Wireless data for public-safety in 2010

In 2010 enterprise and government user adoption has been challenged by issues of broadband service security concerns associated with mobile devices. Mobile Internet has until recently, been challenged largely by a lack of affordable bandwidth and also mobile device capabilities. Growing number of 4G networks are moving from planning to deployment. For this reason the focus is shifting toward accelerating the development and distribution of mobile applications. There is a need for new innovation and support for a more ubiquitous set of mobile platforms. A diverse range of data, imaging and multimedia applications are in demand within the public safety sector.

Guiart TICA software is capable of using TETRA, GSM GPRS and LAN or WLAN services. The theoretical limit for packet switched data under GPRS is approximately 170 kbit/s. A realistic bit rate is 30-70 kbit/s. A change to the radio part of GPRS called EDGE allows higher bit rates of between 20 and 200 kbit/s.

TETRA single-slot data rate is 7.2 kbit/s giving applications 2.4 kbit/s data rate. TETRA multi-slot IP packet data provides up to 28.8 kbit/s gross bit rate, which yields a bit rate of around 9 kbit/s for applications. This can provide an enhanced service for images, documents and low-speed video, although it can’t match the GPRS service in GSM networks.

To meet the strict data safety requirements TETRA System makes it possible to use different encryption algorithms, for example, to comply with national regulations. Guiart TICA software offers customer specific or standard end-to-end encryption for GPRS and other open network users.

ETSI is currently defining TETRA Enhanced Data Service (TEDS), a new air interface standard to increase TETRA data speeds up to 30–150kbit/s. TEDS will be more than 10 times faster than multi-slot packet data. TEDS is fully compatibility with TETRA Release 1 and allows for ease of migration. Now that the TETRA Release 2 standards are sufficiently complete for product development purposes, actual product availability will be dependent on the different manufacturers development plans.

WiMAX is supporting mobility with the standardization of 802.16e. WiMAX will complement Wi-Fi in metro networks. The impact on cellular will be complementary.

The IEEE technical group has ratified 802.11s standard for wireless mesh networking in 2009. Wi-Fi may not be adequate for public-safety networks that require carrier-grade technology to meet required reliability levels.

PDA market stabilized in 2009

The PDA was the largest segment until 2003. The Smartphone segment became the leader in 2004 and will remain the largest category throughout the forecast period (2012). IDC says the negative PDA market trend may be slowing. Fujitsu-Siemens was the only vendor among the top five to post positive year-on-year growth. Guiart has decided not to continue the PDA software development due to a very low customer interest in the PDA applications. Guiart TICA has a very small footprint in mobile computers which enables running the TICA applications in all known rugged small size computers like Panasonic Toughbooks.

Mobile devices capable of cellular connectivity replace the PDA devices in a fast pace. Even the inclusion of new features like multimedia, GPS, and wireless have not helped the PDA sales. Nokia is still the leading vendor for dual-mode smartphones i.e. Wi-Fi and cellular. Its market share dropped to 35 percent in the second quarter of 2009, compared with 50 percent in the same period a year earlier, according to In-Stat. There is no sign of PDA market recovery for the coming years.

Notebook computers will prevail

Netbook shipments are expected to total 33.3 million units by the end of 2009, for a year-over-year growth of 103 percent, according to DisplaySearch. In 2010, growth will slow to under 20 percent.

Competition comes from the new breed of notebook computers with ultra-low voltage processors and sub-$500 price. Shipments of mobile devices will nearly double in 2010-2014 but fewer of them will be mobile phones, according to a report from ABI Research.