:: Femto Forum ::

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Forum Establishes Special Interest Groups to Tackle New Challenges

The Femto Forum was established 18 months ago as a fully representative industry body both in terms of its membership, which covers vendors and operators from all around the world, but also in terms of the range of technologies it supports including the WiMAX, CDMA and GSM families. The rate of development in femtocell technology has been rapid and the Forum has adapted to this by setting up several Special Interest Groups (SIG) to ensure that the full potential of femtocells can be realized. The four new groups cover; LTE, WiMAX, Interoperability and Services.

We have already seen the beginnings of the first stage of femtocell deployments which have encompassed both 2G and 3G radio interfaces. The second deployment stage will cover next generation radio technologies such as LTE and WiMAX. In order to prepare the way for these deployments the Forum has set up two groups that will focus on the specific challenges posed by these technologies. This will include ensuring that both LTE and WIMAX standards include suitable provision for femtocells. The groups will also investigate how femtocells affect the deployment model for such networks as the ability to build next generation mobile networks around femtocells rather than adding them in afterwards provides several major advantages.

The great standards progress that has been made within the 3GPP and other bodies means that we expect to see the first standardized femtocells and gateways appear later this year. It is crucial that these new products undergo full interoperability testing to ensure that operators can deploy them safe in the knowledge that they will function effectively and in accordance with the standards. The Forum will take the lead in this initiative by independently validating new products.

Finally, there has been much talk over the past 12 months about the potential for femtocells to introduce innovative new services for consumers. Such services take advantage of the ‘presence’ capabilities of femtocells and the ability to easily connect mobile phone users to the home network and the web. For example by allowing mobiles to join the home network, consumers can send, receive and even stream data and media between the handset and local PCs, media centres or wireless enabled digital cameras and MP3 players. The Forum’s new group will investigate these new possibilities and develop consensus with the industry around common approaches, such as standard APIs, to ensure that services will work across all networks and handsets.

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Femtocells make vital standards progress

It may not be fully ratified until next month but the 3GPP’s Release 8 is committed to creating the first real standard for femtocells and 3GPP2 and WiMAX Forum are hot on their heels.

The need for open standards was one of the founding reasons for the development of the Femto Forum 18 months ago – some would argue it was its raison d’être. But at the beginning of 2008 it seemed like a lofty ambition indeed. However significant progress has now been made, which should allow us to see the first standards-compliant femtocells later this year.

A femtocell standard resolves key operator concerns. Crucially it allows operators to multi-source both femtocells and their network gateways from multiple vendors. This means operators aren’t tied into a single vendor and also creates a healthier and more competitive femtocell market place – which should lead to lower costs. Standardisation also prevents operators from finding themselves in a technological cul-de-sac – nowhere is this more important than in a rapidly evolving field like femtocells.

Any femtocell standard needs to encompass several key areas. Firstly femtocell deployments require a femtocell in the home and a gateway in the mobile core that ‘speak the same language’ so that voice and data sessions can be accurately conducted. Similarly a common management system is required in order to allow the mobile operator to remotely, and normally automatically, provision and configure the femtocell. The final key area is security. As with any network attached device, the ability to secure the communications, services, and network data shared between the femtocell and the operator’s network is critical to prevent billing fraud, unauthorized use of services, and denial of service attacks.

At a 3GPP meeting convened last December the basis of the femtocell standard that will be built in to release 8 was agreed. The crucial interface between femtocells and the gateways in the network core has been agreed and will be known as Iuh. Smaller parts of the standard which focus on security and network management are still being completed but these shouldn’t hold back final ratification next month. With the standard now largely in place, vendors are already busy building compatible products which will need to undergo rigorous interoperability testing in the near future.

Elsewhere 3GPP2 and WiMAX Forum have formed clear femtocell requirements and are moving onwards to create detailed technical solutions. We are delighted to see this progress, enabling the benefits of femtocells in all mature mobile standards. We will work with these bodies and our members as needed to enable and encourage rapid progress and a good degree of consistency between standards, delivering benefits of broad economies of scale to femtocell users, operators and vendors alike.

Awards to recognise femtocell achievements

The Femto Forum has announced that it is to recognise outstanding achievement within, and contributions to, femtocell technology via the Femto Forum Femtocell Awards.

The awards will be open to everyone involved in femtocell development and will welcome entries from organizations of all sizes, representing all continents. Judging will be independent of the Femto Forum, the panel being composed of well known figures from the world of femtocells, selected for their experience and impartiality.

An awards ceremony will take place on 24 June at the Femtocells World Summit in London.

Categories for the awards are listed at the awards homepage and will encompass the whole femtocell ecosystem, covering achievements in areas as diverse as design and technology, commercial launch and social vision.
The Femto Forum Femtocell Awards promises to be an evening where the industry can come together to celebrate its success to date and look forward to the future.