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In today's increasingly competitive and dynamically evolving market for wireless communications services, mobile carriers are facing a constantly shifting mix of opportunities and challenges. On one hand, the ubiquity of mobile device handsets and the ongoing consolidation of wireless carrier networks have combined to create a powerful asset that carriers need to leverage for maximum advantage.

On the other hand, the challenges of subscriber churn and the commoditization of voice services mean that carriers must proactively offer new enhanced services to improve subscriber loyalty and to maximize average revenue per user (ARPU). The enormous number of subscribers carrying mobile device handsets represents a huge unused asset base, which carriers need to leverage for optimal revenue generation. Over the past few years, several applications from the Internet world, such as e-mail, web browsing and instant messaging, have already migrated into the current generation of mobile handsets. However, carriers have only scratched the surface of the possibilities.

The ability to pack additional performance, memory and functionality into mobile devices, combined with the fact that mobile phones are the one device that everyone carries, creates a ready-made opportunity for handsets to emerge as the single device that integrates everything. Mobile devices represent the convergence of consumer electronics, personal computing and mobile phones. In fact, many devices today offer mobile phone connectivity, portable computer functionality and consumer electronic features such as streaming live television, and playing music and movies with onboard personal media player (PMP) personalities, as well as offering storage and high-quality digital and video cameras.

A key element for realizing the full potential for next-generation handsets will be the integration of short-range, high-speed wireless capabilities that seamlessly connect a variety of existing and emerging communications methods and allow the up/downloading of content, be it file transfer or video from a source to a display. This is where ultrawideband (UWB) wireless comes into play. It provides standards-based, high-bandwidth, multiprotocol capabilities combined with the flexibility for auto-discovery and connection to a variety of peer-to-peer and/or local server-based networks.

According to Media Life magazine, approximately 70.2% of the U.S. population, nearly 208 million people, have mobile phones and the total is expected to grow by almost 90 million more users over the next four years. With the level of mobile handset possession nearing universal market penetration, the stage has now been set for implementing relatively straightforward technology changes to enable handset-centric applications. This will allow users to move through the world while controlling and interacting with local resources and services — using only their mobile device. From the carriers' perspective, the rise of handset-centric applications will mean greater value for subscribers and improved subscriber retention levels, as well as incremental revenue and partnering opportunities.

The key challenges entail cost-effectively embedding sufficient short-range bandwidth into handsets to support multimedia and other data-intensive applications, and providing transparent auto-discovery and auto-connection facilities to support “casual connections;” thereby freeing users from configuration hassles. Also necessary will be support for multiple connectivity options to provide flexibility for interfacing with a wide range of legacy and emerging services and devices.

Application areas

Some of the major applications scenarios that will be enabled by UWB-enabled handsets are:

• Phone-to-PC ecosystem integration

  With Certified Wireless USB (WUSB), already a built-in element of WiMedia-based UWB, many of the immediate applications will entail using mobile phones within existing PC ecosystems. For example, the handset can be used to synchronize files between PCs, to print photos or documents directly on WUSB printers or to interface with hard drives for external storage.

  The ability of UWB to simultaneously support Certified Wireless USB, Bluetooth 3.0 and IP traffic also will enable phone handsets to act as “mobile intermediaries” between the traditional USB-oriented PC ecosystem and other communication environments.

• Integration with larger displays

  With the internal storage capacity of mobile handsets growing and multimedia becoming a routine aspect of consumer applications, the ability to casually interface handsets with larger displays will become an important differentiator. Technology research company InfoTrends predicts that more than 860 million camera phones will be sold in 2009, comprising 89% of all handsets shipped. Camera phones will account for 227 billion photos captured in 2009, more than the combined photos from digital and film cameras. In addition, the growing trend of carriers partnering with content providers to deliver TV programming, music, etc. directly to handsets is exponentially increasing the amount of multimedia that is streaming into handsets. In the process, it is causing consumers to want better ways to get that multimedia content out of the handset.

  UWB provides the inherent flexibility and bandwidth for handsets to interface directly with larger displays, such as TVs, PCs or projectors, in combination with digital mobile video (DVB-H, MediaFLO, T-DMB and S-DMB) (Figure 1). For example, business users can deliver multimedia presentations directly from their handsets to projectors, family members can easily share photos or videos from their handset on virtually any available display, and handsets can even act as on-the-go audio/video tuners for interfacing with automotive infotainment systems (Figure 2).

Handset-to-handset applications

• UWB's multiprotocol and auto-discovery capabilities will also create huge new opportunities for applications based around handset-to-handset communications. Social networking has arguably been the hottest trend on the Internet over the past five years, heralded by the runaway success of sites such as mySpace, facebook.com, YouTube, LinkedIn, CyWorld, eHarmony, miniClip, classmates.com, craigslist, and many others. According to The Washington Post, “While growth is slowing at most top Internet sites, it is skyrocketing at sites focused on social networking …where new brands such as MySpace can suddenly break into the upper ranks.”

