillance). The worldwide usage of radio spectrum is regulated by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a United Nations organization. The Fourth Generation (4G) systems, called IMT-Advanced, are expected to become operational around the year 2015. They will offer a peak user data rate of 100 Mbit/s for high mobile terminals and up to 1 Gbit/s for slowly moving terminals in metropolitan areas and indoors. Much additional frequency spectrum will be needed, compared to the current allocations for IMT-2000 mobile services.
The question how much spectrum will be needed in IMT-Advanced systems is the main subject of this book. ITU-R has developed a new methodology to calculate the radio spectrum requirements for IMT-Advanced systems based on market survey data predicting the traffic load for the year 2010 and beyond. The new methodology was approved as Recommendation ITU-R M.1768 in June 2006. By using the new methodology, ITU-R has calculated the spectrum requirements for IMT-Advanced as shown in Report ITU-R M.2078.
These were provided to the World Radiocommunication Conference 2007 (WRC-07) held in OctoberNovember 2007 in Geneva, Switzerland.
The contributors to the book are the members of Mobile IT Forum (mITF) in Japan and the IST-WINNER project partners in Europe who developed the new methodology.
