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Introduction
Mobile
phones are becoming increasingly
complex, as new applications are
being added to support new and innovative
operator services. For example, in
2004, there were approximately 50
applications shipping on the average
consumer phone. As of 2008, that
number had doubled. This increase,
combined with the need to improve
time to market has led to a variety
of difficult decisions for OEMs.
Do they increase resources to improve
time to market, or do they minimize
innovation to relieve the impact
on resources and increased stability?
The industry response
is Firmware Over The Air (FOTA).
FOTA has been widely adopted as the
most cost-effective solution for
delivering software updates to mobile
devices already deployed in the market.
And by 2009, approximately 50% of
mobile phones will be enabled with
FOTA according to Ovum. Carriers
and OEMs have already seen decreased
warranty costs and enhanced customer
satisfaction with FOTA enabled handsets.
FOTA solves a number of major issues
facing the mobile operator:
- Cost Mitigation
- Remove logistical cost of
handset replacement and actual
device replacement cost
- Revenue Protection
- Lower revenue losses from
faster fix and problem resolution
- Brand Protection
- Protect against damaged reputations
- Future Proofing
- Extending the life of the
device through feature updates
The market presents an almost bewildering
variety of options. In order to make
the best possible business decisions,
an understanding of FOTA is increasingly
useful for those in the mobile industry,
whether employed at an OEM or at
an operator. This paper will cover
six basic themes which will help
the reader achieve a basic understanding
of FOTA and the impact of this technology.
These themes are:
- How FOTA works
- The InnoPath Firmware Management solution
- The impact of FOTA on the user experience and churn
- The financial impact of FOTA on OEMs and operators
- Controlling costs
- Options for FOTA deployment
How Does FOTA work?
The essence of FOTA is the ability
to safely and securely update the
firmware on the handset. Due to bandwidth
and other restrictions, it is useful
to be able to send just the updated,
changed or added code; not the entire
firmware package. Considering that
the price for failure is a bricked
(broken) phone, FOTA is a bit of
a high wire act, balancing security
and efficiency.
A typical FOTA implementation generally
consists of three distinct elements:
- The
first is the DIFF generator.
The DIFF Generator is used to
find the differences between
two versions of code, (for example,
v3 and v4). The DIFF, or Delta,
contains all the information
required to change the v3 code
to v4, but is usually considerably
smaller than the V4 code would
be. InnoPath’s
DIFF generator is the Delta Manager.
The technology used to generate
a DIFF file is the main differentiator
that a FOTA provider has, and is
critical to evaluating a given
vendor’s implementation.
The more efficient the technology,
the faster the DIFF can be generated,
and the smaller the DIFF size will
be. The smaller the DIFF, the less
carrier network bandwidth it will
consume. This translates to lower
cost of transmission to each mobile
device.
- Once
a DIFF has been created, it is
compressed and secured by the
package generator, and then sent
over the air (OTA) via InnoPath’s
iMDM Server (or any other OMA-DM
1.2 compliant server). The iMDM
server keeps track of successful
and unsuccessful downloads, retrying
as appropriate.
- The FOTA client on each device
then verifies proper (uncorrupted)
receipt of the delta file via checksums
and other tests, and combines the
DIFF with the v3 image to create
the new v4 image, which is placed
into non-volatile RAM to be loaded
the next time the device is restarted.
When an operator decides that a
firmware upgrade on a handset is
required, he has multiple ways of
actually deploying the fix:
- Customer pull model, where the
subscriber must seek out the update.
Will only apply to those who are
tech savvy. Success rate is 1%.
- Customer pull and marketing
promotion, where the operator notifies
subscribers that an update is available.
Success rate is 3%.
- Operator push with opt-in/opt-out.
All affected subscribers targeted,
but only those accepting the notification
are updated. Success rate is 35%.
- Operator push with no opt-in.
All affected subscriber updated.
Success rate is 90%.
As
may be expected, the non opt-out
model results in the highest success
rate, but may be at odds with an
operator’s
privacy policies. With additional
subscriber education and one-time
opt-ins, this situation may change.
However, even with the 35% success
rate of opt-in, FOTA is still viable.
The InnoPath Firmware Management
Solution
InnoPath’s
end-to-end solution consists of the
both the iMDM server and the client.
Together, they permit the wireless
operator to deploy a FOTA solution.
InnoPath has never “bricked” a
handset (rendered a device inert
via a failed update) and has enabled
10s of millions of device re-flashes
per year.
The
iMDM server provides the necessary
interfaces into the operator’s
knowledge base, billing, and reporting
systems, and has a rich set of FOTA
upgrade methods. These include subscriber
initiated, event or schedule driven,
CSR initiated, and bulk upgrades,
also known as Mass FOTA, where an
update is pushed to tens or even
hundreds of thousands of devices. An
InnoPath mass FOTA best practices
document is available upon request.
For completeness, note that the FUMO
enabler as defined by OMA-DM is only
a small part an overall solution,
as described in the callout box.
