Workshop Background:

In October 2007, the IWPC organized a workshop titled:  WiMAX, LTE and UMB Infrastructure .  After the workshop, IWPC staff talked with a number of carriers who participated in this workshop and asked them what topics they would like to see the IWPC address for them in the future.  To our surprise, their answer was - help us find ways to extend the life and increase capacity and data rates while lowering OPEX and CAPEX on our GSM/EDGE Networks - WHILE - the industry waits for the development, testing and economical deployment of WiMAX and/or LTE and/or UMB.

 

They told us that there is a large opportunity to meet the needs of billions of subscribers in terms of lower cost, higher data rate services.

 

This workshop is designed to explore solutions to meet these needs.

 

NOTE:  For a FREE Copy of Ericsson's February 2007 White Paper:  "The Evolution of EDGE", click HERE.

Workshop Goals:

The Goals of this workshop are to carefully understand the needs of the carriers in terms of exploring the options to either extend the life, increase capacity and data rates of GSM/EDGE networks, OR to move forward with next generation systems.

 

What are the technical and business options?

 

And to explore the availability of technologies to meet these needs - especially in terms of lowering Carrier's OPEX and CAPEX in these highly competitive markets.

 

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

7:00 PM

Social and Networking
Reception & Registration

At Hotel

Thursday, March 27, 2008

7:00 AM

Breakfast & Registration

8:00 AM

Opening Remarks

8:15 AM

Self Introductions

Each person will be asked to introduce him/herself and share how they can contribute to this process

9:00 AM

Keynote presentations

Carrier/NETWORK Views

• What are the network roadmaps for mature and developing markets, in urban and sub-urban regions towards tomorrow’s higher data rate networks?

  • EDGE Evolution, HSPA, HSPA Plus, UMTS, WiMAX, LTE, other?

  • What is the impact of re-farming UMTS 900 MHz, 1800 MHz on EDGE Evolution adoption?

  • Does it make sense to go straight from GSM/EDGE to LTE – or something in-between like EDGE Evolution or HSPA?

  • How will these higher data rate networks impact operator OPEX and CAPEX?

• What are the realistic improvements expected from EDGE Evolution – capacity and data rates using higher order modulation and/or multiple carriers compared with higher data rate networks?

  • Is it worth spending the money on EDGE Evolution from a total business point of view?

  • Will EDGE Evolution be used to bridge the gap between today and LTE?

  • Which of the EDGE Evolution features will best meet the needs of your customers and are most realistic to implement?

• When will today’s 2G networks be switched off in various mature and developing markets?

  • Comparing urban and sub-urban markets

• What spectrum will be available for these extended 2G higher data rate networks in mature and developing markets?

• What are ALL of the CAPEX and OPEX cost, technology and timing factors which must be addressed to upgrade a GSM/EDGE network to higher data rates and higher capacities?

  • Are there any surprises that the carriers must know about?

• How long does it take to get new handsets developed and for these handsets to penetrate more than 50% of your regional market for any of these Network options?

• Do you expect handset battery life to be a “show stopper” for UMTS and LTE services?

• Will EDGE Evolution be a good solution for handset battery life in terms of the user experience?

VodaFone's Views Towards Extending GSM/EDGE Networks

Head of 2G Product

Vodafone Group Networks Radio

T-Mobile's view on Radio Network Evolution

Project Manager, Radio Networks

T-Mobile International

EDGE Evolution Impact on Backhaul

CTO

MLL Telecom Ltd.

11:00 AM

Networking Break

standards & Regulatory Issues

• Bringing broadband to GSM: EGPRS2, Latency reductions, Dual carrier operation, MS Receive Diversity, MUROS.

• Standards aspects related to MCPA.

• Bringing IP to GSM: A interface over IP.
   

Standards Evolutions for GSM/EDGE Radio Access Networks: Bringing Broadband and IP to GSM

Chairman of the GERAN group in 3GPP

Alcatel-Lucent

12:00 Noon

Networking Lunch

1:00 PM

PANEL SESSION

carriers, NETWORK BUILDER, standards

Confirmed

• 3GPP TSG GERAN Chairman (Alcatel-Lucent)

• MLL Telecom

• Orange/France Telecom

• T-Mobile International AG

• VodaFone Global

2:00 PM

OEM sOLUTIONS

• From an operator point of view, what are ALL of the changes that need to be made to go from GSM networks to EDGE, EDGE Evolution, UMTS, UMTS 900, 1800, HSPA, LTE?

