ta as well as voice. EPS is an evolution of UMTS systems while WiMAX is a new technology and both can be considered as the last leg to 4G. Nevertheless the evolution is ongoing and migration to 4G is just starting with the request from ITU-R for the submission of IMT-Advanced or 4G proposals. These proposals are currently under evaluation and 4G technology or technologies will be standardized in 2011. Mobile Communications Ecosystem The traditional mobile communications ecosystem mainly comprises of technologies, standards and networks and it deals with the management of technlogies in a less effective fashion. Though technology management is recognized it is not as such practiced as it should be in the world of mobile communi- cations. We made an attempt in this book to place technology management in its right place and give it a structured role in the overall ecosystem. We have explicitly added the component of technology management in the ecosystem SO that the academia and importantly the mobile industry can start to consider TM as an integrated element of the business. Thus, the mobile communications ecosystem is divided into three concrete elements namely the End- User Device, the Network and Technology Management (TM). This enhanced ecosystem in presented in Figure 1.1. Next Generation Mobile Communications Ecosystem: Technology Management for Mobile Communications Saad Z. Asif © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. ISBN: 978-0-470-74746-9 Next Generation Mobile Communications Ecosystem Enhanced Mobile Communications Ecosystem NETWORK DEVICE Transport Transport BSC/RNC Core Network Transport Service Operations Element Center SGSN/PDSN/ Radio Access Network Transport Technology Management Figure 1.1 Enhanced mobile communications ecosystem 1.1.1 Devices Device is one of the most critical elements of the food chain as the user experience ultimately drives the value of network. Devices come in various forms and shapes starting from simply traditional cell phones to iPhones and BlackBerrys. 1.1.2 Networks 3G networks c