Reflections on UIR Practical 7

This was the first time I had used UIR-Rawkz Wiki to share the experience and reflection on searching, blogging and participation in discussion forums. It was kind of difficult to start off with. However, with the little help from Mrs Faridah, I soon realized it was actually a very user friendly and helpful platform to see group contribution. With just a click on the "complete history', users could view how much changes had been done to the post in word count. Also it allowed users to see what had been done before the changes took place. When the page was put under watch-list, users would get notified through an email sent. Basically, we compiled our individual findings and edited this week. Another function I like it's like it allowed changes due to made simultaneously. In other words, my group members could all edit the page at the same time. I felt that I had just learnt another useful tool which I could continue to use in my future.


The following is my findings in UIR-Rawkz Wiki.

IMT-2000 offers the capability of providing value-added services and applications on the basis of a single standard. The system envisages a platform for distributing converged fixed, mobile, voice, data, Internet and multimedia services. One of its key visions is to provide seamless global roaming, enabling users to move across borders while using the same number and handset. IMT-2000 also aims to provide seamless delivery of services, over a number of media (satellite, fixed, etc…). It is expected that IMT-2000 will provide higher transmission rates: a minimum speed of 2Mbit/s for stationary or walking users, and 348 kbit/s in a moving vehicle. Second-generation systems only provide speeds ranging from 9.6 kbit/s to 28.8 kbit/s.

In addition, IMT-2000 has the following key characteristics:
1. Flexibility
With the large number of mergers and consolidations occurring in the mobile industry, and the move into foreign markets, operators wanted to avoid having to support a wide range of different interfaces and technologies. This would surely have hindered the growth of 3G worldwide. The IMT-2000 standard addresses this problem, by providing a highly flexible system, capable of supporting a wide range of services and applications. The IMT-2000 standard accommodates five possible radio interfaces based on three different access technologies (FDMA, TDMA and CDMA)





2. Affordability
There was agreement among industry that 3G systems had to be affordable, in order to encourage their adoption by consumers and operators.
3. Compatibility with existing systems
IMT-2000 services have to be compatible with existing systems. 2G systems, such as the GSM standard (prevalent in Europe and parts of Asia and Africa) will continue to exist for some time and compatibility with these systems must be assured through effective and seamless migration paths.
4. Modular Design
The vision for IMT-2000 systems is that they must be easily expandable in order to allow for growth in users, coverage areas, and new services, with minimum initial investment.