Developing a system concept and technologies for mobile broadband communications

The mobile broadband system (MBS) concept is basically to extend, to mobile users, access to the range of broadband services which will exist for fixed users. This implies the establishment of a universal system architecture, capable of cost effectively handling a wide range of equipment with diverse service attributes, in a wide range of applications, involving high data-rates and mobile terminals. This approach allows mobile communications-with mobility interpreted in its broadest sense-to be fully integrated into B-ISDN. This requires a service bit rate higher than 2 Mb/s, that is to say beyond the capability of UMTS. MBS poses a new set of problems in addition to those dealt with by the lower rate mobile systems. On one hand, the high data rates envisaged for MBS require operation at much higher radio frequencies, like the 60 GHz bands. On the other hand, from a network point of view, the user applications using the higher available capacity might also place stricter performance requirements on the network than those of lower data rate mobile systems. Finally, a key issue is to develop appropriate low cost millimeter-wave components