SEP Essentials

In Convergence and Competition – A Tale of Two Standards Part 1 (the Early Years: Peaceful Co-Existence) ( sepessentials.com ) , I discussed the early peaceful co-existence of two of the world’s most important telecommunications standards, cellular and WiFi, in the early days of each standard. In those days, WiFi and cellular carried different types of information (data vs voice) using different protocols (IP vs circuit switched) on different portions of the spectrum (unlic

Two of the world’s most important telecommunications standards - cellular and WiFi - have gone from complementary coexistence to escalating competition with each other. At the same time, the participants in cellular and WiFi standard development, the technology itself, and the applications of the technology, have begun converging. At stake is the lucrative IoT market – a winner take all market that does not need the same bells and whistles as smart phones or even connected

Industry standards can be very beneficial to the public good. They can make products more efficient and less costly to manufacture, ensure that products sold by different companies work well together (“interoperate”), increase safety, improve quality and enable further technological innovation. In short, “good standards are good for business, good for consumers, and good for society.” [1] But, because of the nature of standard development and of standards themselves, the p

The United States has an odd pattern of taking a giant step (or two) backwards just as the rest of the world is, finally, moving forward. The so-called “RESTORE” Act is in that same unfortunate American tradition of trashing the present in order to step backwards to some mythical vision of a halcyon past, just as everyone else finally starts to see the wisdom of moving forward. So, just as Germany is, finally, moving away from automatic injunctions in patent cases and towar

A while back (see https://www.sepessentials.com/post/building-a-house ), I likened standards to blueprints for a house. But standards are actually a lot less complete than a typical blueprint. A blueprint is defined variously as “a design plan or other technical drawing” or “a complete plan that explains how to do or develop something.” [1] The word blueprint implies that, by following the blueprint, you will end up with a functional house or other product (although some