How to evaluate the contribution of TD-SCDMA

2015-02-03 09:33T

The R&D and large-scale commercialization of TD-SCDMA is an achievement that can occupy a place in the field of global communications. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 However, this does not allow it to infinitely exaggerate its significance and value and elevate it to the level of national strategy. In fact, TD-SCDMA does not represent the technological innovation of China's 3G and the development of the mobile communication industry

China's communications industry has developed from being extremely backward to being among the world's advanced today, which is a glorious historical chapter worthy of the pride of Chinese. Starting from the PCM and digital multiplexing equipment in the digital communication period in the 80s of the last century, followed by PDH optical fiber transmission, SDH optical fiber transmission and digital microwave, to the digital program-controlled switch in the 90s of the last century is a milestone, represented by the "giant China" (that is, Julong, Datang, ZTE, Huawei), the domestic large-capacity digital program-controlled switch has entered the world's advanced ranks. Since about 2000, domestic communication equipment has begun to rise in the international arena and is moving towards the world's advanced step by step, and the 3G mobile communication system is the most important representative of this stage (TD-SCDMA also appeared during this period). Today, Chinese enterprises represented by Huawei and ZTE have developed into giants in the international mobile communications market, and their technical contributions and influence in international mainstream standards such as WCDMA, CDMA2000, and LTE have also been at the forefront.

So, as a representative of the so-called independent innovation of China's communication technology, what role does TD-SCDMA play in the rise and development of China's mobile communication industry? Is it as some companies advertise, Chinese manufacturers have mastered the core technology of 3G mobile communication through TD-SCDMA, without TD-SCDMA, China's mobile communication industry cannot develop to today's level?

It is undeniable that as the first international communication standard proposed and led by China, TD-SCDMA is indeed a breakthrough in the standardization of China's communication field. The development of new TD-SCDMA technology, as well as the research and development of a complete set of standards, as well as the realization and large-scale commercialization of standard products, is also an achievement that can occupy a place in the field of global communications. However, the significance and value of this standard cannot be exaggerated infinitely, it cannot be raised to the height of national strategy, and the development of TD-SCDMA cannot be overridden by the entire Chinese communications industry. In fact, TD-SCDMA does not represent the technological innovation of China's 3G and the development of the mobile communication industry.

Summarizing the development process of China's communication industry and TD-SCDMA, several conclusions can be drawn: 1) TD-SCDMA has never been the leader of China's mobile communication technology; 2) TD-SCDMA has not become the main body of China's mobile communication industry; 3) China's influence in international standards today does not depend on TD-SCDMA standards; 4) TD-SCDMA is not the main factor for the development and growth of Chinese communication enterprises; 5) Domestic 3G equipment does not rely on TD-SCDMA to break the foreign monopoly; 6) Those goals that represent the political significance of the TD-SCDMA have largely not been achieved.

TD-SCDMA is not a leader in the development of mobile communication technology in China

Chinese manufacturers began the development of mobile communication system equipment in the 90s of the last century, and by the end of the 90s, the development of 3G has become the top priority of China's communication technology and industrial development. In the development of domestic three-standard 3G system equipment, TD-SCDMA has always been in a state of greatly lagging behind and catching up.

In 2002, Huawei's WCDMA commercial system equipment had already participated in the year-long field test network test of an operator in Guangzhou. In December 2003, the Etisalat WCDMA network, which uses Huawei's full set of equipment, was completed and officially put into commercial use. In December 2004, Huawei won a contract worth more than 200 million euros for the WCDMA network of the Dutch operator Telfort, which was signed by the ****** Prime Minister and the Prime Minister of the Netherlands. Later, with technological innovations such as distributed base stations, Huawei's WCDMA began to break into the mainstream market in Western Europe.

And what about TD-SCDMA at this time? In 2003, TD-SCDMA was still struggling with TSM or LCR, and it was still very far from commercialization. In 2004, when the development of TD-SCDMA was repeatedly delayed and in trouble, it was the participation of ZTE and Huawei, which had mastered WCDMA and CDMA2000 technology, that promoted the product development of TD-SCDMA to make substantial progress. Therefore, in the development of domestic 3G technology and products, TD-SCDMA has always been a laggard, a catch-up, and the object of help, how can it be the leader and driver of China's mobile communication technology and industrial development? This is true not only for system devices, but also for mobile phones and chips.