  Personal area social networking (PASN, pronounced “Passion”), powered by UWB-enabled handsets, will inject a “personal touch” into existing social networking applications by allowing users to easily find and connect with one another, while also ushering in a wave of innovative usage models and new revenue streams for carriers. These include a combination of subscription, transaction-based and per-advertisement revenues that boost ARPU whenever consumers interact with retailers, service providers and other advertisers. In addition, carriers have the option to charge access fees for integrating with existing online social network providers. Customizable with user-specific settings and protected by user-set privacy configurations, users are completely in control of their experience.

  Handset-to-handset communications also can support emerging content-sharing models, such as Microsoft's Zune music service, in which users can wirelessly transmit their purchased content to their friends' handsets. With copyright restrictions embedded into the content, purchased songs could be “shared” for previewing purposes by new users, thus providing a viral marketing stream for creating new purchases. Such programs even could be set up to include “incentive credits” for each song that a user shares with other downstream users. The accumulated credits could then be used for future purchases.

• Handset as personal server

  As handset performance increases and the above application scenarios proliferate, an increasing number of users will come to see their wireless handsets as “mobile personal servers.” The trend toward smartphones combining voice, PDA functionality, e-mail, web browsing, cameras, and MP3 players is already laying the groundwork for this transition. However, most consumers still see these mobile devices as secondary to their primary computing environments.

  The ability to not only pack more functionality into the mobile handset but also to seamlessly “get it out” for interaction with multiple environments will turn the handset itself into the primary computing environment for many users. For instance, rather than carrying a laptop everywhere, users can simply bring their UWB-enabled handset into proximity of any UWB-enabled keyboard/mouse, display and printer to immediately establish Certified Wireless USB connections for a fully functional working environment. There is no need to synchronize files or applications between multiple computers because everything moves right along with the user.

  Because the handset-as-personal-server model can interact with any set of peripherals and leaves no residual personal footprints, it provides a natural pathway for carriers and their service partners to offer “landing stations” for mobile users. Whether in an airport, coffee shop, hotel room or virtually any other transient environment, users could simply sit down at a UWB-enabled peripheral station with their handset in their pocket and be able to seamlessly work as if they were in their own home or office. To make it even more transparent for the user (and more lucrative for the carrier) all of the usage tracking and billing would most efficiently be handled through the user's primary handset carrier.

  Furthermore, with the growing adoption of digital video recorders (DVRs) in cable set-top-boxes and the increasing market presence of PMPs, which is definitely part of the next-generation mobile phone, digital content can be uploaded from a DVR to a mobile device to increase user viewing of programming and bring more value to TV commercial advertisers. Imagine finally being able to view the countless hours of recorded content on your DVR without having to be in your home (Figure 3).

• Phone-to-access point service applications

  The final major application area that will be fueled by the high-bandwidth and flexibility of UWB-enabled handsets is the phone-to-access point services model. Unlike Wi-Fi hotspots, kiosks or other models that require users to take an action to connect with the local environment, users can preset their UWB-enabled handsets for casual connections through auto discovery of any information that might interest them. For instance, during the few minutes that a user is standing in line at a coffee shop he or she can be alerted to the latest album release from one of his or her favorite artists, make a purchase decision and have it downloaded before he or she even gets to the head of the line. With UWB's high bandwidth, the user could even download a full-length feature film or the latest episode of a favorite TV show — all before his or her latte is ready.

  For local business owners and service providers, the auto connectivity, high bandwidth and short range of UWB wireless allows the creation of “walled garden” environments in which transient users can access multiple channels of locally controlled content — such as streaming audio, video or other localized information (e.g., news, weather or events). The revenue-generation models can range from advertising to downloads to pay-for-access. Once again, as primary service providers for the users' handsets, carriers are likely to play a central role in usage tracking and billing for many of these point-of-access service scenarios.

The bottom line

The ubiquitous usage and convergence of functionality in mobile telephone handsets has set the stage for movement to a whole new class of handset-centric applications, which will dramatically change the way users view their mobile devices and open new revenue opportunities for carriers and service providers. According to the industry analyst firm eMarketer, non-voice applications currently offered by wireless carriers will generate $5.4 billion this year and will rapidly grow to more than $37.5 billion by 2010. Ultimately, the success of these innovative new offerings will play a critical role in the growth and future profitability for content providers and carriers, who must simultaneously retain the loyalty of their existing subscribers, attract new users, and drive up ARPU.

As an internationally accepted wireless standard that provides high bandwidth, support for multiple protocols, casual connectivity, and has been adopted for Bluetooth 3.0 and Certified Wireless USB, WiMedia UWB technology is destined to play a key linchpin role in the implementation of these new handset-centric application models. Embedded UWB gives handset manufacturers and carriers the flexibility to interface their users with virtually any local environment. And, it gives users the freedom to be at the center of their own world no matter where they are.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jason Ellis is the director of business development and marketing at Staccato Communications. He has more than seven years in the industry and is part of a small team that is responsible for standardizing and commercializing UWB.