Fourth Mobile Data Initiative Interoperability Workshop Explores GSM/ISDN Interoperability

ISDN services on GSM data network promise faster connect times and more reliable communication for mobile PC users

Lisbon, 24 October 1997 --- Intel hosted the fourth Mobile Data Initiative interoperability workshop, focusing on GSM/ISDN interoperability. The workshop tested key elements of the communications link between the notebook PC, the GSM digital network and the ISDN network. The ISDN network offers faster connect times than analogue phone networks. By completing a GSM call via ISDN, instead of the analogue phone network, mobile PC users can save both in time and line costs. Software known as sessionware uses ISDN to establish a fast, 'data-on-demand' connection and ensures that temporary signal losses have little effect on data transfers, resulting in a more reliable connection for mobile PC users.

Faster connection
GSM is based on ISDN protocols, and adherence to the V110 specification (by network operators and GSM data card vendors) to channel GSM data into ISDN, allows the mobile PC to make digital end-to-end calls. The fast connection time of ISDN and the absence of modem training time reduces the time and cost of establishing a data link via the GSM network.

'Data-on demand' and reliability
Fast set-up of calls, using ISDN facilities, is used by software known as sessionware. Sessionware creates a wireless virtual connection to the LAN and can make and break this connection as required based on the users demand for data, or resume a transmission after dropouts caused by a weak signal (e.g. a train going through a tunnel). This form of 'data-on-demand' avoids users having to pay for the continuous connection to the GSM network, and ensures that a temporary signal loss has little effect on the data transfer. The fast re-connect time (4 to 5 seconds) is key to making this practical. Sessionware can also compress data during transmission, so that files, which users have forgotten to individually compress, will arrive faster.

GSM/ISDN interoperability
The functionality of ISDN and GSM interoperability is further enhanced by two additional specifications, referred to as GSM 7.05 and 7.07. These specifications supply information about battery life, signal strength, and other parameters to the notebook PC, enabling applications to, for example, send small packets if a weak signal indicates a likely transmission breakdown. The Interoperability workshop assessed the level of readiness of GSM data cards in supporting these specifications and whether these data cards worked easily together with the V110 specification. The testing of the communications link taking place at the Interoperability workshops is one important element of the remote communications experience for mobile workers. In addition, notebooks equipped with Intel's high-end and recently launched 200 and 233 MHz Pentium® processors with MMX™ technology are saving power and providing mobile PC users with extra battery life. Mobile PC users are now able to work longer when connecting to the GSM network, virtually independent of their location.

The Mobile Data Initiative
Founded a year ago by 12 companies, the Mobile Data Initiative's membership has since grown to over 40. Intel, one of the founding members, has hosted a series of Interoperability Workshops to identify and remove technical barriers that might prevent different products from working together. At the CeBIT show in Hanover earlier this year, two other members -- Ericsson and Nokia -- launched new products designed to facilitate the use of mobile PCs over GSM. And in August 1997, the Mobile Data Initiative was established in North America, to support the deployment of data over GSM networks in the US. For more information about the Mobile Data Initiative, please visit the site on the Internet, http://www.gsmdata.com.

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