  • Hardware

  • Software

  • For mature and developing markets, in urban and sub-urban environments.

• What impact will these changes have on OPEX and CAPEX?

  • What set of EDGE Evolution features will best meet the needs of the carriers?

• What impact will these changes have on handset power requirements?

• How will Remote Radio Heads impact 2G network upgrades?

• Does it make sense to consider SDR for multi-band, multi-mode base stations?

• What Spectrum Efficiency Features are available in EDGE Evolution or other new GSM Solutions?

GSM, EDGE & More?

VP, Radio Systems

Nokia-Siemens Networks

Macro Economics of GSM and Future GSM Commitments

Director for GSM RAN Product Management

Ericsson

Village Connection

Village Connection Program Manager

Nokia-Siemens Networks

3:30 PM

Networking Break

4:00 PM

infrastructure Power amplifier, filter,
combiner solutions, Rx Chain

• What power amplifier, modulator, filter and combiner changes and Rx chain are needed for EDGE Evolution compared to other higher data rate network installations?

• Can these new power amplifiers be used to share EDGE, EDGE Evolution and 3G?

• How can these PAs be future proofed as the networks migrate to future higher data rate modulation schemes?

• What are the CAPEX and OPEX comparisons between EDGE Evolution, HSPA and beyond?

• What are possible improvements in power consumption?

Uplink Enhancements to Improve Capacity, Datarates, and OpEx in GSM/EDGE networks

Senior Vice President/CTO

Superconductor Technologies Inc.

Base Station Solutions for GSM/EDGE/3G/UMTS 900 MHz Evolution

Sr. Director, Systems Engineering

Powerwave Technologies

Implications to Power Amplifiers for MultiStandard Networks

Director, Key Accounts Sales

Andrew Corp.

5:30 PM

Adjourn for Day

6:30 PM

Dinner
Madrid Style

Friday, March 28, 2008

7:00 AM

Breakfast

8:00 AM

PANEL SESSION

OEMs VIEWS
ON DELIVERING SOLUTIONS ROADMAP TO OPERATORS
TO INCREASE CAPACITY, DATA RATE

• Alcatel-Lucent

• Ericsson

• Nokia-Siemens Networks

9:00 AM

INFRASTRUCTURE ANTENNA SOLUTIONS

• What antenna changes are needed to move from EDGE to EDGE Evolution?

• Can these antennas be used to upgrade to future network options in the future?

• How many feeder cables are needed for these new network options?

• Are there any other options for reducing the size and weight of future antennas and feeder cables?

Active Antennas for Multi-Standard Applications

Sr. Manager

Ubidyne GmbH

9:30 AM

Networking Break

10:00 AM

Implications to Handset Terminals

• What set of EDGE Evolution features should be implemented in the handset?  And when?

• What multiple antennas are needed for EDGE Evolution compared to the other network options?

• What is the comparison of battery life impact for the different network options?

• How long does it take and what are the costs to implement an EDGE Evolution based handset?

• What new components need to be developed to meet Handset EDGE Evolution needs?

• What handsets will be available to support EDGE Evolution?

A Sharper "EDGE" - the Evolution of GSM

Mgr., Standards and Adv. Technology

Research In Motion

Handset Requirements Due to Harmonization vs Operator Differentiation in the Evolution of 2G Systems

CTO Office

Sony-Ericsson

Title TBA

Director, Technology Collaboration

Nokia

11:30 AM

Lunch

12:30 PM

ENABLING TECHNOLOGIES
Infrastructure

• What new active and passive components are available to meet EDGE Evolution needs for Networks?

