Trends in Telecommunication, Wireless

Revolution & Decision Making Process

NAME M. USAMA IJAZ

CLASS ADP (IT) 3rd semester

ROLL NO. (10)

SUBMITTED TO PROF. MEHWISH SABA

SUBMISSION DATE 31th January 2018

UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL PUNJAB

HASILPUR CAMPUS
Subject;
INTRODUCTION TO MANAGEMENT
INFORMATION SYSTEM

assignment;
4 th
 Telecommunication
Telecommunication is the transmission of signs, signals, messages, words, writings,
images and sounds or information of any nature by wire, radio, optical or
electromagnetic systems. Telecommunication occurs when the exchange of information
between communication participants includes the use of technology.
 Trends in Telecommunications

It’s no secret that the telecom industry is struggling with change and facing disruption. It
isn’t sitting back watching the world pass it by, though. Here are some of the top
technologies that will help carry communications providers through the next generation.

Connecting the IoT:

It has already been established that being successful in the IoT market is going to take
way more than neat devices, and that IoT is going to be more than just a way to flip on
the A/C from an iPhone. The IoT will become a complete ecosystem that connects
everything we do, from the home to the car, to the workplace to the electrical grid.
Telecoms seem keenly aware of the potential—in 2015 the industry ranked 4th in
IoT spending, committing nearly $111 million to IoT pursuits. Telecoms are not going to
sit back, build the infrastructure for it and watch the world ride piggyback with all the
profits like they have in the past 10 years when more agile digital service providers ran
roughshod over their business.
Building infrastructure will indeed be part of the deal. Massive amounts of M2M data will
have to be moved quickly and securely. Not to mention that much of it will be mobile,
increasing commitments to 5G and secure carrier-grade WiFi networks. However,
telecom companies will also be providing services, and capitalizing on the valuable user
data born from IoT devices. Verizon’s recent investments in telematics shows not only a
commitment to powering automotive IoT, but any “thing” that may require location
services.

Cloud Computing:
Communications providers are facing some great challenges and opportunities in cloud
computing. They can potentially use the cloud to deliver higher quality, more flexible and
more scalable enterprise IT services at lower cost than on-premise solutions. On the
consumer side, there’s a big opportunity for communications providers to offer more
cloud-based services that can be accessed, updated, and purchased from anywhere. For
example, the clunky, ugly, and outdated set top boxes (STBs) that have plagued our
living rooms since the 70s might finally be on the way out. Both Charter and Comcast are
either offering or exploring cable and DVR services that live in the cloud, eliminating the
need for the STB. This reduces costs for the cable providers by eliminating the need for
on-site installations and manufacturing and engineering new STBs every three years. Not
to mention that cloud accessibility may help lure back some cord-cutters that long ago
retreated to Roku.

Carrier-Grade WiFi:
Remember how we said the communications industry will be going big in IoT? Well,
that’s not going to happen if constant broadband connectivity is not available.
When it comes to wireless connectivity over short distances, WiFi is hard to beat.
Theoretically, it’s faster than the leading alternative, 4G LTE, and can handle bandwidth-
hogging services like mobile video for a fraction of the cost. But in practice, today’s WiFi
hotspots are notoriously slow and fickle. That’s about to change.
The next generation of WiFi will have the same or better reliability as cellular, hence its
carrier-grade moniker. By 2020, more than 90% of wireless hotspots will be carrier grade,
according to a 2015 WiFi industry survey.

5G Wireless:
The pressures of IoT on top of our insatiable desire for streaming video will absolutely
decimate 4G LTE. (Seriously, 3.25 BILLION hours of video is watched every month
on YouTube alone. That’s about 400,000 years, in case you were wondering). And
according to Gartner, 20.8 billion devices will be connected to the internet by 2020.
That’s a lot of YouTube-ing, Netflix-ing, and IoT-ing, and the fifth generation (sixth, if
you’re counting LTE) of wireless is being built to handle it. 5G is projected to be about
10x faster than 4G, with download speeds around 10 GBPS.

So how exactly does building all this new infrastructure benefit carriers? Well, all the IoT
services they are banking on will not work without it, for one. The consumer revolt that is
going to occur when 4G inevitably falls flat would be rather unpleasant as well.

