Written by: Steinar Dahlin and Erik Örnulf

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Mobile communication is changing society’s behavior. Mobile phones have become an everyday accessory for hundreds of millions of people, and they are also increasingly being used as the one and only means of personal voice telecommunication. But the emerging third generation of mobile communication means more than anywhere-and-anytime voice-communication capability. It makes information services instantly available and introduces a more powerful and flexible way of doing business. Mobile multimedia services and mobile or wireless office solutions will simplify the implementation of virtual enterprises. In this changing environment, telecom operators and service providers will want to exploit innovative technologies and create revolutionary new services while maintaining their existing customer base. Wholly in keeping with these requirements, Ericsson is now working on its implementation of the third-generation multiservice network. The authors describe Ericsson’s move away from the traditional, vertically integrated network to the horizontally layered network, which features a content and user applications layer, a communications control layer, and a connectivity layer. They also highlight several pioneering network elements: the media gateway and its versatile use in the core network; the high-performance ATM switch; and powerful high-speed and real-time routers—all of them scalable to address every key requirement for long-term growth.

[First published in Ericsson Review no. 04, 1999]