Demonstration of streaming music, VoIP and video shows the possibilities of a true, mobile, multi mega-bit broadband technology.
During CES in Las Vegas, I had the unique opportunity to get an up-close look of a real mobile WiMAX network. This was no "pre-WiMAX equipment" trial, but a full working demonstration of a 802.16e network, similar to the ones that will be rolled out by Sprint and Clearwire in the US in the near future.
The demonstration, courtesy of Intel and in conjunction with the CES trade show, consisted of 4 base stations covering several square miles around the Las Vegas convention center. The folks from Intel explained that the WiMAX network was a smaller version of the 100 base station network currently being tested in the Portland Oregon area.
The Las Vegas network was operating on 2.6Ghz licensed spectrum utilizing 10Mhz channels on 3 sector base stations. The equipment consisted of Motorola Wi4 Diversity access points mounted within the vehicles, which were also connected to a Wi-Fi router to hi-light Wi-Fi enabled devices such as a laptop and Apple iPhone.
As I climbed into the vehicle the radio was playing a Norah Jones song which I learned was being streamed from a file-server in Portland Oregon. My Intel hosts asked if I had any other music requests and within seconds, we were listening to one of the latest tunes from Bruce Springsteen. The audio quality was smooth and clear with no noticeable latency.
We headed out of the parking lot from the Las Vegas convention center and snapped a few pictures. These photos were immediately uploaded and saved to the file-server in Portland and then downloaded back and viewed from the iPhone, all within a matter of seconds.
Next on the list was to open up a browser and check out some popular websites. We pulled up Google Earth and zoomed into the Las Vegas Strip. All of the 3D imagery rendered flawlessly. We then opened up Skype and placed a call to my friend who was walking the trade floor. The call was smooth and clear with no latency. During the call we experienced a hand-off between the base stations with no interruptions.
For the final test, we accessed a file from the Portland server and watched a short video on the Intel test network in Oregon, while simultaneously running multiple applications with no degradation in performance. During the test we also experienced speeds up to 45 miles per hour while experiencing multiple hand-offs between the base stations.
While the downlink performance was impressive at 3Mbs, even more impressive was the performance of the uplink, or the ability to send data back to the base station, at a full 1.5Mbs which will enable applications such as full two-way video conferencing.
The QOS (quality of service) features of WiMAX also improve the efficiency and management of the network by controlling how packets are delivered based on application and distance from the base station. For example, the system can recognize a user streaming video and can prioritize those packets separately to ensure low latency and better experience.
WiMax.com Staff
At CES in Las Vegas, I got the opportunity to sit down with a few folks from the Sprint Xohm team to get an update on their latest plans.
As many are aware, Xohm is the brand developed by Sprint to launch its new WiMAX broadband service in the United States. Sprint is currently testing Xohm with its employees in Chicago, Baltimore and Washington, D.C. The company plans to formally launch the service in select U.S. cities later this year. I also learned that the group is a separate business unit, complete with its own building, and is being run as a startup.
A lot of naysayers have been saying that “WiMAX is dead” and the chief reason was that Sprint had “abandoned its WiMAX plans.” The speculation started after Gary Forsee, the Sprint chief executive under whose leadership the Xohm initiative was launched, left the company. After talking with them, I'm more excited and convinced in Sprints plans and in WiMAX overall. Here is why:
Sprint is readying its go-to-market partners. The next logical step after getting the network ready is to put in place the customer facing applications: web portal, billing, customer service, etc. On Tuesday, Sprint said it had signed a multiyear contract with Amdocs of St. Louis to handle billing, service activation and to build a Web portal for Xohm. In addition, the company hired SwapDrive of Washington, D.C., to store photos and other digital content for Xohm subscribers; eTelecare Global Solutions of Scottsdale, Ariz., to handle customer care; and McAfee Inc. of Santa Clara, Calif., to handle online security. Sprint also selected advertising agency Soho Square to help launch the Xohm brand in North America.
Although these announcements are interesting, it pales in comparison to the WIMAX ecosystem that Sprint has helped coordinate and develop, both on the infrastructure and device side. They have assembled the top equipment manufactures in their labs in Virginia in a unique, collaborative way. Representatives from Motorola, Nokia, Samsung and Intel are co-located in the same facility and are able to work together and fix issues as they arise.
