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GSM Standard for WiFi and Bluetooth Compatibility
sjbe writes "Fourteen of the major wireless service providers have released a set of Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA) specifications permitting operation with licenced GSM and unlicensed (WiFi/Bluetooth) spectrum. So if we're lucky we might soon be able to use a GSM cell phone through a wireless base station and experience a seemless handoff to a cellular network once out of range."
I can only see the merging of WiFi and GSM if hell freezes over or when the telcos can charge for both the use of the GSM part of the connection and the WiFi.
With further thought, it will probably happen, but only for "public" access points being run by the telcos themselves allowing their slaves^H^H^H^H^H^Hcustomers to access higher speed data and possibly VoIP services when in range of their own hotspots.
The problems of hand-over of an IP connection to a cellular network are non-trivial as well, which would make it far more likely that it will only be teleco owned and run hotspots which will be able to do this.. at a large per megabyte cost, no doubt. (Probably the same as they charge for GSM data transfer. In the UK that's about £3 a megabyte!)
Agrajag: "Oh no, not again!"
Basically, what they're trying to say is that 2 very popular forms of wireless transmission can now work together instead of compete. Wi-Fi is big in America, where mobile phone use via GSM is lousy (compared to Europe, Asia). GSM is teh Rox for most of Asia barring South Korea/Japan and basically the de facto European standard. People love GSM because it's digital, reliable, and OPEN. People love Wi-Fi for the very same reasons. The fact these 2 techs are attempting to be bridged means there will less compatibility issues in the future...ummm..er.. at least as far as my imagination goes...
My Favourite Meme
Unlicensed just means that you don't need a license to operate equipment on those frequencies. It applies to WiFi, Bluetooth, and cordless phone frequencies, for example, as opposed to FM and television broadcasting.
Karma: Segmentation fault (tried to dereference a null post)
It seems like no-one has really gotten the point, so I'll try to explain.
What's really going on here is GSM has one thing to offer to wireless technologies which many of them need: a reliable, proven billing system, supporting roaming between networks, which gives the ability to access millions of paying subscribers (who already have cellphones).
There has been a realisation that there are somethimes reasons why it may be better to use a short-distance, but high speed technology in preference to a cellular (even 3G) based service.
Things it probably isn't about:
What is it?
What we are talking about is basically a gateway box which allows some other technology to talk to the GSM A/Gb interface, which is what connects the Base Station System (BSS) to the Mobile Switching Centre (MSC) (for voice calls) and the GPRS packet network.
This enables a network which can speak IP to interface with a network which speaks GSM/GPRS. The data traffic goes through the GPRS core network (SGSN to GGSN to Internet), and voice traffic (e.g. VoIP) could be routed straight to the MSC, and hence to the PSTN (or Plain Old Telephone System).
Everything which passes through a GSM/GPRS core network is subject to authentication and billing, so all of a sudden, you can have more interesting payment plans than are typical for WiFi networks - pay as you go, pay per MB, unlimited packages etc... (look at all the cellular plans out there).
The probability is that you'll also need to start seeing SIM cards in laptops - GSM security is pretty much premised on using a SIM card (although you could get out of using one if really required.