Testing of 5G has just begun and it won’t be available until 2020, so hopefully WiFi will
help fill in the gaps until then.

Integration with Content:

It has been said more than once, “one or more communication service providers will be
acquired by content providers by 2020.” Well, it is 2016 and it is starting to seem like the
CSPs are the ones doing the acquiring. AT&T bought DirecTV in 2014, Verizon has
absorbed both AOL and Yahoo!, Comcast bought NBC, and Time Warner just bought a
10% stake in one-time arch enemy of the cable company, Hulu. With the Amazons,
Rokus, and Netflixes of the world snatching up more and more cable customers by the
day, it only makes sense that CSPs get into the content game themselves. The strategy
of most CSPs seems to be owning the content, so however it is consumed, they still
derive revenue from it (and user data). Verizon’s strategy is a bit different, in that its
acquisitions seem to be even more focused massive amount of user data it provides and
the ad network that can be built from it.

The Internet of Things:

As Stephen Hawking stated, "We are all connected by the internet, like neurons in a giant
brain". The proverb depicts our current situation in the telecommunications industry.
Everything in our routine life has or going to be connected to the internet very soon. This
large circle of connected devices is shaping a new system called the Internet of Things
(IoT). The telecom industry is playing a vital role in bringing this system to life.

Smart Cities Will Be Built Out:

Industrial connections play a crucial role in capturing and transmitting data to
power smart city use cases like smart lighting, metering, heating, and smart
grid. Earlier, service providers’ networks in the telecommunication industry
didn’t have the capacity to handle the amount of data produced by IoT devices.
With more device connections coming online and the development of a 5G
network that’s ready to support those connection, experts at Infiniti Research
predict the first truly smart city to be built by 2020. Major metropolitan hubs in
countries like the U.S., India, and China are leading their own smart city
initiatives.

The wireless revolution

Everything will be connected to everything else, wirelessly. Ethernet began wirelessly,

and the Internet of things will benefit from wireless expansion, especially IEEE 802.11
wireless standards. The wireless spectrum is worth billions of dollars and will help create
even more value.

We are living in what is rapidly becoming a wireless world. Many years ago, I was
interviewed and impetuously stated that, in the future, everything would be wirelessly
connected to everything else. This was during a time when the industry was just
switching over from 10BASE2 cabling to what was then known as 10BASET, now known
as CAT6. I got a lot of flak over that statement, but here we are—on the verge of the
Internet of Things. Many of you reading this have never known a world without
Bluetooth, or computers, for that matter.

In the beginning, Ethernet was wireless; Messrs. Metcalf and Boggs coined the phrase
"Ethernet" because the original transmission medium for the shared communication
channel was by radio. The system was not reliable and subject to interference and
frequent disruptions. Subsequent work by DARPA and Xerox on cabled networking
systems spawned many different flavors of wired data communications; all of those have
fallen away with the exception of what became the de facto networking standard, IEEE
802.3.

Many networks

Not to say that other forms of networking are not used. RS-485 is alive and well and
doing yeoman service in thousands of Modbus networks. There are still MAP systems
out there, so I am told, using token-bus. But the vast majority of data communication
done over wired systems is accomplished using Ethernet and the TCP/IP protocol suite.

The origin of the term "Wi-Fi" is clouded. It was allegedly coined from a contraction of
the words "Wireless Fidelity," but according to a Wikipedia entry, this misconception
stems from the advertising slogan "The Standard for Wireless Fidelity." The same entry
states the name was a play on the term "Hi-Fi."

Throughout this series of articles, I will use the terms Wi-Fi and WLAN (wireless local
area network) interchangeably to describe the technology.

Beginnings of Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi had its beginnings with the 1985 FCC ruling that released the 2.4 GHz Industrial,
Scientific, and Medical (ISM) band for unlicensed use. This was followed in 2008 by the
release of the 5 GHz U-NII band. These decisions allowed the use of 11 and 23 channels,
respectively.