The InnoPath iMDM client, optimized
for both smartphones as well as featurehpones,
supports multiple MDM applications,
one of which is FOTA. It is based
upon years of operational experience,
and operates at multiple layers within
the device. The client consists of
three primary components: the DM
engine, responsible for communication
with the MDM server, the Device Update
Agent (DUA), responsible for carrying
out the actual firmware update and
the various DM applications such
as FOTA, Configuration Management,
Configuration Verification, Security.
Iin smartphones, this includes Application
Management via the OMA-DM SCoMO enabler.
Differentiators of the solution include:
- The ability to suspend and resume an update.
- Package encryption & compression
- 100% fault tolerance & error recovery
- Self updating client
- Client is flash agnostic
- Multi-step DIFF handling
In
contrast to featurephones, which
are image based and therefore all
updates may be conducted via FOTA,
smartphones based on Windows Mobile,
Symbian, or Linux may still use
FOTA at the firmware level, but
will also rely on SCoMO to update
files that relate to either the
operating system or to applications.
Additional background on InnoPath’s
application management solution
is at: http://www.innopath.com/pdf/software_manager.pdf .
 The
InnoPath solution also consists
of the CARE portal, extending FOTA
for the first time to the front-line
CSR or even to the subscriber.
Via the portal, a subscriber or
CSR may quickly view the handset’s
current firmware version. MDM will
then compare it against the latest
version available, and suggest an
upgrade if appropriate.
Leveraging
the power of the server and the
performance of the client, InnoPath’s
Firmware Management solution is
designed to minimize the impact
of the firmware update on the subscriber
by supporting the following capabilities:
- User education as to the need for the upgrade.
- User acceptance, deferral to a later time, or cancellation of the update to make a call.
- User notification of progress and successful completion.
InnoPath, leveraging over five
years of FOTA expertise, also addresses
critical operator technical and process
issues:
- Seamless device bootstrapping
through integration with the Innopath
Device Capabilities Repository
and an ADD system
- Standards compliance of devices
via FOTA package testing and OMA
test fest attendance
- Support
for ‘Grey Market’ device
via automatic database population
- Complex
infrastructures supported through
InnoPath’s
direct operational experience
at Tier 1 operators
- FOTA Lifecycle management by
facilitating interfaces to OEMs
for FOTA packages and device interoperability
testing
- Ensure error-free rollouts across
multiple departments in wireless
operators through close contact
with network, device, and product
teams
- Customer Care training
The
Customer Impact – Reducing
Churn
Although the FOTA
business case has been proven time-and-time
again in saving device recall costs,
even more critical is its positive
impact on customer churn. An industry
metric is that churn is reduced 4x
if the customer is satisfied. FOTA
can go a long way in making this
a reality, avoiding the need for
the operator to acquire new customers
at $200 each. The annual savings
for a Tier 1 operator from this small
reduction in churn runs into the
millions of dollars annually. Since
FOTA impacts usability, it also has
an effect on the top line since the
users may be more willing to use
a new revenue generating application.
The
Financial Impact – Reducing
Recalls
 FOTA is a commercially
proven technology with significant
market momentum. As stated earlier,
almost 50% of handsets will be FOTA-enabled
in 2009. This growth is driven by
key benefits provided by deploying
a FOTA solution:
- FOTA eliminates software based device recalls
- FOTA improves time to market for new services
- FOTA reduces customer service and warranty costs
As mobile devices
are released into the marketplace
at an ever increasing pace and enabled
with new, more complex features,
OEMs must cope with difficult software
releases and inevitable bugs with
the software. FOTA provides a clean,
efficient mechanism to address software
defects before or after a handset
has been deployed into the marketplace,
avoiding costly recalls and improving
time to market. With device recall
costs averaging $50 or more per unit,
not to mention the cost to the reputation
of the company producing the handset,
it is paramount that a FOTA solution
have a strong track record for eliminating
this risk and saving device recall
costs. In fact, recall costs at a
Tier 1 operator of 50m subscribers
will run over $30m annually. MDM
will result in savings of $18m. FOTA
will also have an impact on CSR costs,
since fewer subscribers will call
with device issues. And as mentioned
above, the positive impact on customer
churn results in real savings.
Controlling the costs of FOTA
The costs associated with providing
FOTA can dramatically impact both
operators and OEMs if they are not
managed properly. Selecting the right
FOTA vendor can provide a mechanism
for keeping those costs contained
while protecting the investment in
the solution. Costs for OEMs are
influenced by the following factors:
- Licensing costs
- Porting effort
- Available ports
- Porting support
- Re-flash time
For the OEM, controlling the impact
to the handset bill of materials
(BOM) is paramount to the business
model. Managing software impact to
the BOM enables the OEM to control
their margins as well as keep the
device at or below a specific price
point. In general, client software
costs are passed on from the OEM
to the operator. As a result, minimizing
the upfront costs associated with
the software is in the best interests
of all parties. To address this issue,
it is important to find a vendor
that supports activation based pricing.
The
second impact on OEM costs is the
porting effort required to integrate
the client onto the handset. This
not only impacts the BOM but also
the time to market for the device.