On the device side, the ecosystem is being further enhanced by announcements from a number of vendors at CES. ASUSTek, a leading Taiwanese provider of computers and communication devices, has announced a complete product line of WiMAX-embedded devices planned for shipment in 2008. Another manufacturer, OQO of San Francisco, intends to embed WiMAX in an ultra mobile PC (UMPC) in 2008. Modem supplier ZyXel and chip supplier Sequans plan to collaborate on a WiMAX modem subscriber device that will allow subscribers to receive Xohm data and voice services.
I would expect that we would hear more on Sprint's plans at CTIA in early April.
Also if you are at CES, be sure and check out the best kept secret – the Sprint Xohm lounge. It is located at the Mono-rail station across for the convention center. It has free internet access and is a nice place to sit down and take a break from the show.
WiMAX.com Staff
In addition to the Montevina platform for notebooks, Intel may also be delivering WiMAX to ultraportables and mobile internet devices through its Menlow platform.
InfoWorld reports that Intel is developing WiMAX chips specifically for mobile devices as an optional addition to the platform:
Intel is already developing a WiMax silicon chip codenamed Baxter Peak for mobile devices. Last year, Nokia said it would use Baxter Peak on its WiMax-enabled N-series Internet tablets, expected to ship in 2008... “[The chip] will be an option similar to how Echo Peak is an option for Centrino notebooks based on the Montevina mobile platform,” [according to Kari Aakre, an Intel spokeswoman]
With hopes of WiMAX taking off in 2009, Intel’s move toward including WiMAX chips in both notebooks and mobile devices is an excellent step toward boosting WiMAX adoption rates. Having a big name like Intel behind WiMAX and actively integrating supportive hardware will make providers that much more inclined to invest in WiMAX and customers that much more likely to subscribe to WiMAX services. Intel’s tactic also encourages a form of brand recognition in the sense that it gets the name “WiMAX” out to the public–thus building awareness about the technology and its capabilities.
Intel’s “Baxter Peak” and other WiMAX-enabled devices are scheduled for shipment early this year.
Ari Zoldan
Launch 3 Communications
It appears that the upcoming 700 MHz auction this month is shaping up to be one of the largest spectrum auctions in our country's history---at least in terms of bid price.
For those not familiar with this spectrum range, it is being vacated by old-style analog TV broadcasters, who are being mandated to switch to digital signals. This switch leaves a large block of spectrum available for other commercial uses.
It is perhaps not well known except to industry insiders that there have actually been several auctions of 700 MHz spectrum previously. Originally broadcasters were supposed to have long ago vacated these bands, but that processed took longer than planned---a lot longer. In any event, large segments of the available spectrum have been auctioned and a number of smaller carriers purchased spectrum blocks in this range. One company Aloha partners bought 12 MHz in numerous US markets. They recently sold this spectrum to AT&T for $2.5 billion dollars or almost $1 per MHz/POP.
This upcoming auction will auction the balance of the spectrum and it has drawn a lot of attention partially due to Google's pledge to bid for the large C-block of licenses that is available for nationwide use. Google managed to lobby the FCC to mandate that the block would be available to any equipment vendor along with a few other provisions amounting to at least a partial "open access" model.
I think this will be a huge auction in terms of participants, the final list of which should be settled soon (a number of companies filed incomplete applications and they have until January 4th, 2008 to complete those applications). Who is not bidding is almost as interesting as who is. Clearwire and Sprint for example have both announced they do not intend to bid.
This spectrum range has the potential to nurture that elusive nationwide broadband wireless carrier that the FCC so clearly covets to emerge. However, while this spectrum range has tremendous propagation and non-line-of-sight coverage capability it cannot transport the level of broadband that higher frequencies such as 2.5 GHz can for example. It could provide a solid level of connectivity footprint all around the nation, but with limited bandwith at high adoption rates.
So what does this mean for WiMAX and/or LTE? Well, not much in the short run. There are a number of companies already building, shipping and deploying gear made by several vendors, but all of these are proprietary. I expect to see a WiMAX profile in the coming year for this spectrum range. But interoperability testing could take quite some time to complete. LTE is just too far out to call in terms of its use in the band.
Stay tuned, the ball drops on January 24, 2008.
Source: FCC
Tim Sanders,
tim@thefinalmile.net
www.TheFinalMile.net
With the new year, investors and all breeds of business people are re-evaluating–and maybe even crossing their fingers–for the industries they’ve put their money on.
