Piecing together global harmonization: while the industry may never fully harmonize third-generation technologies, the movers and shakers behind the scenes are trying to ensure that future approaches for advancing wireless standards offer customers some semblance of seamless services and interfaces.

Wireless Week, January, 2002 by Albright, Peggy

Last year the term "harmonization"--as in the harmonization of third-generation technologies--surfaced again in the wireless industry. Unlike the concept's earlier heyday during the technology wars of the late 1990s, this time it may come closer to achieving its goals, conservative as they may be.

The industry, which abandoned the ideal of a single global 3G standard during the IMT-2000 battles, once again is talking about harmonization even though the main air interface technologies of interest--wideband-CDMA and CDMA2000--have enough basic differences to ensure they never will be fully harmonized. Still, it appears that industry movers and shakers have decided that future technologies and approaches for advancing wireless standards can, perhaps,...

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