Among the three types of mobile phones, TD-SCDMA mobile phones are the latest in technology, and the leaders of today's domestic mobile phone manufacturers such as Huawei, ZTE, Xiaomi, etc., which one learned to make mobile phones by doing TD-SCDMA? As we all know, it is not developed by TD, but a group of chip companies cultivated in the development of the TD industry basically can't even enter today's 4G chip market. Obviously, the development of the domestic mobile communication industry chain is attributed to TD, what "TD-SCDMA before the domestic mobile communication industry chain did not have a complete mobile communication industry chain", "TD-SCDMA to help domestic equipment manufacturers achieve a big reversal", etc., can be said to be completely disregarded and groundless.

Despite the special support of the government, the development of TD-SCDMA has not become the main line of the development of China's communication industry. Before 2004, only Datang was exclusively engaged in the development of TD-SCDMA; In 2004, when Huawei ZTE's WCDMA and CDMA2000 equipment had begun to enter the European and American markets, the development of TD-SCDMA was in a predicament, and as a result, in February 2004, the state arranged 708 million yuan to start the "TD-SCDMA R&D and industrialization project", ZTE, Huawei and Potevio joined the R&D and industrialization of TD-SCDMA, which greatly promoted the progress of TD-SCDMA development. Therefore, Huawei, ZTE and other major enterprises of Chinese communications only joined TD-SCDMA in the second half of the period, and for the entire Chinese communications industry, whether it is in the development of investment, or later in the market sales, TD-SCDMA is far from the head. It can be said that although TD-SCDMA has been the focus of attention supported by the government, it has not become the main body of the development of China's communications industry.

China's influence on international standards and TD-SCDMA standards

China has undoubtedly become one of the protagonists in the formulation of international communication standards today, but is this because of TD-SCDMA? Of course not. Despite the support of special government policies, TD-SCDMA has not represented the main line of domestic 3G research and development, and in the research and development of WCDMA and CDMA2000, Huawei and ZTE's products have many innovations from the design of system implementation schemes, the innovation of the overall system architecture, the originality of product concepts, to the development of advanced algorithms, unique chip design, etc., making domestic equipment no longer just rely on low prices, but to gain a foothold in the international market with the competitiveness of technological innovation.

Taking Huawei as an example, in June 2005, Huawei's basic patents on WCDMA accounted for 5% of the total WCDMA basic patents, ranking among the top five in the world. As of November 2012, Huawei's authorized patents accounted for 8.3% of LTE, ranking fourth in the world. It can be seen that Chinese enterprises can achieve such influence in today's international mainstream standards, relying on the long-term accumulation and strong strength of product development and technological innovation for the global market, not because of the TD-SCDMA standard. For example, Huawei's R&D investment by 2014 reached 188 billion yuan, and in 2014 alone, it reached 40 billion yuan.

In addition, as a product of the guiding ideology of standards for the sake of standards and out of the market needs of the industry, TD-SCDMA, which has many defects and weaknesses, is finally adopted only in its own country, and the "international standard" has become a false name, and the commercialization in its own country has not been successful, so it is impossible to have any influence in the international technology and industry circles.

China's communication companies have now entered the advanced ranks of the world's industry, so how much role does TD-SCDMA play in it? As a typical representative of the rise and development of China's communications industry, let's take a look at Huawei.

Starting from the development of small switches in the 80s of the last century, after more than 30 years, Huawei is now a global company with business in more than 170 countries and regions, and its sales revenue in 2014 is expected to reach 46 billion US dollars, surpassing Ericsson to become the world's largest communications equipment supplier. Obviously, to be able to develop to the world's first today, Huawei does not rely on TD-SCDMA, because in terms of wireless mobility, Huawei's equipment has been supplied to more than 500 operators around the world, as of the end of 2014, Huawei has deployed 320 GSM networks, 303 WCDMA networks and 154 LTE networks around the world, and the GPRS/UMTS/LTE packet core network has been applied to 17 of the world's 20 largest mobile operator groups. If you look at this data, you can see that it has little to do with TD-SCDMA.

Huawei's example is enough to show that China's mobile technology and industry can develop to today's world's advanced level because of neither TD-SCDMA technology nor TD policy support. On the other hand, without the development, accumulation, innovation and leadership of international mainstream technologies, it is impossible to enter the advanced ranks of the world industry by relying only on TD-SCDMA.

