Nowadays, when people colloquially use the word "wireless," they almost always mean a portable telephone. Over the last 10 years, there has been tremendous growth in the mobile communications markets not only in Japan but also worldwide. For these 10 years, the most popular service has been dominated by voice communication. However, modern mobile communications systems are shifting their focus from solely voice communication to electronic mailing and Internet access. From now, we will evolve into a wireless multimedia society, where a combination of mobile communications and the Internet will play an important role. Wireless technology is the core of mobile communications systems. This article, which focuses on wireless technology, looks at how mobile communications systems have evolved over the last 10 years and looks to the future of advanced wireless technologies that will be necessary to realize a true wireless multimedia society in the coming decade.

Mobile radio and Internet communications services are penetrating our society at an exponential rate of growth. The Internet is the most important driving force towards establishing a multimedia society. Mobile communication systems add an important capability to our communications society, i. e. , mobility. The third generation mobile communications system called IMT-2000 is expected to play an important role in this soon-to- arrive multimedia society. Wideband mobile services based on IMT-2000 will soon become a reality (early 2001). First, we look at the trends of wireless access technologies, centering on IMT-2000. Wideband direct sequence code division multiple access (W-CDMA) will be a major component of a global IMT-2000 standard. Then, we address advanced wireless techniques, i. e. , interference cancellation and employing an adaptive antenna array, which can enhance W-CDMA at a later date. Finally, requirements are discussed for future wireless techniques that will support a fully mobile multimedia communications society.