Finding a vendor capable of minimizing
the porting effort for the OEM
can have a dramatic impact on both
of these issues. To address this
issue, a vendor should provide
a stable API set, numerous device
ports to the OEM’s software
platform and direct porting support.
The client API set represents the
integration point between the client
and the device software. By providing
a stable API, the FOTA provider
is guaranteeing that once ported,
the client can be reused on other
devices based on the same platform,
assuming of course, that the client
architecture is relatively stable
and unchanging. A well executed
API essentially protects the OEMs
porting effort and investment in
FOTA technology.
The
third impact on OEM costs is the
availability of ports. Similar
to the porting effort required
to ingrate the client onto the
handset, platform ports provide
the same protection to an OEM.
OEMs develop their handset on a
variety of software platforms;
REX, Nucleus, Symbian, Linux and
Windows Mobile to name a few. By
providing a port to these platforms,
the FOTA vendor is enabling the OEM
to avoid the costly exercise of porting
the software themselves. Because
most software platforms provide a
mechanism for standardizing the release
of software on a device, porting
to them enables design re-use – the
ability to utilize the same port
over and over again.
The
fourth impact on OEM costs pertains
to the level of support provided
during the porting process. The
release of consumer electronics
such as a mobile phone is a time
driven event. The features and
the technology are provided to
a market window that is expected
to last for a certain period of
time. The longer a porting effort
takes, the greater the threat on
the market window for the device.
A FOTA technology provider should
be judged on the amount of support
they are capable of providing for
the porting effort. If the OEMs
operations are global, the FOTA vendor’s
deployment teams should be global.
If the OEM is shipping on a particular
network that includes the FOTA vendor’s
servers, the FOTA vendor should provide
interoperability testing to assure
that the client will work effectively
in this operator specific environment.
In
addition, selecting a FOTA vendor
should also be made on the basis
of how the upfront costs of the
port are distributed. The vast
majority of an OEM’s costs
in integrating a new technology
onto a handset are associated with
the first port. This is the period
with the greatest learning curve
and uncertainty. Picking
the right FOTA vendor can mitigate
these costs, particularly when
a port for the OEM’s platform
already exists.
The final point of
impact on OEM costs stems from the
performance of the client. One of
the most significant factors for
judging client performance is how
fast a client can re-flash the device.
During this operation, the device
is temporarily unavailable to the
user. By choosing a FOTA vendor whose
technology minimizes the time it
takes to download a DIFF and re-flash
the device, the OEM is helping to
eliminate the perception that the
phone does not meet expectations.
Faster FOTA operations tend to lead
to improved customer satisfaction.
For the operator, the principal cost
for FOTA is centered around the amount
of bandwidth on a network that is
consumed sending the DIFF to the
device. A smaller DIFF size translates
to less network bandwidth. It is
important to understand that DIFF
size is an amplified cost. When a
DIFF is sent out to a group of mobile
devices the numbers can range from
a single device to millions of devices.
Thus, even a relatively modest DIFF
can end up consuming considerable
bandwidth. An experienced FOTA provider
will address this issue using a variety
of technologies ranging from the
richness of their DIFF generation
tool to compression and roaming support.
Compression is particularly
important because the savings can
be from 50-75%. Likewise, roaming
support can substantially impact
the costs of operating a FOTA service.
Roaming support assures that the
client will not accept a DIFF while
roaming. This is important because
when a user is roaming off network,
the costs of receiving data are substantially
higher than on network. This problem
is particularly significant in geographic
markets like Europe where a user
can move across several networks
over a short distance. By providing
roaming support, the carrier is assured
that they are delivering the DIFF
under the most advantageous circumstances.
Options for Deployment:
In-House vs Hosted
 Although the business
model for FOTA is proven, as well
as its positive impact on the customer
experience, some Tier 2/3 operators
may not have the staff or subscriber
base to support an in-house deployment.
For these operators, a hosted FOTA
solution is more appropriate. It
removes the capital expenditure and
training requirement, results in
a positive ROI at low volumes, offloads
the requirement to maintain OEM contact
to the hosting operator, and facilities
TTM due to the quicker start-up time.
InnoPath has partnered with WDSGlobal,
one the leaders in the customer care
space, for a hosted FOTA service.
More information is available at: http://www.wdsglobal.com/solutions/devicemanagement/deviceupdate.asp .
Summary
As
handsets become more and more complex
and feature laden, the ability
to remotely service and manage
these devices becomes increasingly
critical. With decreased costs
for both OEMs and network operators,
over the air firmware updates (FOTA)
as well as more comprehensive mobile
device management capabilities
become more of a question of “when and
how” and less of a question
of “if”.
With potentially millions of subscribers
and billions of dollars in the balance,
it is critical for both the network
operator and the device maker to
understand both the technology and
the business logic behind FOTA in
order to be able to make informed
decisions best suited for their business
environment.
InnoPath,
drawing on years of MDM client
and server experience, offers the
most complete and technically advanced
FOTA solution. Combined with the
company’s
innovative go-to-market programs,
both OEMs and operators minimize
their FOTA deployment expenses.
The net effects are decreased operating
expenses for the operator and increased
customer satisfaction and brand
loyalty.
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