Mobile multimedia considerations

The author considers how two approaches appear to meet the communication requirements of mobile multimedia applications. One is to add packet switching capabilities (and higher bandwidths) to cellular systems, as the third-generation International Mobile Telecommunications systems do. The other approach is to build a wireless equivalent of the successful local area networks that carry the bulk of today's multimedia traffic. We need new approaches that can create the technological breakthrough required for the next generation of mobile multimedia systems. The author discusses user interfaces, data compression and protocols.