[LINK] Work on Next Generation Wireless in Canberra

[Richard Chirgwin]

On 24/11/10 8:32 AM, Tom Worthington wrote:
> David Boxall wrote:
>> On 21/11/2010 11:52 AM, Tom Worthington wrote:
>>> ...
>>> In my view, wireless will be the key technology for completing the
>>> National Broadband Network (NBN).
>>> ...
>> Should we ever consider our telecommunications infrastructure complete?
> We can say when a particular project, such as the NBN, is complete. As a nation we might then decide to do something else.
>
>> ... Why conflate wireless with mobile?
> Mobile technology is an important form of wireless data network. It seems to me that the differences between fixed and wireless technology
> are reducing and it may not be worth having a separate fixed wireless infrastructure.
>
> For example the EnergyAustralia smart grid project in NSW was to use WiMax fixed wireless, but will now also use a Long Term Evolution (LTE) 4G mobile phone network:<http://www.zdnet.com.au/ericsson-joins-energyaustralia-in-lte-tryst-339307470.htm>..
>
> Also it is planned to replace the dedicated radio networks for safe working of long distance trains in Australia with Telstra's NextG mobile network (supplemented with satellite phones), by the end of this year:<http://www.telstra.com.au/abouttelstra/download/document/corporate-responsibility-report09.doc>.
"Fixed" and "mobile" is something of an arbitrary distinction - or 
rather, a distinction that works in one direction only. You can deploy a 
"mobile" technology in a "fixed" configuration, but not the other way 
around.

In other words, the blurring of the distinction in future will mean that 
"fixed" and "mobile" refers only to deployment decisions - is the base 
station communicating with devices that move around, or not?

RC
>> What is the potential of the best fixed wireless? How does it compare
>> with the best, currently available, mobile technologies?
> I don't know what the potential wireless options are, which is why I am going to a seminar to find out about "Next Generation Wireless":<http://blog.tomw.net.au/2010/11/next-generation-wireless.html>.
>
> It may sound unlikely that the future of wireless technology would be influenced by what happens in Australia. But CSIRO helped invent WiFi:<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802.11n-2009#CSIRO_patent_issues>.