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Will Mobile Operators Face a Capacity Crunch Soon?

By Richard Kinder
VP of Technology and New Business for Europe
Red Bend Software

Mobile data has finally arrived. After years of hype, the volume of data on mobile networks is reported to have surpassed that of voice traffic. Whilst the majority of this traffic is driven by people with mobile broadband subscriptions, undoubtedly the new breed of data-intensive mobile devices contributes significantly to this rapid growth. This bandwidth consumption is stressing the edge of the network and backhaul, resulting in a potential field day for providers of optical and microwave infrastructure. I could successfully argue that the capacity crunch is already upon us.

A frequently cited answer to congestion problems is to off-load mobile data from the mobile core network. Various techniques may be deployed to achieve this, such as WiFi or Femtocell offload. For the best results, both approaches rely on mobile devices being aware of their network context and acting accordingly. Unfortunately, the majority of handset software platforms have yet to acquire the necessary smarts to make best use of these whilst staying within the strict energy budgets imposed by today’s battery technologies.

We should not forget that bandwidth usage is only one metric by which to measure mobile network capacity. As has been highlighted in numerous articles, blogs and elsewhere during and since Mobile World Congress 2010, today’s mobile devices also impose a greater signalling burden on the mobile network. Whilst I am yet to receive a clear explanation of exactly what signalling traffic is generated, one can hypothesise that the desire to preserve battery life results in these devices frequently establishing and tearing down PDP contexts, which in turn creates signalling traffic within the operator’s infrastructure.

So what can the industry do about this? 4G standards such as LTE and WiMAX eventually will allow for future growth in mobile data usage – the key word being future! Prior to the halcyon days and unlimited bandwidth of 4G, network operators are committing significant amounts of money to enhancing their existing 3G infrastructure. As developers of device software, we too have a role to play, for example:
  • Consider the requirements of least-cost (to the network) routing balanced with least-energy routing. How many device TCP/IP stacks have actually been designed to take into account the vagaries of mobile data? Is inheriting networking stacks from desktop platforms acceptable?
  • 3G networks perform best (data transfer per mW is one measure) when communications are less “bursty” and the full bandwidth of the air interface is utilised at once rather than in dribs and drabs. Consider how this can be accommodated in client / server interactions.
  • Be efficient in the use of data. For example, why send a full software update over the air when a binary difference can be used instead (Red Bend Software Ltd might be able to help you here!)
We cannot rely solely on network operators’ investments in infrastructure to address the capacity crunch. We have a responsibility to use what they provide as efficiently as possible. Services and platforms that can help operators manage their capacity concerns just may be more appealing to them.

To misquote Scott McNealy (he of “the-network-is-the-computer fame”), one day datatone will be as important as dialtone. That day is here.

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Apple Changes the Rules (again)…

By Richard Kinder
VP, Technology
Red Bend Software

Another day, another business model innovation from Apple. Having shaken up the mobile world with a reported strategy of taking a cut of ARPU generated by iPhone users, Apple is now monetizing its software assets in other device types.

Being the owner of an iPod Touch I was delighted to discover the availability of a new firmware release (v.1.1.3). This adds some of the interesting applications and new features previously only available on the iPhone, including the Google Maps application and Mail client. At a cost of 12GBP I was more than happy to indulge. I have to say the end results are great; but what about the software update user experience?

First off, I needed to be at my home iMac to perform the update. At least I was at home and could walk up the stairs…initial download of the new image took a while, even at home on an “up to” 8Mbit/s DSL line. The actual update went smoothly (although I didn’t have the courage to test whether the software update is failsafe in the event of loss of device power or PC connectivity!) and the billing process via iTunes store worked well.

What would I improve:

  • Lose the iMac’s role in the process (I can wirelessly purchase songs direct from iTunes Store on my Touch, why not software?)
  • Reduce the size of the update to make wireless download feasible (perhaps there’s a company out there with some technology to do this? Wink, wink)

Not only would these improvements benefit the user experience, but making updates available more frequently and more conveniently (when not at home, for example) could help to drive the attach rate up and generate Apple additional revenues from device software.

Other device vendors take note – many of you have valuable software assets that currently are underutilized.

When will the ‘traditional’ mobile phone industry catch up with Apple?

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The “Short Blanket” Effect – Engineering Challenges in Implementing FOTA


By Sharon Peleg
Founder and CTO
Red Bend Software

Updating mobile firmware is not a simple task. Some have compared it to updating software on a PC, but there are in fact many engineering challenges that make updating mobile firmware much more difficult. While the generator running on a PC in the office can practically enjoy no resource limitations, the design of the update process on mobile devices must take into account the lack of any auxiliary data, lack of extra storage to be used as temporary buffers, lack of RAM in some cases and a much weaker CPU. Ineffective approaches could easily lead to conflicts between the various resources, and result in the “short blanket” effect – if you pull it from one side, the other side is left uncovered.

When evaluating, testing and integrating FOTA on mobile devices, manufacturers and operators should consider the following:
· Speed, accuracy and predictability of update generation
· No spare flash memory on the device
· Fault tolerance
· Size of the delta file and update package
· Positive user experience
· Updating compressed firmware
· Type of flash memory

In this blog entry, I will address the first three.

Speed, Accuracy and Predictability of Update Generation
The update algorithm must be fast enough to generate updates at a reasonable speed and should provide sufficient feedback to allow proper understanding of the behavior of the update process on the device. Another equally important requirement is the need for the update generation to be predictable. It is not only sufficient that the generator will produce a small update when few changes are introduced to the source, it must do so consistently.

No Spare Flash Memory on the Device
The fact that there is no spare flash memory for building two side-by-side alternating versions when updating the new version (as some embedded devices can afford to have) leaves no option but to perform an update in-place. In-place delta-updating is challenged by limited spare flash and RAM resources to hold the new version.

Fault Tolerance
When updating firmware on mobile devices, it is crucial to assume that the process could be interrupted at any point in time due to a power failure. Power failure during flash re-programming not only can corrupt the written flash sector but also leave the device in a useless state. In addition to having to be both in-place and fault-tolerant, the process must run at maximum speed to minimize downtime. Fault tolerance requires writing additional data when updating in order to maintain the integrity of the persistent data at any point in time. The challenge here is to minimize writing data in order to minimize the number of re-flash operations.

Learn more about implementing FOTA in our new white paper, “Principles of Updating Mobile Firmware Over-the-Air”.

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