SWINDON, UK - Lucent Technologies (NYSE: LU) today announced plans to deliver a technology that will allow both voice and data to travel on more cost-efficient packet networks within a Global Systems for Mobile Communications (GSM) infrastructure. Known as PacketGSM™, this family of voice and data solutions will help existing and new GSM operators to progressively evolve their voice and data traffic to packet networks.
Lucent's PacketGSM technology will use a combination of the company's Bell Laboratories-designed software and elements from its leading-edge data networking portfolio. PacketGSM will allow operators to extend the benefits of GPRS (General Packet Radio Service), which sends data traffic in packets from the base stations over an overlay network. PacketGSM supports packet data and voice for multimedia applications, enabling a smooth migration to third-generation (3G) services using either W-CDMA (wideband code division multiple access) or EDGE (enhanced data rates for GSM evolution) radio access.
Lucent intends to demonstrate its PacketGSM technology in the third quarter of this year and to begin customer trials in early year 2000.
Lucent also announced that it is collaborating with Sony Corporation and Samsung Electronics Company Ltd. in the development of mobile terminals supporting PacketGSM technology.
"PacketGSM technology is intended to offer a real path towards the much talked-about convergence of fixed, mobile and multimedia traffic," explained Carlo Baravalle, marketing vice president for Lucent's GSM/UMTS group. "It will allow GSM network operators to cost-effectively manage the traffic generated by the explosive growth of mobile and Internet-based communications. It's set to take GSM another gigantic leap forward as well as introduce end-users to UMTS-like voice and data applications ahead of the mass penetration of the 3G mobile systems."
PacketGSM technology will provide full support of standard GPRS with further quality of service enhancements for real-time services. It will allow operators to use GPRS capabilities to increase their voice-carrying capacity and to provide their customers with new, fast data facilities. The technology will improve the efficiency and quality of the standard GPRS offering, using a combination of Bell Labs technology innovations including new channel coding schemes, speech packetisation techniques and efficient radio resource control algorithms. It will be possible to implement PacketGSM in existing GSM networks and for start-up networks to support both voice and data services.
With PacketGSM technology, operators will be able to launch 3G-like services - combining voice, video, fax and data - on an evolved 2G network. Because it will use a packet-based network infrastructure, PacketGSM technology also provides a much more flexible migration path to a complete 3G network, when customer demand and spectrum considerations justify that implementation. At the same time, operators will have the assurance that their investment in PacketGSM technology can also be used to increase the call-carrying capacity of their network.
PacketGSM technology solutions will be among the latest additions to Lucent's broad portfolio targeted to help network operators to migrate towards next-generation packet-based networks. This technology will also be leveraged to support Voice over IP development for CDMA and TDMA.
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