An Ignoble Experiment

2. Baidu's Silicon Valley R&D center targets deep learning

NEW YORK--AT&T Mobility's (NYSE: T) forthcoming launch of Voice over LTE (VoLTE) is one iteration of its "User-Defined Network Cloud" SDN and NFV efforts, and part of its strategy of starting to roll out "beachhead" projects this year that demonstrate new networking capabilities, according to an AT&T executive.

User-Defined Network Cloud is the marketing term AT&T has given to the technologies and experiences its "Domain 2.0" program for vendors enables. The entire program is based around using Software-Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Function Virtualization (NFV) to not only cut down costs and turn hardware-based network functions into software-based ones, but also facilitate the deployment of new services.

In an interview with FierceWirelessTech, Marian Croak, AT&T's senior vice president of Domain 2.0 architecture and advanced services development, discussed VoLTE in the context of the new efforts. She said that while AT&T's initial User-Defined Network Cloud may have initially been focused on wireline networks (as Kris Rinne, senior vice president of network architecture and planning at AT&T Labs noted earlier this year), AT&T is pursuing many projects related to its wireless networks.

"It's become so popular that all new programs going forward are trying to adhere to the principles of Domain 2.0 or the User-Defined Network Cloud," Croak said. "So even things like VoLTE that was recently announced and that we'll be entering into markets in, and HD Voice. They are beachhead projects now. So the underlying network to support Voice over LTE and the IMS piece of that will be virtualized and will run in a cloud."

AT&T intends to launch HD Voice services using VoLTE in a handful of markets starting May 23. The Samsung Galaxy S4 mini will be the first device that can use the service, and it will expand the service to additional phones in the future.

AT&T said its VoLTE-powered HD Voice service will launch in select areas in Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota and Wisconsin, and it will expand to more markets later.

Although VoLTE represents a big change in the way voice conversations are transmitted over the wireless network--conversations are transmitted via IP technology over LTE rather than via circuit-switched connections--AT&T said in its announcement of VoLTE last week only that customers can expect "crystal clear conversations" and made no other mention of any other VoLTE-powered services.

Croak was speaking after an event AT&T held here on Friday to highlight User-Defined Network Cloud projects and its plans to transform its network. The beachhead projects are going to be a progressive series of announcements that demonstrate AT&T's transition to an IP network and its embrace of SDN and NFV. AT&T intends to unveil several beachhead projects this year and will continually do so through 2020.

This week's sponsor is PCIA.

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By Tammy Parker

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3. Trade groups back inflight calling using smartphones

Artificial intelligence is a new battleground for tech giants, and China's Web search leader Baidu, often termed "China's Google," is getting in on the action via a new research lab in Sunnyvale, Calif. In addition, the company announced it has hired Stanford computer science professor Andrew Ng, who previously worked on deep learning at Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), to head Baidu Research, which also includes labs in Beijing.

Baidu said it will invest $300 million in the Silicon Valley lab over five years.

Ng worked with Google researchers on the "Google Brain" project, which built a large-scale neural network that taught itself to identify images of cats after looking at millions of YouTube videos. Ng, who also co-founded Coursera, which offers online courses from top universities, will retain his position as chairman of Coursera's board.

Baidu launched its Beijing Deep Learning Lab, formerly called the Institute of Deep Learning, during 2013. The company claims to have made great strides in image recognition and image-based search, voice recognition, natural language processing and semantic intelligence, machine translation and advertising matching. In 2013, Baidu introduced an application based on deep learning that identifies objects in smartphone photographs.

Kai Yu, director of the Deep Learning Lab, told MIT Technology Review that Baidu's new Silicon Valley lab will focus on fundamental research, while scientists at the Deep Learning Lab will target the application of deep learning to new and existing Baidu products. "In Silicon Valley there's a huge talent pool that is so unique," said Yu. "We really want something revolutionary to come from the lab."

Though people are growing increasingly excited about the prospect for deep learning and neural networking, others say recent breakthroughs are more evolutionary than revolutionary.

Michael Mozer, a professor at the University of Colorado in Boulder and a board member of the Neural Information Processing Systems (NIPS) Foundation, told MIT Technology Review that core algorithms used by neural networks are much the same as those used in artificial intelligence during the late 1980s. Though these algorithms have been tweaked to work on a much larger scale, Mozer indicated that deep learning is not as dramatic of a breakthrough as some suggest.

Nonetheless, companies such as Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) are hurriedly investing in deep learning technologies. Facebook hired New York University researcher Yann LeCun in late 2013 to work on artificial-intelligence efforts. And Microsoft's Bing search engine has benefited from the use of deep-learning technology to improve image searches. The company has also used deep learning to improve speech recognition and translation, as has Google.

