Minutes of Expert Online-Jan.14,2002
Ms.Cao Shumin,Vice Chairperson of ITU-R WP8F
Vice President of the Research Institute of Telecommunications Transmission (RITT), MII
Chairperson of China Wireless Telecommunication Standard Group (CWTS)

Ms.Cao Shumin

Vice Chairperson of ITU-R WP8F
Vice President of the Research Institute of Telecommunications Transmission (RITT), MII
Chairperson of China Wireless Telecommunication Standard Group (CWTS)
Graduated from the Electronic Engineering Department of Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics in 1992, she got her master degree and jointed the Research Institute of Telecommunications Transmissions (RITT) of MPT of China. Now she is the Vice President of RITT.
She was the chairperson of China Evaluation and Coordination Group of IMT-2000 Radio Transmission Technology (ChEG) in 1997-1999, and was in charge of submitting Chinese 3G technology and evaluating other 3G technologies. She had been the chairperson of TG8/1 WG5 since 1998. Now she is the Vice-Chairperson of ITU-R WP8F, the Chairperson of CWTS and also the Chairperson of 3G Field Trial Expert Group of MII(3G TEG).

1、 Q: Ms Cao, how about the process of the test of single WCDMA system? Which manufacturer's equipment is more mature?
A: At the present, the test is at the initiate stage. I could not answer your question until the test is finished.

2.Q: Does Datang's equipment only contain Base Station and is the core network belonging to UT Starcom?
A: No, the systems include core network, RAN and terminal. The core network maybe contains equipments from Siemens, Datang and UT Starcom.

3、 Q: Can Datang provide terminals? Does it look like a thick brick?
A: I have seen the terminal. In fact, it looks like a mobile computer.

4、 Q: What's the capacity of TD-SCDMA market?
A: I am not sure how big the TD-SCDMA market. Frankly speaking, it is much smaller than that of FDD. However, the market capacity also depends on the development of equipments, the advancement of technologies and the price.

5、 Q: Will LAS-CDMA and TD-SCDMA form a competitive pattern?
A: As an international standard, TD-SCDMA will obtain great support from the state. It is no doubt. As a new technology, LAS-CDMA also can get support from our government. But the positioning of LAS-CDMA and the supporting methods are still in problems.

6、 Q: How will the government support TD-SCDMA? Would you please specify some things?
A: MII has invested more than RMB 50 million on TD-SCDMA and the State Planning Commission also considers investing more on it. Besides, the government and operators give great support to it. In the future, TD-SCDMA will be taken into consideration in spectrum planning and license authorizing.

7、 Q: Ms. Cao, it is said that LAS-CDMA has made field trials in Shanghai that had been wildly reported by media. It was said that LAS-CDMA is the hope of China's wireless communication. Besides, some experts also thought that LAS-CDMA is more advanced than TD-SCDMA in technologies. Do you think it will become a state standard?
A: At the present, three state ministries and commissions are preparing to evaluate LAS-CDMA thoroughly. It is too early to talk about the state standard.

8、 Q: Ms. Cao, which company holds a leading position in the R&D of 3G, Datang, Zhongxing, or Huawei?
A: From my point of view, Huawei and Zhongxing do better in WCDMA, Datang is theleading company in TD-SCDMA and in CDMA2000, Zhongxing and Huawei are leaders.

9、 Q: Can TD-SCDMA be applied into WLAN? How can it compete with 802.11?
A: Yes, TD-SCDMA can be applied into WLAN. But at the present, it is still aimed to mobile communications of low speed and high density or large area coverage.

10、Q: Do you think it is late that the whole line products of TD-SCDMA are developed in 2004?
A: If it is for a large-scale commercialization, it is not late. However, if it is for a small-scale application, it will be too late.

11、Q: It is estimated that in addition to MOS and MII, the State Economy and Trade Commission also will attend the evaluation. But more units involved, more complex the situation.
A: They are MOS, MII and the State Planning Commission. The main advantage of united evaluation is it is easy to reach consensus.

12、Q: Ms. Cao, what will be taken into consideration when making evaluation?
A: The elements involved in evaluation are theoretical analysis, the development of the system to be tested, the impacts on industries and operation and the general 3G environments of abroad and domestic.