The IEEE 802.11 working group standardized Wi-Fi technology. The first standard to hit
the street was the 802.11 "prime" standard, which allowed for a maximum data rate of 2
Mbps. Adoption of the technology was slow, owing to expensive access points, slow
transmission rates, propagation and medium arbitration issues, and, most significantly,
the lack of adequate security.

Shift to wireless

It is estimated that by 2015, 80% of all data communication will be wireless. It is essential
for any control systems practitioner to be well versed in the state of the art. Presently,
wireless speeds of 1 Gbps are theoretically possible with the newly ratified 802.11ac
standard. As of April 1, 2014, the FCC has expanded the U-NII band by 100 Mhz of
bandwidth, and is considering making another 150 MHz available for WLAN service.

Finally, to put a fine point on it, the economic value of unlicensed spectrum in the United
States is estimated at $228 billion. This alone will continue to drive the technology to
eventually replace most wired communication.

Generations of Wireless:
1G – In the beginning of time…

The bulky handheld brick mobile phone that revolutionized the world, used the Advanced
Mobile Phone System protocol. This analogue network would later be known as 1G.
Phones operated in a voice-only network and worked in a similar way to a regular radio
transmission. Being analogue meant calls were susceptible to noise and static caused
by nearby electronic devices and anyone with a radio scanner could eavesdrop in on
your call. Talk about a security breach! However, keeping in mind it was the initial
approach to cordless communication, callers connecting to towers almost 40kms away
is nothing short of impressive.

2G – Let’s get digital

Cue in the digital network, and with it, the solution to the security threat and the
congestion of towers of analogue communications. The rise of digital cellular networks
meant your everyday person now had access to a mobile phone. Text and multimedia
messaging, Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) internet access and caller IDs were now
a reality and thus the era of “permanent connection” began, at a staggering 40kbps, and
incessant mail checking kicked off. Thanks to the digital compression codecs, more
people could communicate per tower and less static noise was present on the other end
of the line. However, the Global System for Mobile communication (GSM) system was
severely limited when it came to coverage.

3G – Mobile broadband

This sounds a bit more familiar, doesn’t it? As our data needs became more demanding,
mobile networks had to keep in line. This is why the Universal Mobile
Telecommunications System (UMTS) became the core network architecture. By
combining aspects of the 2G network with new technology and protocols, the data
delivery rate was significantly increased. In layman’s terms, 3G networks divided the
data sent into small packages that were reassembled in the correct order on the other
end upon arrival. This code based multiplication allowed for a more efficient data
transfer. Besides from being even securer than it predecessor, 3G telecommunication
networks, by relying on bandwidth and location services, enabled the appearance of
applications not previously available to mobile phone users.

5G wireless technology influences telecommunication's future

The most multifaceted, least-understood piece of the puzzle has to be 5G wireless

technology. Wireless infrastructure has advanced through a series of generational
changes for decades, and 5G will certainly not be the last. But 5G will be the most
different generation, because a big part of 5G focuses on erasing the differences
between wireline and wireless networking to accommodate the exploding mobility of
network users.

The radio-network side of 5G wireless technology is a given. The 5G New Radio

specifications are advancing the fastest of all the 5G elements. At the head of the group
are the millimeter-wave applications of 5G as a replacement for traditional copper loop in
fiber-to-the-node (FTTN) deployments. Operators are already committed to 5G-FTTN
hybrid deployments in 2018. And, eventually, that will make 5G wireless technology a
critical component in what will probably still be called wireline broadband.

The next generation of wireless still won't fully unite wireless and wireline, however.
Today's wireless networks already use many of the same devices as wire line for
transport connectivity and wireless backhaul. But because mobile users move both
geographically and from cell to cell in a wireless network, special accommodation is
needed to maintain a user's connection to services as they move around. The Evolved
Packet Core (EPC) is such an accommodation, and 5G plans to replace or evolve that
into the Next Generation Core (NGC).

The Next Generation Core has the mobility-management mission of EPC, as well as the
mission of converging both services and infrastructure in a 5G future. Next Generation
Core isn't as far along in specification terms as other aspects of 5G, largely because
everything else about 5G has to come together in the NGC. The purpose of Next
Generation Core is to build network infrastructure and services from cloud components,
rather than from specialized devices. In that sense, an NGC will help converge wireless
and wireline. But to gain the full potential of that convergence, 5G will have to separate
service from infrastructure to the point where roaming between wireless and wireline will
be possible. That may be more a Wi-Fi issue than a 5G issue.

