(keitai-l) i-mode is NOT always on

From: Arjen van Blokland <arjen_at_fra.allnet.ne.jp>
Date: 01/22/01
Message-Id: <4.3.2-J.20010122113452.00be8510@mail.sankyofrontier.com>
Can somebody comment if my thoughts are correct?

People claim that i-mode is always on. This is technically speaking 
incorrect and gives the readers outside Japan a wrong impression on the 
capabilities of i-mode.

To verify please do the following experiment.

Check the i-icon on your phone. If not connected to the i-mode network 
(connection OFF, but able to connect to i-mode packet switched network), 
the i-icon is not blinking. When you connect to the i-mode network, it 
takes, depending on the time of the day, between 1 second (early in the 
morning) and 5 seconds (around 11pm). Once the connection is established, 
the i-icon is blinking meaning the connection is ON. If no traffic is send 
or received for a period of 3-4 minutes, the connection is automatically 
finished and the i-icon stops blinking. The connection is OFF.

Based on the network architecture as published last year in Nikkei 
Communications and this experiment, i-mode makes use of a hybrid solution, 
circuit switched until the M-SCP component in the network and 
packet-switched (called the PCD-P network) higher up in the network.

Arjen van Blokland
arjen@fra.allnet.ne.jp 


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Received on Mon Jan 22 04:43:33 2001