13、Q: Ms. Cao, is there any possibility that TD-SCDMA and LAS-CDMA will be integrated?
A: As a enhanced TD-SCDMAＮ it is possible that LAS-CDMA will be integrated with TD-SCDMA in the standard level. However, it is difficult for these two companies to cooperate.

14、Q: In the future development of communications, is there any room for the third party just focused on service development?
A: Yes, there will be a large room for these parties and it is the main industrial trend.

15、Q: Ms. Cao, is it said that the spectrum of Xiaolingtong would be taken back? Will it exert great impacts on TD-SCDMA?
A: It will not influence TD-SCDMA because TD-SCDMA can first utilize the spectrum of 2010-2025MHz. However, Xiaolingtong does use the 3G TDD spectrum which should be taken back in a long run.

16、Q: Would you please talk about something about TD-SCDMA Trial?
A: It is planned to test the voice and circuit domain service in February.

17、Q: Is the value chain of telecom industry be changed in the near future?
A: It is changing now!

18、Q: Ms. Cao, what's about the domestic R&D of post 3G and 4G? Is there any support from MII?
A: MOS is initializing the R&D plan and MII will start the standardization work.

19、Q: Ms. Cao, when will 3G be commercialized in China?
A: cdma2000 may be commercialized in this year. As for other 3G technologies, I think the true commercialization will be made around 2004.

20、Q: When will the current operators function as carriers only? When will the business be opened for the third party to develop freely?
A: MII is considering such kind of issue. Should OSA and API adopted, it would be much easier to achieve it.

21、Q: There are many disputes on TSM, what do these disputes on?
A: TD-SCDMA is used in the physical layer, while Layer 2 and Layer 3 adopt GSM protocol. The CN adopts GSM/GPRS protocol, which is totally different from 3GPP. The disputes are mainly over that TSM is not an international standard and it is applied for 2G network.

22 Q: Now, the field trial carried by Datang is TSM field trial. Do you think the success will help the development of TD-SCDMA?
A: Yes, it will help a lot. The trial will validate the core technology of TD-SCDMA and the success of the trial will help to establish and maintain the confidence on TD-SCDMA.

23、Q: Is the dispute over TSM focused on that the current GSM CN cannot carry 384K data services?
A: No, it isn't.

24、Q: Despite of disputes over TSM, TSM is still in process. Why?
A: It is necessary for TSM to validate TD-SCDMA technology, so the government and operators give great support to it.

25、Q: What will be tested in the February TD-SCDMA trial?
A: The trial will begin from the test of circuit domain.

26、Q: Should we adopt GSM, TSM also can be utilized partly or it can work in GSM.
A: It will add the complexity of GSM and do harm to the promotion of operators. Besides, it will compete with GPRS.

27、Q: Ms. Cao, is TSM just for validating TD-SCDMA? Is it possible to employ it to provide services in the future?
A: There are disputes over whether we should employ it or not, because TSM is a Chinese standard applied for 2G network and it is not beneficial for roaming and controlling equipment costs. For example, some operator will say TSM is a 2G technology and why they should adopt a new 2G technology. In addition, the time of TSM advancement conflicts with that of 3G technologies, so it is not strange why operators have worries on adding new technologies to 2G network.

28、Q: Ms. Cao, when will TD-SCDMA be commercialized in R4?
A: It is said that there will be trial system in the second half year in 2002. But it is depended on the process of equipment development. It is better to synchronize with the commercialization of WCDMA.

29、Q: TD-SCDMA and GPRS belong to different standard, so there is no problem to adopt GPRS nowadays. However, the government should support TD-SCDMA explicitly. By this, the industry can be formed and we can compete with foreign giants.
A: Our government has said several times that it supports TD-SCDMA definitely.

30、Q: But it should be specified. For example, 5% of China's mobile communications market should be assigned to TD-SCDMA. If the government just shows support but without concrete actions, it will not work.
A: How to specify? Now, it is difficult to estimate the 3G market and the development of TD-SCDMA depends on various elements. However, the government will take TD-SCDMA into consideration in issuing licenses and planning spectrum.

31、Q: Can operators obtain FDD and TDD spectrums concurrently?
A: It is likely and it is possible.

32、Q: If foreign companies also participate the development of TD-SCDMA products, TD-SCDMA will have a bright future.
A: Right. As a Chinese technology and an international standard, TD-SCDMA will get definite supports from government and operators. Many foreign companies are considering entering this field. If mature equipment at a reasonable price developed, the prospect will be bright.