Decision Making Process

The decision-making process is a step-by-step process allowing professionals to solve

problems by weighing evidence, examining alternatives, and choosing a path from there.
This defined process also provides an opportunity, at the end, to review whether the
decision was the right one. Use these decision making process steps to help you make
more profitable decisions.

Robert Frost wrote, “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less traveled
by, and that has made all the difference.” But unfortunately, not every decision is as
simple as “Let’s just take this path and see where it goes,” especially when you’re
making a decision related to your business.
Whether you manage a small team or are at the head of a large corporation, your success
and the success of your company depend on you making the right decisions—and
learning from the wrong decisions.

Use these decision making process steps to help you make more profitable decisions.
You'll be able to better prevent hasty decision-making and make more educated
decisions when you put a formal decision-making process in place.

Defining the business decision-making process

The business decision-making process is a step-by-step process allowing

professionals to solve problems by weighing evidence, examining alternatives,
and choosing a path from there. This defined process also provides an
opportunity, at the end, to review whether the decision was the right one.

7 Steps of the Decision-Making Process

Though there are many slight variations of the decision-making framework floating
around on the Internet, in business textbooks, and in leadership presentations,
professionals most commonly use these seven steps.

1. Identify the decision

To make a decision, you must first identify the problem you need to solve or the question
you need to answer. Clearly define your decision. If you misidentify the problem to solve,
or if the problem you’ve chosen is too broad, you’ll knock the decision train off the track
before it even leaves the station.

If you need to achieve a specific goal from your decision, make it measurable and timely
so you know for certain that you met the goal at the end of the process.

2. Gather relevant information

Once you have identified your decision, it’s time to gather the information relevant to that
choice. Do an internal assessment, seeing where your organization has succeeded and
failed in areas related to your decision. Also, seek information from external sources,
including studies, market research, and, in some cases, evaluation from paid
consultants.

Beware: you can easily become bogged down by too much information—facts and
statistics that seem applicable to your situation might only complicate the process.

3. Identify the alternatives

With relevant information now at your fingertips, identify possible solutions to your
problem. There is usually more than one option to consider when trying to meet a goal—
for example, if your company is trying to gain more engagement on social media, your
alternatives could include paid social advertisements, a change in your organic social
media strategy, or a combination of the two.

4. Weigh the evidence

Once you have identified multiple alternatives, weigh the evidence for or against said
alternatives. See what companies have done in the past to succeed in these areas, and
take a good hard look at your own organization’s wins and losses. Identify potential
pitfalls for each of your alternatives, and weigh those against the possible rewards.

Depending on the decision, you might want to weigh evidence using a decision tree. The
example below shows a company trying to determine whether to perform market testing
before a product launch. The different branches record the probability of success and
estimated payout so the company can see which option will bring in more revenue.

You could also use Lucidchart to build a pros and cons list. With a ton of colors and
shapes available to customize your visual, you can clearly highlight whether your
options meet necessary criteria or whether they pose too high of a risk. Any diagram you
create in Lucidchart is simple to embed into a presentation or share with stakeholders so
everyone involved sees your research.
5. Choose among alternatives

Here is the part of the decision-making process where you, you know, make the decision.
Hopefully, you’ve identified and clarified what decision needs to be made, gathered all
relevant information, and developed and considered the potential paths to take. You are
perfectly prepared to choose.

6. Take action

Once you’ve made your decision, act on it! Develop a plan to make your decision
tangible and achievable. Use Lucidchart diagrams to plan the projects related to your
decision, and then set the team loose on their tasks once the plan is in place.

7. Review your decision

After a predetermined amount of time—which you defined in step one of the decision-
making process—take an honest look back at your decision. Did you solve the problem?
Did you answer the question? Did you meet your goals?

If so, take note of what worked for future reference. If not, learn from your mistakes as
you begin the decision-making process again.

THE END