Many are wondering if this will be the big year for WiMAX in particular. Fortune seems to think so. In an article entitled “The Top 10 Wireless Trends for 2008,” WiMAX came in at number five with some buzz about Xohm and Nokia’s WiMAX-enabled Internet tablet.
Also noteworthy is the fact that nearly all the other listed trends either go hand-in-hand with WiMAX or would benefit from the deployment of a nationwide network. For instance, camera phones with much more advanced functions are listed as one hot trend. With WiMAX, sending and receiving cell phone pictures would be so much faster and easier than it is on traditional cellular networks. Furthermore, WiMAX aficionados even speak of traditional digital cameras becoming WiMAX-enabled, with the ability to quickly and easily upload pictures to blogs, e-mails or other devices without ever touching a USB cord or PC. If camera phones have hit big, how much more so would a WiMAX-enabled camera be likely to hit the trend list?
For 2008, investors and others with a hand in WiMAX will be happy to see that secular sources are keeping an eye on WiMAX. The public’s technological needs and desires can be matched by what WiMAX has to offer–the key is getting it out there for the taking.
Ari Zoldan
Launch 3 Communications
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Comments (0) In looking back over this past year, it has clearly been a busy one for WiMAX and broadband wireless technology in general. There has been important news that surely deserves mention beyond just five. And I am sure many can argue with my choices. But in the interests of brevity here are my top picks for WiMAX news in 2007.
Sprint Partners with Clearwire
I think that clearly this was the biggest news of the year when it happened as it instantly vetted the WiMAX approach for both companies. It also was a huge win for Clearwire---at least for a while. Unfortunately, it was not a completed deal but a preliminary agreement that got bogged down in the details. Still, the fact that the two companies considered this partnership is still pertinent to the industry even after the fact as it indicates that both companies felt there was opportunity there. Despite this, Sprint is now testing its first two networks in Chicago and Baltimore.
Sprint Unpartners with Clearwire
Well, easy come, easy go I suppose, because certainly this mega-impact deal did not long last. Why it fell apart is arguable. Likely the deal ended at least partly due to Sprint's internal customer churn problems and struggles to integrate the Nextel platform and retain those customers. Sprint's CEO was forced out due to those problems and some of the struggle was pegged, I think unfairly, on Sprint's WiMAX operation (which had not cost much as of yet). There may have been numerous technical issues as well involved in integrating the two companies operations. This hurts Clearwire's mobile ambitions, but not necessarily its existing business in any way. It might actually help them to focus on that for a while.
Cisco buys Navini
I think this is important news for several reasons. One is clearly that Cisco sees a future for WiMAX in its product lines, which have been very successful with Wi-Fi technologies. Also, I think it is another vetting for the 802.16e platform, which is rapidly becoming the WiMAX technology platform of choice in the US. Navini has some very interesting antenna technology called "Beamforming" which offers some interesting potential to enhance WiMAX core technology. Plus it is a field tested platform with some solidly sized worldwide ISP customers such as Unwired Australia on board. Good move by Cisco.
The FCC Vets WiMAX for the 3.65 GHz band
Many outside the broadband wireless industry would not choose this as a key news item from the past year, but I think it is a sleeping giant of potential. Why? Well, largely because there is gear soon to be here. At least two companies have announced product for this spectrum and it is basically free for all to use this band. It is quiet, new and has a substantial amount of power allotment. For rural carriers in particular, this could be a godsend as this technology should deliver very high bandwidth coupled with decent NLOS coverage capability. I suspect veteran insiders will start using this product as soon as solid gear is available for the purpose.
The Municipal Wireless Meltdown
Probably no broadband wireless technology of the last few years (at least since the days of Metricom, Teligent and Winstar) have gone from unknown to heralded and back to nearly zero as fast as municipal wireless has. In retrospect it probably makes a lot of sense that this would happen, not because it had to happen, but because companies and cities were operating under a whole set of bad assumptions. Namely the business case for municipal wireless is suspect without certain specifics being included. Why? Well, a municipal wireless network predicated on Wi-Fi is the maximum most expensive deployment cost wise that you can imagine. Wi-Fi is short range and requires a lot of relays. Many deployments fell into the trap of thinking they needed far fewer than they did to succeed. Also, the hubris of build it and they will come business plans re-surfaced in this space to everyone's detriment. To succeed a muni deployment probably requires a rock solid anchor tenant and that usually means the city itself. If the city doesn't find the network a net cost savings for them to pay for versus their old technology, then it will likely not work for anybody.
I hope you enjoyed my picks. Have a terrific 2008 everybody.