33、Q: I remember that Mr. Zhouhuan said that TD-SCDMA also can be applied to CDMA, is it possible?
A: TD-SCDMA has already adopted CDMA on the basis of TDMA.

34、Q: Ms. Cao, from your point of view, how big is the possibility that the current operators will adopt TD-SCDMA?
A: Those operators adopting WCDMA can adopt TDD as a supplementation because they employ a same CN and the extra spectrum can be used for high density applications or satisfying the data services demands.

35、Q: Will the South Telecom purchase the GSM network of Unicomm to adopt TDD?
A: It's a bold idea.

36、Q: MII will not issue new mobile licenses in two years, what's your opinion?
A: Is it confirmed? I don't think so. In my opinion, new licenses shall be issued.

37、 Q: Why should we spend more time on developing services that will attract more subscribers? What are your comments on this question?
A: For 3G, the service development is very important indeed. However, it is not just a problem for TD-SCDMA. The urgent affairs for TD-SCDMA at the present are still to develop mature equipment as soon as possible.

38、Q: Is there such a situation that an international standard is not adopted by anyone?
A: It needs our work. On the contrary, if it is not an international standard in mobile communications, it will be more difficult to success.

39、Q: Is there any chance for TSM to be commercialized?
A: It is very difficult.

40、Q: Is the problem of frequency intervention solved? If not, how is the TDD frequency dealt with?
A: No, it is not solved yet. We are doing researches and preparing to test it in the trial. TDD will first use the frequencies of 2010-2025MHz. The low frequencies have little influence on TDD, but it should be taken back in future.

41、Q: What kinds of services is TD-SCDMA best suited for?
A: First, it should have voice service and it is the basis. Besides, the non-symmetrical service is one advantage of TD-SCDMA that should be validated as soon as possible.

42、Q: Is the commercialization of TD-LAS in China based on the cooperation with Datang?
A: It will be the best result if these two can cooperate.

43、Q: It is said that China is the trial field for 3G, what's your opinion?
A: At the present, China does have the largest number of trial networks, but they are not commercialized. Our great market determines that the network must be composed by equipments of many manufacturers and challenges we are facing are more than that of foreign markets. From my point of view, the compatibility and maturation of equipments must be considered.

44、Q: Can CDMA2000 share CN with WCDMA?
A: It is impossible according to the present standards. When these two technologies were integrated, such kind of hope was raised. But no operator was interested in and no company developed equipment. So it was not fulfilled.

45、Q: Does TSM belong to 2.5G or 3G? Do operators need to apply for 3G licenses when employing TSM?
A: TSM employs 3G technologies at physical layer for access to 2G/2.5G CN. Since it uses new frequencies and new technologies, it certainly needs new license.

46、Q: Ms. Cao, do you think it possible to apply JD, SA and SDR for TD-SCDMA handsets?
A: SA has been applied for base stations and it will be tested in the future. To fulfill JD and SDR in handsets is possible with stage work.

47、Q: In fact, foreign companies are very interested in the attitude of domestic operators. If they show their attitudes explicitly, those companies will join in. As for domestic companies, it is more complex due to limited resources. Am I right?
A: I agree with you. For domestic enterprises, their resources are limited. The attitudes of operators also influence the development. I think the government had better take more confirmed actions, for example, issuing TDD licenses.

48、Q: In the field trial, there is no handset, but terminals. Is it significant?
A: At the present, the trial system is used to test the radio interface and the technology of the whole system, so there is no problem to use big terminals. WCDMA trial systems also employ terminals. In the second stage of trial, the handsets near to the commercialized will be employed.

49、Q: Would you please to talk about the influences on 3G exerted by 802.11?
A: 802.11 can compete with 3G in supporting wireless data services. However, it cannot move as freely as 3G, so it will not replace 3G.

50、Q: Do you think Datang can develop mature products for commercialized applications?
A: I always emphasize the cooperation with other companies. We should form a team and establish a multi-companies environment.

51、Q: If the test results of one technology are better than that of other two among these three technologies tested by the state, will the government treat these technologies differently?
A: I think the purpose is to test the technological maturation, including performances, functions and compatibilities, not to treat these technologies differently.

