On the economic and technological forces shaping mobile transceiver architecture

The thesis examines the evolution of mobile transceiver architecture using the management framework pioneered by Carliss Baldwin and Kim Clark. The thesis begins with an introduction and an overview of the wireless communication value network. The author subsequently distills the salient aspects of the Baldwin and Clark management framework predicated on bottleneck analysis, modularity, and return on invested capital. The prominence of bottleneck analysis motivates a technical chapter that summarizes the bottlenecks relevant to all wireless communication systems, namely data rate, error rate, and battery life. A brief chapter discussing the dominant wireless communication network architecture, TDMA and CDMA, corroborates the bottleneck analysis and effectively assigns the error rate and battery life bottlenecks to the handset ODM and supplier layers of the value network. With a clear vision of the competitive bottlenecks, the evolution of transceiver architecture is presented in the context of the aforementioned management framework. Through this analysis, design power is shown to have passed from handset ODMs to integrated circuit suppliers. A noteworthy byproduct of the analysis is the genesis of the bottleneck tree whereby new layers of bottlenecks are emergent upon a firm's selection of a particular design architecture that targets the strategic bottleneck layer. Finally, the thesis is concluded with a summary of the ground covered and the author's opinions of how the architecture may yet evolve and the future nature of the competitive landscape.

Department dc:contributor.department

System Design and Management Program.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2009

Author dc:creator

• Aden, Christopher A. (Christopher Allan)

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• John M. Grace.

• System Design and Management Program.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/47872

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/47872