OPEN WIRELESS ARCHITECTURE (OWA) - Technology for Next Generation iPhone, Future Phone and Google Phone

The wireless industry is rapidly transitioning from close architecture to more flexible, cost effective open architecture systems. This transition is creating interesting challenges for developers, manufacturers, integrators, operators and end-users as they wrestle with complexities of open wireless systems.

"Any single-architecture wireless system, including 3G, HSDPA, WiMax, etc, is a transitional solution only, and will be replaced by OWA system very soon wherein different wireless standards can be integrated and converged on this open, extensible and upgradeable platform", Prof. Willie W. Lu, Stanford U.

The future wireless service provision will be characterized by global mobile access (terminal and personal mobility), high quality of services (full coverage, intelligible, no drop and no/lower call blocking and latency), and easy and simple access to multimedia services for voice, data, message, video, world-wide web, GPS, etc. via ONE user SINGLE terminal.

This vision from the user perspective can be implemented by integration of these different evolving and emerging wireless access technologies in a common flexible and expandable platform to provide a multiplicity of possibilities for current and future services and applications to users in a single terminal. Systems of fourth generation mobile will mainly be characterized by a horizontal communication model, where different access technologies as cellular, cordless, WLAN type systems, short range wireless connectivity, broadband wireless access systems and wired systems will be combined on a common platform to complement each other in an optimum way for different service requirements and radio environments which is called “Open Wireless Architecture (OWA)” invented by Delson (R&D) Group.

OWA defines the open and extensible interfaces in wireless networks and systems, including base-band signal processing parts, RF parts, networking parts, and OS and application parts, so that the system can support different industrial standards and integrate the various wireless networks into an open broadband platform. For comparison, Software Defined Radio (SDR) is only a radio in which the operating parameters including inter alia frequency range, modulation type, and/or output power limitations can be set or altered by software. Therefore, SDR is just one of the implemental modules of our OWA system.

OWA will eventually become the global industry leading solution to integrate various wireless air-interfaces into one wireless open terminal where the same end equipment can flexibly work in the wireless access domains as well as in the mobile cellular networks. As mobile terminal (rather than wireline phone) will become the most important communicator in future, this single equipment with single number and multiple air-interfaces (powered by OWA) will definitely dominate the wireless communication industries.

Fourth Generation (4G) mobile communication will basically focus on the Open Wireless Architecture, and Cost-effective and Spectrum-efficient High-speed wireless mobile transmission. The 3G system suffers tremendously worldwide because it did not fundamentally improve the wireless architecture, and making the architecture open is the final solution in the wireless industry.

Since 2002, OWA has become one of the hottest research topics in the field. OWA R&D focuses on the following issues:

OWA system architecture & modeling
OWA RF and transceiver architecture
Open antenna arrays and Space/Time processing
Integrated 3G, LTE and WiMax platform
Software defined modules for OWA system
OWA Interoperability schemes
Converged broadband wireless platform
Common base-band processing engine
Transmission convergence and integration
Service convergence and adaptation platform
OWA channel processing and resource management
OWA Adaptive modulation and coding
Open Operating Systems and applications
Open interface definitions and frameworks
Co-existence and wireless integration technologies

OWA R&D is very timely and significant because open wireless systems and networks are becoming the driving solutions for next generation wireless mobile communications, especially ITU WRC’2007 announced the post IMT2000 project which focused on open architecture of multiple air interfaces. In addition, open wireless platform to support various standards and modes are becoming the industrial trends on the worldwide basis. As of June 30, 2008, there are over 40,000 research projects involved in OWA development worldwide.

OWA R&D in USCWC-ObamaLab:

OWA_BB (Base Band Processing Unit)
OWA_RF (Radio Frequency Unit)
OWA_NET (Networking Unit)
OWA_SDM (Software Defined Module)
OWA_OS (Operating Systems)
OWA_APP (Services and Application Platform)
OWA_CAP (Access Point & Wireless Router)

Selected Publications by USCWC

A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K,L,M,N,O,P,Q,R,S

For more information, please contact us at:

Chief Architect's Office, ObamaLab/US
Open Wireless Architecture (OWA) Technology
U.S. Center for Wireless Communications (R)
P.O.Box 19789, STANFORD, CA 94309, USA
E-mail: susan<at>cwc.us or nancy<at>cwc.us
Tel: 001-650-288-4306 (R&D Inquiry Only)

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