Data Dissemination and Broadcasting

Systems
Lesson 01
Communication Asymmetry and
Broadcast Architecture

Oxford University Press 2007. All rights reserved.

Communication Asymmetry

Intrinsically asymmetric Mobile

communication between the mobile
device and static computer system
Device allocated a limited bandwidth
Because of a large number of devices

Oxford University Press 2007. All rights reserved.

Communication Asymmetry

Bandwidth in the downstream from the

server to device much larger than the
one in the upstream from the device to
server
Because mobile devices have limited
power resources
Faster data transmission rates for long
intervals of time need greater power
dissipation from the devices
Oxford University Press 2007. All rights reserved.

Communication asymmetry in uplink

and downlink in a mobile network

Oxford University Press 2007. All rights reserved.

GSM networks data transmission

Rates go up to a maximum of 14.4 kbps

for both uplink and downlink
Symmetric communication
Only used for voice communication

Oxford University Press 2007. All rights reserved.

i-mode for many applications

Used for voice, multimedia transmission,

Internet access, voice communication

Base station provides downlink 384 kbps

Uplink from the devices restricted to 64
kbps
Asymmetric communication

Oxford University Press 2007. All rights reserved.

The characteristics in wireless signals

Interference and time-dispersion

Signal distortion and transmission errors
at the receiver end
Lead to path loss and signal fading,
which cause data loss
Greater access latency compared to
wired networks
Oxford University Press 2007. All rights reserved.

The characteristics in wireless signals

Data loss has to be taken care of by

repeat transmissions
Transmission errors have to be corrected
Taken care of by appending additional
bits, such as the forward error correction
bits

Oxford University Press 2007. All rights reserved.

The characteristics in Mobile

communication

Mobile devices also have low storage

capacity (memory)
Cannot hoard large databases
Accessing the data online not only has a
latency period (is not instantaneous) but
also dissipates bandwidth resources of
the device
Oxford University Press 2007. All rights reserved.

Broadcasting

Corresponds to unidirectional (downlink

from the server to the devices)
Unicast communication Unicast means
the transmission of data packets in a
computer network such that a single
destination receives the packets

Oxford University Press 2007. All rights reserved.

10

Broadcasting or application distribution

service

This destination generally the one which

has subscribed to the service
Mobile TV an example of unidirectional
unicast mode of broadcasting
Each device receives broadcast data
packets from the service providers
application distribution system
Oxford University Press 2007. All rights reserved.

11

Broadcasting or application distribution

service

Applicationdistribution system
broadcasts data of text, audio, or video
services

Oxford University Press 2007. All rights reserved.

12

A broadcasting architecture

Oxford University Press 2007. All rights reserved.

13

Summary

GSM symmetric and voice only

Mobile communication asymmetric in
general
Limited device capability
Device memory, energy and uplink and
downlink bandwidths
Broadcast architecture
Oxford University Press 2007. All rights reserved.

14

End of Lesson 01
Communication Asymmetry and
Broadcast Architecture

Oxford University Press 2007. All rights reserved.

15