Mobile Equipments and it's Effect on LSI Technology

       Today we are living in an era of globalization and liberalization. Technology, in general and the Information Technology (IT) in particular is the real engine behind the way the world has advanced. Communication is an integral part of the IT era. Since the times of Alexander Graham Bell and his telephone, the world of telephony has traveled long distances, and today we're in the age of mobile phones and satellite phones. Information Technology has evolved into a key tool for all businesses looking to derive and maintain a competitive advantage. Beginning with Vacuum tubes, the electronic equipment used to be huge in size, with a number of limitations on the use. Then came the Transistor, which helped in drastic reduction in the size of the electronic equipment from that of room to that of a cupboard. The new equipment had more useful features, than the vacuum tube version. But the real push towards rapid advancement in the electronics industry came with the introduction of Integrated Circuits (ICs). This system relied on a process that could put hundred of electronic components on a single electronic chip measuring less than an eighth of an square (Shore, 1988). These integrated circuits formed the core of any electronic device, be it the computer, telephone equipment, measuring equipment, storage devices etc., which helped in making such equipment more reliable and faster. Having tasted the success of integrated circuits, the industry was in an overdrive to experiment with more circuits in small silicon chips, which gave rise to the LSI or Large Scale Integration technique. It was in the 1970s, that this technique arrived on the scene. This resulted in production of low cost and low power consuming devices, which helped in making the electronic gadgets more popular. And once the demand for such equipment picked up, there was no looking back, as the industry felt encouraged with the response from the market and the industry. Gordon E. Moore, the co-founder of Intel made a prophetic prediction in 1965. Moore asserted that the number of components that could be placed on a chip could be expected to double every year. Just 10 years down the line, i.e. in 1975, Moore revised his prediction, stating that "the new slope might approximate a doubling every two years, rather than every year." to 24 months². The law started as just as an article in a journal has not only become a guiding principle in the semiconductor electronics industry but it has also helped in analyzing the technology trajectories in general. In fact Moore's law means better technologies and more Performance in the field of electronics and IT.

       By the end of 1970s, LSI gave way to VLSI or Very Large Scale Integration, which resulted in further increase in the computing power, more storage and smaller size of the electronic gadgets. VLSI ensured that electronic circuits can store more than one million bits on a single chip of the size of a fingernail. Moore's law also ensured that costs too went down. This helped in integrating the powerful technique more seamlessly into our daily lives. Today, we are living in an era of convergence, when computing, telephony and broadcasting have become part of one system. With the help of our sleek mobile phone equipment, today we can do computing jobs, play games on it, can use it as a telephone or receive radio and TV broadcast signals on it. This signifies the era of mobility in computing and telephony.

       The convergence era, works in tandem with advancements in the field of software as well, thus giving rise to the IT era. IT has been providing the all important push for the upgradation of the equipment and advancement in the way some of the services are rendered. Japan has been a leading nation in producing and implementing technologically advanced equipment. Japan was the first country in the world to introduce a packet switched wireless network, introduce wireless internet (i-mode), in 1999, and to launch camera phones, 3G in 2000 and 3.5G in 2003. It is an advanced, highly competitive market. In general, such advancements are being used by the industry and organizations to gain a competitive edge over the competitors. IT affects competition in three main ways:

1. Changing the industry structure,

2. Supporting cost and differentiation strategies,

3. Spawning new business.

       More specifically, IT changes the nature of business opportunities and threats by altering product life cycles, increasing the speed of distribution, creating new products and services, and eroding the limitations of physical distances. The mobile instruments are now coming in a range of shapes and sizes with features adding up day by day, thanks to the continuing trend towards integration of more and more electronic circuits. This trend of miniaturizing Integrated Circuits has led to the availability of low-power embedded processors and radios as well, further strengthening the communication ability of the man on the move. As a result today we have a number of devices and technologies as alternatives, aspiring to be the leaders in their own way. Some such alternatives technologies in this 4th generation of mobile communication technologies are:

• CDMA or Code Division Multiple Access is a digital air interface standard which gives essentially the same services and qualities as wireline (or wired) services. The primary difference is that access to the local exchange carrier (LEC) is provided via a wireless phone and not through the wire.

• GSM or the Global System for Mobile Communications is one of the pioneering techniques for the mobile telephony. Introduced in early 1990s, GSM basically uses narrowband TDMA, which allows eight simultaneous calls on the same radio frequency.

• GPRS or General Packet Radio Service, is an advancement over GSM. It's a standard for wireless communications which can work at speeds up to 115 kbps. With the help of GPRS, sending and receiving emails, surfing the internet on the mobile equipment becomes all the easier as such an equipment supports a wide range of bandwidths.

• MANET i.e. the 'mobile ad hoc network', is an autonomous system of mobile routers (and associated hosts) connected by wireless and links thus forming an arbitrary graph. The routers may organize themselves randomly and the resultant topology depends on these movements. These networks can work in an individual fashion as well connected with other networks. Such devices prove to be very useful in disaster prone areas. In case of disaster, whole communication infrastructure may be destroyed. In such cases the intercommunicating ability of mobile ad-hoc networks within short range proves to be very useful.

• Sensor Networks: One typical application for mobile communication is the sensor network, used for gathering information about the surroundings of the mobile equipment. Such a network consists of small integrated devices scattered over a specified area in order to collect and share information. The goal in undertaking such exercise is to discretely observe, augment, analyze or control an environment in an automated manner.

       Mobile networks got further enhancement with the help of wireless communication and sophisticated sensors. Technologically advanced mobile networks in turn enhance the environments in which we live and work. As our dependence increases on these devices, it is important to design the devices in such a way that they appear to be self organized whenever we have to deal with such devices, and do not need to be planned every time, ahead of use.

       Existing wireless networks for mobile phones etc. work on the basis of fixed cell based infrastructure. Coverage is provided by base stations which manage the radio resources from a central location thus integrating the services. Depending upon the area being covered by the cell, certain amount of bandwidth is allocated for mobile subscribers. These cells make use of location-based routing protocols for transfer of information packets from sources to destination. Depending upon the bandwidth allocated, an upper limit is fixed for the number of subscribers that one cell can support. Sensor networks, in particular require to support a large number of 'subscribers', resulting in an increase in density per cell. Such networks are often used for short-range temporary communication. Therefore, implementing an infrastructure supporting such a large sensor network becomes very expensive.

       In addition, Wireless Fidelity or Wi-Fi is a communication technique extensively used by many companies for being 'always in touch' with clients, employees, service providers etc. The service oriented industries in particular are the one's reaping maximum benefit out of this technique. Wi-Fi in general is also termed as "wireless LAN." But it has wider scope and dimension than a LAN. In Wi-Fi, products from different manufacturers with a set of specifications, can work effectively. It is a very convenient and quick method to hook online at home, the office and when traveling. Any Wi-Fi enabled computer can hook on the internet and surf the desired information. It is a technology which enables streaming media, e-mail access, real-time messaging etc. Similarly a company can also keep track of its customers/ clients, employees etc. wherever they are. This arrangement is quite similar to the mobile phone networking. The big difference is, Wi-Fi makes high speed broadband networking possible even on the move. A wireless network uses Radio Frequency (RF) waves, like cell phones, televisions and radios do.

References

1. Shore, Barry (1988). 'Introduction to Computer Information Systems' Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc. New York.

2. Moore, G.E. (1975), "Progress in Digital Electronics," Technical Digest of the Int'l Electron Devices Meeting, IEEE Press.

Done By: Eng. Saleh Alajji

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