In addition, Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) is deeply involved in investigating neural networking. Its Zeroth neuromorphic chip program is focused on signing up researchers this year to test its technology as the company eyes the commercial introduction of brain-mimicking chips as soon as 2015. The intent is to take neuromorphic computing platforms beyond mere object recognition to enable devices, such as smartphones, to take action based on information they have learned.

Google, meanwhile, has deepened its deep learning and artificial intelligence efforts by buying DNNresearch more than a year ago and paying in excess of $400 million for DeepMind Technologies earlier this year.

For more:
- see this Baidu release
- see this MIT Technology Review article
- see this Wall Street Journal article (sub. req.)

Read more about: Baidu, Google
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By Tammy Parker

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4. Infonetics: HSPA+ still has a long life despite LTE rollouts

Many members of the public cringe at the very idea that their seatmates on aircraft might be able to make inflight voice calls using their own smartphones, but trade groups representing network gear suppliers, consumer electronics makers and the high-tech sector are urging the FCC to end the ban on inflight calls.

The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA), the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) and the Information Technology Industry Council (ITIC) said in a joint FCC filing that they support the commission's proposal to remove what they called "outdated regulatory barriers for access to in-flight mobile connectivity."

The commission's plan has the potential to make in-flight mobile connectivity (IMC), "including data, text, and even voice connectivity," available to consumers aboard airborne aircraft, the three trade groups noted.

Despite public outcry over the FCC proposal, the groups contend that various stakeholders, "including IMC providers, off-board communications link providers, airlines and aircraft manufacturers, and industry associations, are generally supportive of enabling IMC in the United States."

The FCC proposal, made in December 2013, would give airlines the option to allow consumers to access broadband services when airborne through their existing wireless service providers, just as they would on the ground. The calls would first pass through an Airborne Access System, which would include a picocell that relays calls to the ground via a separate air-groundlink, such as a satellite band or the 800 MHz air-ground band, after which calls would be transferred to the terrestrial network. AAS technology is already used in numerous countries worldwide.

Even if the FCC were to lift its ban on calls made over mobile phones on aircraft flying above 10,000 feet, that would not fully open the door to the practice. The U.S. Department of Transportation would also have to give its blessing, and Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx is already on record expressing concerns about allowing inflight voice calls. There is a possibility that the FCC and DoT might agree to OK inflight texting, email and other broadband services but not voice calling.

If all bans are lifted, the task of deciding where and when inflight calls might be allowed would fall to individual airlines. A Bloomberg article noted that American Airlines and US Airways do not allow voice calls over their onboard Wi-Fi systems, and Delta Air Lines has said its passengers are not fond of onboard calls. Further, inflight-connectivity provider Gogo has reported that none of its commercial airline customers permit voice calling over the Gogo system.

For more:
- see this joint release and filing (PDF)
- see this Bloomberg article

Read more about: airborne calling, FCC
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By Tammy Parker

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5. Researchers say new atomic clock may fill in GPS gaps

Despite ongoing LTE rollouts worldwide, older wireless air interfaces such as EDGE and HSPA will remain workhorses for many 3GPP operators, according to Infonetics Research.

"EDGE and HSPA/HSPA+ have a long tail and remain strong despite the onslaught of LTE deployments. However, some of the HSPA+ traction we saw among mobile operators last year is diminishing because of the current move to LTE, which we qualify as the second wave of rollouts characterized by hundreds of small footprints," said Stephane Teral, the firm's principal analyst for mobile infrastructure and carrier economics.

He added that operators rolling out LTE will continue to rely upon 3G technologies to maintain the user experience when customers move outside of LTE coverage areas. To that end, many networks will "require serious HSPA+ upgrades," Teral said.

Infonetics noted there is a widespread move to higher iterations of HSPA+, such as Releases 9, 10 and 11.

The research firm recently interviewed independent wireless, incumbent, and competitive operators that operate 3GPP networks, meaning CDMA-only operators were not included. Its survey revealed that operators are rapidly shifting to all-IP radio access networks (RANs) to gain cost reductions as well as greater operational and energy efficiency. According to the Infonetics, 63 percent of the operators surveyed already have a single IP RAN deployed and running.

Infonetics also found that nearly 75 percent of survey respondents are running EDGE networks to enable new services and enhance user experience. However, those operators that do not have EDGE also do not see a need for it. "Support for evolved EDGE continues to erode: A large majority of survey respondents have no plans to deploy it," the firm said.

Infonetics survey respondents ranked the top three RAN equipment suppliers as, in order, Huawei, Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) and Nokia (NYSE:NOK). In December last year, ABI Research reported that Huawei had maintained its number one ranking rank in the global radio access network (RAN) market with a share of 28.1 percent by the end of the third quarter. Ericsson was in second position, followed by Alcatel-Lucent and Nokia's networks business, formerly known as Nokia Solutions and Networks.

For more:
- see this Infonetics release

Read more about: Infonetics, Nokia, Stephane Teral
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By Tammy Parker

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