Toshiba and Bristol's Telecommunications Research Laboratory,
Bristol
Who they are
Toshiba are a vast multi-national,
specialising in advanced electronics. They decided to base their
European research centre in Bristol, at the Telecommunications
Research Laboratory (TRL).
Situated in an area with a high concentration
of international telecommunication, multimedia and computing
companies and supported by Toshiba's strengths and expertise in
computing and multimedia, TRL's work focuses on the scientific
research required to make all kinds of mobile communication
possible and affordable, 'always on' fast internet access.
What they do
The possibilities are endless, but first the
systems behind mobile communication have to change. New digital
signal processing, algorithms, architectures and protocols are
needed.
Universal Mobile Telecommunications System
(UMTS) is the key to many of these future developments. UMTS is an
evolution from second generation technologies and uses a new radio
spectrum to offer data speeds of up to 2 Mbps, making portable
videophones more readily available. UMTS, with its increased
capacity and increased data capability, will allow network
operators to offer real multi-media services.
Toshiba is a vast multi-national able to
invest anywhere in the world. It is a tribute to the region's
telecoms and academic communities and to team leader, Joe
McGeehan's, spirit that they chose to base their European research
centre in the South West.