Tomorrow's 5G Cell Phone

Roland Piquepaille writes "According to Mitre computer scientist Joseph Mitola, next-generation cell phones might be cognitive radios (CRs), or software radios learning from interaction with their users and acting in their best interest. InfoWorld talked with him about how his vision of "cognitive radio" would work, and how it could redefine cell phone technology. Mitola said his vision is still about five to 10 years from realization, but that it could mean a sea change as control is shifted from network operators to users. He also said that sending a 10 MB email in a zone where carrier charges are high might cause the CR to alert its user, and suggest waiting until getting to the office to use the LAN instead. Finally, he talked about serious issues like privacy and security. For example, he envisions that video recognition would allow CR cell phones to visually authenticate their owners. Check this column for selected Q&As or read the full InfoWorld's interview."

Comments

But can it slice bread?

[Malicious]

A cell phone that will learn your habits... How bout making a cell phone that recognizes everyone else's habits, and won't ring in movie theaters, board meetings, and classy restraunts?
Let them ring at comedy festivals tho.. nothing like seeing someone get roasted by a standup for having their cell ring mid-performance.

So this is G5, remember G3

[presroi]

IIRC, the third generation (G3) was also called UMTS. Two years ago, the German Gov't sold some licences for UMTS via auction (there is no such thing as ebay.germany.de *yet*). The total sale went up to 50 Billion Euros (That was 50 Billion US-$ (German: Millarde, English: Billion).

This System works still on paper and in some experimental installations (Isle of Man, Austria *g*).

UK's Vodafone announced last week that the official start of UMTS will delay for several month.

So this debate is about G5 and everbody is still happy with his/her GSM 900/1800 while marketing campains for G3 will start in a couple of weeks?

This is so stange.

Disclaimer: Usually, everybody is invited to call me neophile but not in this particular situation.

Are rumors correct that in several parts of the US, analog mobile phone is still in use?

Interface metrics.

[Mark (ph'x)]

Here Mitola mentions a radio that can work with various bands and protocols and a chief benefit is that intelligent software can pick the preferred channel, due to cost or security issues with the various options.

To me this seems like interface metrics done right. Instead of assigning an arbitary integer to represent the cost of using a particular interface or route, this would allow a more quantative measure of the effect each routing option would have on the traffic (cost to user / security / qos).

Research like this, if made more generic, would have excellent applications in IP routing. Not just wireless could benefit from this sort of routing power. We have the technology to do this now, but the advantages of a well implemented system would mean it is worth the effort of getting the standards right (and im talking for all IP here, not just wireless).

I realise that Mitola's idea is from the client point of view, but extending this tech to the whole network would be great IMHO. Every router running this... we could even add in the long wanted factor of link saturation affecting metrics. Oooooh :)

Won't make it to the consumer intact

[onthefenceman]

Quote: A cognitive radio would pop up and say, 'Hey, you're only 10 minutes from work, and the enterprise LAN is free. How about if I hold off on the attachment until I get to work?'

Somehow I doubt service providers will be quick to pick up devices that automatically minimize charges to the user. Since when have service providers acted in the interest of the user? They make the money by catching people out in the details of the plan - night/day minutes, overages, roaming, 1 minute minimums, etc. If the devices get smarter, the networks will have to become more clever about billing:

Phone: If he finishes the call in under 5 minutes he'll only be using his free minutes! I'd better tell him...

Network: Shut up! It sounds like his girlfriend is mad at him; he'll need at least another 10 to patch things up...

Phone: Maybe if I play this sweet music in the background they'll get through it faster!

Network: Don't you dare, or I'll drop the S/N ratio until they can't hear above the static!

Open source UI for cell phones

[axxackall]

Why not? I like when the most and resently used choice in auto-completion URL list or in menu is going up. I like the idea of menu hiding rarely used items until I want a complete list of menu items. I like bayessian mail-filters letting me still to have access to not-in-white-list messages.

Of course it will take time when word auto-completetion in office major suits will be improved enough to satisfy 99% of users (though it's not that bad already, 80%?). I think OOo and other open-source has more chances to adapt with good quality and speed than MS Word and other proprietary companies. I'll explain.

I remember back in Rusiia how Microsoft and IBM came with first "russified" (UI translated into Russian) software. People has been laughing all the time and that didn't help their sales. A direct translation into Russian language didn't work: words were either too long to fit the place in UI, or there was no clear direct translation (word-to-word) at all. By the time many of local software companies produced own application, of course with Russian UI. Some has very lucky language, anothers not. What's happened is people begun to use in their daily conversations, user manuals and emails "lucky" russian words and sentencies and ignored "unlucky" ones. In few version-generations the local software market had own new dialect of Russian language, mixed of lucky traslated words, invented new words (or newly used old words) and translittterated English words (writen in Russian letters accordingly to the sound). The democraty won and Microsoft has to use what Russians has created themselves, abondoning the previous too academical choice of own translation.

How is it realted to Open source? Simple. Opensource software most likely doesn't use the choice of a single authority. Instead, it use "lucky" choices of the community of users and developers. Open source anti-spam filters has more chances than proprietary ones. UI developers of self-adapting components will share the most lucky choices and strategies and less user users will be annoyed by bad adaptation.

How is it trelated to cell phones? Same way. But there is one problem. Today the software on my cell is proprietary. I agree that protocol drivers should be proprietary. But I want to install UI in my cell like I do with UI on my Linux desktops. I want to change it, reprogram it and adapt it for my own need and habits. 99% of cell users do not know what I am talking about. Many of desktop users don't understand it either - but they still use the result of work of that 1% users who understand enough to change it and who is motivated enough to do it righ.

Basically, once cell phone UI will be open-sourced - it will adapt and you won't be annoyed.

BTW, why just UI? Perhaps some guy want to right own protocols. But we talked about UI adaptavity.