Author Archives: D. M. Smith
Expanding the Attack Surface (technical)
Sorry, but Huawei is not the problem.
Massive MIMO – Some thoughts on where it stands (technical, longish)
I find this topic endlessly interesting. Although I admit it can be a challenge making it interesting for others. But let’s see what we can do.
Are we losing our edge?
The most disturbing thing about the National Science Foundation’s announcement this week, that they will tear down the famous radio observatory at Arecibo, is that it didn’t come as a surprise.
The Center of the World
Since I can’t travel this fall, at least not for pleasure, I’m going to revisit here one of my favorite spots in the American Southwest.
The Massive MIMO Question (technical)
I don’t want people to think I make a hobby out of trying to rain on the Open RAN parade. But I do have questions.
“Who knew that the future would arrive so neatly wrapped in the past?”
It’s always a little exhilarating to encounter a bit of really impressive technology that is not reserved to multi-billion dollar corporations, armies of faceless engineers, and hair-trigger legal departments. Yeah, I get collaboration, I get intellectual property rights, I get EBIDTA. But we need a break from it once in a while.
How is Open RAN going to compete?
All players in the business of wireless networks — network operators, and their hardware and software suppliers — have to have an opinion on Open Radio Access Networks, i.e. networks defined by the ORAN Alliance.
China Surprises
China of course has rapidly built out its 5G network and claims somewhere near 100m 5G subscribers, served by more than 250,000 new base-stations. And Huawei has been a big part of this.
So it must have come as a bit of a shock to the assembled executives and enthusiasts when the Executive Director described the 5G user experience in China in this way:
Time Machines
A working bit of science history dodged a bullet last month.
Essentials Ignored
For those in the business of mobile networks, “Open RAN” is the “next big thing”. But there are serious obstacles.
Vectored Tech 