  • RF Front End

  • BaseBand

  • Cooling

Signal Chain Architectures for MC GSM

Analog Devices

Direct Air Cooling – Reducing OPEX and CAPEX for Electronic Cabinets

Key Account Manager - Cooling Filters

WL Gore & Associates

Opportunities and Obstacles:  Examining the Case for GSM/EDGE Evolution

Lead Technologist

Agilent Technologies

2:00 PM

Networking Break

2:30 PM

ENABLING TECHNOLOGIES
Handsets

• What new active and passive components are available to meet EDGE Evolution needs for Handsets?

  • RF Front End

  • BaseBand
    
     

• Technology enablers – computing power

• Modem-system power consumption

• Impacts to DBB, RF and associated level of effort

• Evolved EDGE – for which type of device? A multi-mode HSPA/EDGE and/or EDGE-only device?

Enabling the right evolution of EDGE

Chief Technical Office of the Wireless Terminals Business Unit

Texas Instruments

Software Modems - The Solutions to 2G and 3G Evolutions

BL Product Marketing High-End Segment - Cellular Systems (BUMC)

NXP Semiconductors

4:00 PM

CLOSING PANEL

Operators and OEMs

The  Operators and OEMs will be asked to recap the extent to which the workshop has addressed their wish lists.

Operators and OEMs

• VodaFone

• Alcatel-Lucent

• Ericsson

• Nokia-Siemens Networks

• Orange/France Telecom

4:45 PM

TakeAways & Closing Remarks

5:45 PM

Adjourn

7:00 PM

Dinner (Dutch*)

* = in this context, Dutch is a term which means that each person will be responsible for their own dinner costs.

For those who desire to join us, we get together to enjoy good friends, good food, good wine and [really] bad jokes

DEADLINE FOR HANDOUT MATERIALS:

Deadline for electronic version of handout materials: 

March 14, 2008

COSTS/REGISTRATION FEE:

ALL Hosts, Speakers, Panel Members and Attendees will be asked to cover out of pocket workshop costs such as conference room costs, food (Social Reception plus First Day breakfast/lunch/dinner plus Second Day breakfast/lunch plus 4 Breaks), booklet copying, audio/visual costs, etc.

These costs are 727 Euros per person. (For IWPC Members, only.)

ALL Hosts, Speakers, Panel Members and Attendees will be asked to pay this fee in advance with either Visa, Mastercard, American Express, cash, personal check or business check.

Make checks payable to IWPC.

HOTEL:

Meli Barajas
Avenida de Logrono
305-28042 Madrid, Spain
Phone: 34-91-7477700
Fax: 34-91-7478717
[email protected] 

Hotel reservations need to be made by completing the Hotel Reservation Request for Attendees Form and either sent by fax or email before March 12th.  To request a copy of the Reservation form please Click Here.

IWPC room block rate of 135 Euros single occupancy.

Cut-off date for reservations is March 12, 2008. After that date rooms cannot be guaranteed at the IWPC rate.

TRAVEL OPTIONS FROM AIRPORT TO HOTEL:  The hotel is only 1.5 km from Barajas Airport and the hotel provides free 24-hour airport-hotel-airport transfer.

AUDIO VISUAL:

A Computer Projector will be available for the speakers.

In addition, we audiotape all presentations and the interactive discussions. Post workshop, presentations are made available to IWPC Members on the IWPC WEB site, along with “movies” of all presentations and panel sessions.

BUSINESS CARDS:

Business cards will be collected at the door from all attendees. We will make copies of these cards, which will be available to all who provided a business card.

DRESS:

Business casual suggested. No ties, please !!

HANDOUT MATERIALS:

IWPC prepares a handout binder with ALL presentation materials delivered to the IWPC on or before the deadline.

For ALL IWPC members:

All IWPC members are invited to submit a maximum of 4 pages of materials to include in this handout binder. These pages should NOT BE SALES MATERIALS. Rather, we suggest it contain technical information about your technology as it relates to the workshop topics.

For all companies who will be making a presentation at the Workshop:

You are invited to submit an advance copy of your presentation, complete with graphics and illustrations.

These materials will be copied and handed out at the workshop and included in the IWPC Web site.

Please submit these materials either by email, as a Word for Windows file, Power Point files or PDF files.

Please send electronic materials (any size file) to:

[email protected]

or use this FREE FTP Sites

IF your email system cannot send large files:

www.SendThisFile.com

Click HERE to Register