Tim Sanders,
tim@thefinalmile.net
www.TheFinalMile.net
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Comments (0) The term 'WiMAX' gets tossed around pretty freely these days. Just like Wi-Fi or 3G though, there are variations about what qualifies as a WiMAX product.
The WiMAX brand is an acronym that originates from the phrase "Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access". The industry trade association WiMAX Forum lays claim to the brand, which also gave birth to the group's name. WiMAX Forum exists to certify products that conform to the technical standard for both the radio and air protocol in addition to interoperability testing between multiple vendors' devices.
That technical standard today is derived from IEEE802.16 WirelessMAN and ETSI HiperMAN. Historically, ETSI standards are associated with European interests and IEEE standards are associated with North American interests, sometimes with competing results (such as the ETSI HiperLAN standard being dropped in favor of IEEE802.11, which we know today as the basis of Wi-Fi technologies). In the case of WiMAX, both groups agreed to harmonize their efforts and publish identical standards.
It is rare that you hear anyone talk today about the Wireless LAN market - instead they talk about Wi-Fi technologies. The same behavior is occurring with WiMAX technologies. Companies traditionally associated with the Broadband Wireless Access (BWA), Fixed Wireless Access (FWA), Broadband Wireless Internet Access (BWIA), or similar terms are generically calling their efforts WiMAX. WiMAX should be viewed as part of the BWA marketplace and not the other way around. WiMAX Forum Certified products are replacing the proprietary vendor solutions that preceded it. WiMAX can also be considered part of the mobile 3G marketplace, as it became an official 3G air protocol late last year by the ITU.
Defining WiMAX by the technical standard and the market classification is just the tip of the iceberg. Next, we'll discuss the suitability of WiMAX for fixed, stationary, nomadic, portable, and mobile applications. And we'll dive deeper in the certification process to understand which vendor products are WiMAX and which are proprietary 802.16 implementations.
Confused by the definition of WiMAX and what constitutes a WiMAX solution? Submit your comments to be addressed in future articles.
By Jeff Orr, ORR Technology
BusinessWire reports some logistical movement among two of WiMAX’s key players, Intel and Clearwire.
Arvind Sodhani has resigned from Clearwire’s board of directors, leaving one of Intel’s two spots open for a new member. The reason? Sodhani also serves as president of Intel Capital and executive vice president of Intel Corporation and feels his various involvements could create conflicts of interest.
The article also sheds some valuable light on Intel’s relationship with Clearwire. In speaking about his resignation from the board of directors, Sodhani was quoted as saying:
Intel continues to view WiMAX as a top strategic initiative and looks forward to continuing to support Clearwire to develop, deploy and market a mobile WiMAX service offering in the U.S. over Clearwire’s network.
After the Sprint-Clearwire split, naysayers seemed to believe that a major support beam for WiMAX had fallen apart. Optimists, on the other hand, recognized that a support system is already in place for WiMAX infrastructures, including supporters like Intel and Motorola. This theory has come to fruition, especially with quotes like Sodhani’s that profess support and camaraderie between Intel and Clearwire. It will be interesting to see if any such companies emerge in a symbolic leadership position as Sprint and Clearwire had.
Ari Zoldan
Launch 3 Communications
A recent report from ABI research shows virtually no demand for Qualcomm's UMB service however Qualcomm's IP portfolio continues to be strong in enabling technologies for 4G.
From the report, "No operator has yet announced plans to trial or deploy UMB. Several of the major CDMA operators in the two primary markets are migrating to other technologies. Vendors cannot move forward with development unless their customers commit to trial this technology. WiMAX and LTE have ecosystems in place that offer support. LTE, which is expected to be available around 2010, already has operator commitment from Vodafone and Verizon. WiMAX has implemented many trials, and has over fifty commercial deployments underway."
Here is a great snapshot of the 4G roadmap courtesy of Parks and Associates:
The road to 4G has traditionally followed three paths with LTE (3GPP), UMB (3GPP2) and of course Mobile WiMAX (802.16). With WiMAX available today and LTE right around the corner it seems that UMB is struggling to build critical mindshare with important CDMA carries that should have followed Qualcomm's planned roadmap to 4G. Everything changed with the recent announcement from Verizon to go with LTE rather than UMB. Look for more CDMA carriers to follow Verizon's path.
Mike Wolleben
Listen to 4G's research findings by CSMG on consumers' future demands for 4G. 
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