Does 3G break the foreign monopoly by TD-SCDMA?

Another point is that in the substitution of domestic equipment for imports, what role does TD-SCDMA play? As pointed out earlier, Chinese manufacturers began the development of mobile communication system equipment in the 90s of the last century, and by the end of the 90s, the development of 3G has become the top priority of China's communication technology and industrial development. In 2G GSM and CDMA, foreign equipment has formed a monopoly, and domestic equipment has no chance to enter, so 3G has become a key opportunity for domestic equipment to enter the mobile communication market.

Since 2004, the domestic WCDMA and CDMA2000 equipment has been very mature, and compared with foreign equipment, it is not only a price advantage, but also has a strong competitiveness in technological innovation, such as Huawei has been able to rely on the advantages of distributed base stations, SingleRAN and other technology and product innovation in the foreign market to defeat the old foreign giants, Huawei and ZTE's WCDMA and CDMA2000 equipment have been conquered in the foreign market. Therefore, as long as China's 3G license is issued, regardless of whether there is TD-SCDMA or not, it is inevitable that domestic equipment will replace foreign equipment to achieve a dominant position. Later facts are well known that in China's 3G network WCDMA and CDMA standards, it is also domestic equipment that occupies an absolute advantage, such as China Telecom's CDMA wireless network Zhongwei and ZTE accounted for about 80%, Shanghai Bell accounted for the rest of about 20%. Therefore, the reversal of domestic equipment replacing foreign equipment has nothing to do with TD-SCDMA at all, not only that, TD-SCDMA actually helped foreign equipment to block the reversal of domestic equipment, because it is precisely because of it that it has led to the delay in the issuance of China's 3G license, so that foreign manufacturers have made several more years of money in China with 2G equipment.

The most important significance and achievement of TD-SCDMA is that it has become an international standard for the first time as a standard proposed and led by China, and it has become one of the three major international 3G standards, so it is "recognized as the first international standard with independent intellectual property rights in the history of China's communications in the past century" and "a major breakthrough in the history of China's communications industry in the past century". It is a pity that looking back more than ten years later, these goals have not been achieved.

Although TD-SCDMA has become an international standard, in the end, only China Mobile has adopted it in the world, becoming an island in the market and industry, and the "international standard" has actually become a false name. Today, even TD's praisers have to admit: "This world standard that we have worked so hard to set has not really gone abroad, and only one operator in the world, China Mobile, has built the only TD-SCDMA network, and the world's well-known chip and terminal manufacturers are still outside the TD-SCDMA industry" (People's Post and Telegraph 2014.12.4 "Breakthrough, Change Begins" article). It can be seen that TD-SCDMA has only obtained the "name" of international standards, but there is no "reality" of international standards, and in fact, it is still a standard adopted by only one country, and has not been able to become a real international standard. Since it has not been adopted by other countries, the ambition of "first-class enterprises selling standards" can only be an illusion. Therefore, the so-called "major breakthrough in the century-old development history of China's communications industry" and "leading international standards is an important national strategy" goals have not been truly achieved through TD-SCDMA.

To sum up, it can be seen that in the development of China's mobile communication technology and industry, TD-SCDMA is neither the first, nor the main, nor the main factor for the development and growth of China's communication enterprises, China's influence on international mainstream standards and the advantages of Chinese equipment for foreign products, are not based on TD-SCDMA standards, and TD-SCDMA's so-called national strategic goals have basically not been achieved. Therefore, the so-called "TD-SCDMA brings China's strategic opportunities", "before TD-SCDMA, there is no complete mobile communication industry chain in China, TD-SCDMA has cultivated and stimulated the domestic industrial chain", "TD-SCDMA has promoted the cluster development of the entire Chinese communications industry, so that China has successfully entered the core stage of the world's communication technology competition", "TD-SCDMA has rewritten the pattern of China's telecommunications equipment market", etc., are completely nonsense without factual basis.

Now we can also assume what would have happened if there had never been a TD-SCDMA? The answer is that without the interference of TD-SCDMA, China's communication industry will develop better, because the result of TD-style innovation leading the development policy of China's communication industry is to make the development of China's communication industry and industry take a detour and cause serious damage to its development. ■

The author is a telecommunications industry insider