Scope of the Book For some years, commentators have been predicting the ‘convergence’ of the Internet and mobile industries. But what does convergence mean? Is it just about mobile phones providing Internet access? Will the coming together of two huge industries actually be much more about collision than convergence? In truth, there are lots of possibilities about what convergence might mean, such as: † † † † Internet providers also supply mobile phones – or vice versa, of course. | IP for 3G Networking Technologies for Mobile Communications Authored by Dave Wisely Phil Eardley Louise Burness Copyright 2002 John Wiley Sons Ltd ISBNs 0-471-48697-3 Hardback 0-470-84779-4 Electronic 1 Introduction Scope of the Book For some years commentators have been predicting the convergence of the Internet and mobile industries. But what does convergence mean Is it just about mobile phones providing Internet access Will the coming together of two huge industries actually be much more about collision than convergence In truth there are lots of possibilities about what convergence might mean such as Internet providers also supply mobile phones - or vice versa of course. The user s mobile phone is replaced with a palmtop computer. The mobile Internet leads to a whole range of new applications. The Internet and mobile systems run over the same network. This book is about the convergence of the Internet - the IP of our title -with mobile - the 3G as in third generation mobile phones . The book largely focuses on technology - rather than commercial or user-oriented considerations for example - and in particular on the network aspects. In other words in terms of the list above the book is about the final bullet about bringing the networking protocols and principles of IP into 3G networks. To achieve this we need to explain what IP and 3G are separately - in fact this forms the bulk of the book - before examining their convergence . The first chapter provides some initial high level motivation for why IP for 3G is considered a good thing. The reasons fall into two main areas -engineering and economic. The final chapter covers the technical detail about how IP could play a role in evolving 3G networks. Where is it likely to appear first In what ways can IP technologies contribute further What developments are needed for this to happen What might the final converged network look like In between the two outer chapters come five inner chapters. These provide a .
