CS - Circuit Switched Data
This is a inherent feature of 3G networks and is based on the 3G324M protocol. It allows users to engage in conservational style applications in a multimedia environment. The biggest limitation of CS is the bandwidth. CS data is locked to 64KBPS limiting its ability to utilise high bandwidth technologies such as HSPA.
PS - Packet Switched Data
PS allows for high speed data access utilising HSPA and other IP based wireless technologies. The main problem with PS, specifically in developing markets is that access of the services are complex and is dependent on language. Most services are accessed via a micro browser and users need to be proficient in English to browse and navigate the services.
Smart phones
All hail Apple and the iphone that has flipped this stoic segment of the market into a vibrant battleground not for the faint hearted. Has the world of the mobile phone been changed irrevocably? The answer is yes!
The user experience on the iPhone and the new breed of smartphones is so compelling to end users that they are flocking by the thousands to switch to smartphones. Smartphones now represent the fastest growing sector of mobile phones sales and Apple is reaching the top of this pile.
So here is the real question...?
Is the future going to be based on network centric services, or are we going to live in a world of super smart devices with App stores with downloadable applications for pretty much anything.
To add few points on CS and PS, in today's context, yes, there's a clear distinction between the 2 mediums. Basically, CS refers to any video or audio carried over a channel which is dedicated to a connection between 2 end points. This dedicated bandwidth is 64kbps. This was one of the factors which gave CS domain the advantage over PS domain in past, where bandwidth in packet switched networks were rare and expensive. With 64kbps, one could have a very clear voice conversation with the dedicated bandwidth. Later on with the evolution of the mobile networks, 3G specifications recommended to use the same channel for video calls also. For that, they suggested 3G-324M, which is an umbrella protocol to carry compressed video and audio. Therefore, the same 64kbps channel which gave the advantage in the past, now in 3G networks, was inadequate to give a better video calling experience to the user. This was the main complaint from the West and the North America. How ever other parts of the world who has deployed 3G networks is proving this wrong already.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, yes, there is a niche, but an increasing segment in the market who demand services which use PS as the bearer. But, due to the reasons discussed above by Suren, PS has anyway some disadvantages in terms of attracting the mass market specially in the developing markets and non-English speaking countries. But, one thing we need to keep in mind is that 3G-324M is a temporary stop in the way to the future networks. We should be using 3G-324M or the CS based services as the migration path to the total mobile multimedia world fully based on IP.
Ok.. about the smart phones, 'all hail i-phone', probably true, except operators, please go through this article(http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2351665,00.asp) published in PC Magazine this month. Apparently due the reasons mentioned in the article and due to many other reasons operators are not appreciating the initiatives of apple or Google. These people are making operators just a pipe to download or use applications where operator value addition is getting minimal day by day. So aren't operators fighting for it? THEY ARE. Russians are already planning on a complete ban on "Skype", Western operators have started to fight with the "Skype" and American company AT & T already announced its intention to limit the Skype-calls. All these leads us to a future where operators will still try to control what applications and services a user will access.
It means, what ever the services subscribers are permitted to access needs to be under tight control of the operator. So, it could be a light application or an browser running at the handset while most of the business logic, data and processing happens the core network. We can take the same analogy from the internet domain also, where next generation of applications and services are more browser based and real processing happens at the servers else where!!!