52、Q: The current TSM terminals are different from the future TD-SCDMA handsets. Even some physical layer parameters are different.
A: The physical layers have few differences, but the high layer protocols have many differences.

53、Q: It is said that CMCC would employ UMTS with 80% possibilities, what do you thinkabout it?
A:UMTS is European standard that includes WCDMA and CDMA TDD。At the present, WCDMA is the main technology will be employed by operators around the world. However, the 3G market depends on the time that various 3G technologies enter the market. For GSM operators, they will employ WCDMA. But CDMA and new operators will not certainly employ WCDMA.

54、Q: If 802.11 cannot replace 3G, how big are the influences it exerted on 3G market?
A: In my opinion, the application of 802.11 has a lot of difficulties. If 3G is commercialized but 802.11 has limited coverage, the influences will be small.

55、Q: The TSM/TD-SCDMA dual-mode handset can solve the TSM transition problems, because the physical layer parameters are indeed different.
A: You are right.

56、Q: Is it possible to develop 3G without paying patent premium to Qualcom?
A；It seems difficult. Almost all CDMA technologies are related with Qualcom's patent.

57、Q: Is there Qualcom's patent in TD-SCDMA?
A: Qualcom thinks there is, but Datang does not think so.

58、Q: It is said that TD-SCDMA system demonstration basically is made secretly. Is it true that it has passed the test?
A: The MII test will prove it.

59、Q: Will CWTS take HSDPA into next year's working plan?
A: I think it is possible.

60 Q: Now WP8F is making beyond 3G, if China plans to submit the project? If we are willing to take leadership? Japan and Korea are cooperating, shall we join?
A: Multinational corporations are willing to cooperate with us. I think not only Japan and Korea, in period of beyond 3G standards, structure will change again. We expect on playing a more important role than in 3G period.

61、Q: At the present 3G test made by RITT, is there TD－SCDMA ?
A: Yes, the test will begin in February.

62、Q: Does CWTS study 1XEV?
A: From my point of view, we also should conduct 1XEV standard research.

63、Q: Are you confident with TD-SCDMA?
A: Yes, I'm confident. But at the present, companies involved in R&D are limited and we still do not establish a team.

64、Q: What kinds of actions do you think Unicom will take to CDMA1X?
A: It will commercialize CDMA1X when conditions are ready.

66、Q: What's your confidence on TD-SCDMA?
A: I participated and witnessed the naissance and standardization of TD-SCDMA. I am confident that TD-SCDMA will succeed in China. To be specifically, it will be commercialized and employed in a certain scale. I will try best for this purpose.

67、Q: What are the main services of 3G?
A: 3G is a process. Voice service will be the first, then MMS, 100k data service and then live videos. The key is application. I think the pattern influencing mobile data applications is still come into being.

68、Q: What do you think the role shift of CWTS in future?
A: I need your advice. As a standardization organization, CWTS has some distance with international standardization organizations and it needs to be promoted and enhanced.

69、Q: Is it possible that it strengthen the role of foreign companies with strong technological power?
A：Sure. We are always try to bring the strong enterprises' functions into play.

70、Q: Will CWTS make 2002 working plan in April?
A: Yes. We hope you can give us good suggestions.

71、Q: What do you think the market capacity of TD-SCDMA? For example, how many handsets in 2005?
A: I am very confident with TD-SCDMA, but I could not give you a concrete number, because the whole 3G market is still in ambiguity.

72、Q: If MII will release third mobile license, When?
A: Yes. But time is not determined. Maybe public listed on stock market of China Telecom is a chance.

73、Q: It should allow CWTS observers to submit documentary in 3GPP.
A: I hope observers can become members when a bigger standardization organization is formed. I will try my best, but it is difficult at the present.

74、Q: What do you think the market volume of TD-SCDMA? Some one says it will surpass RMB 200 billion.
A: I'm sorry, but I cannot answer this question.

75、Q: In the future market, how many favorable actions will the government take for TD-SCDMA?
A: There will be some, but it is impossible to just depend on the government.

76、Q: TD－SCDMA handsets can be compatible with GSM (TSM) handsets and WCDMA handsets, what direction are we working for at the present?
A: Firstly, it will be compatible with GSM. I am always favor GSM/TD-SCDMA dual-mode handset, not TSM/TD-SCDMA. After all, GSM has covered a large area and it is easier to roam.

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