Stefan Parkvall - who together with Erik Dahlman, Johan Sköld and Per Beming wrote 3G Evolution: HSPA and LTE for Mobile Broadband (Elsevier Publishers) - says the book is the only one of its kind.
"It started with us thinking it would be fun to write a book," Parkvall says. "For a start, we saw that there was no such book on the market, and that we had all the competence and experience to write it."
Although written by Ericsson employees, 3G Evolution: HSPA and LTE for Mobile Broadband is not produced by Ericsson. But their employment has naturally colored their approach. "Of course - Ericsson is, after all, the world leader in this technology," Parkvall says.
The book examines the fundamental principles behind HSPA and LTE and how these principles have been put together to form a complete radio-access solution for mobile broadband. It also explains how LTE can work as part of existing HSPA systems and what sort of performance can be expected. It is aimed at the telecom industry in general, both operators and vendors, but also at engineering students.
"When I was working for my doctorate and studying telecom, I needed this sort of book," Parkvall says. "It is not intended to be used as course literature - it is not structured that way - but it is perfectly suited to people who want to broaden or deepen their understanding and put the basic principles into perspective."
He says Swedish technical universities have already ordered 3G Evolution: HSPA and LTE For Mobile Broadband, and he expects it to be picked up internationally. It was released in Europe on June 11 this year and in the US a month later.
Parkvall says WiMAX is seen by many as the leading competitor to LTE. "But if we take LTE, or even HSPA which is available now, and compare it with WiMAX, we see that HSPA and LTE are at least two to three years ahead," he says.
Yet neither the world at large, nor the industry, has so far decided what will become the standard for the future. "We hope, of course, that LTE will dominate because we see it as the technology with the greatest potential. But that remains to be seen," Parkvall says.
