Intel, Proxim, Others Back the WirelessMAN

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

------ Forwarded Message
From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>


Intel, Proxim, Others Back the WirelessMAN
April 8, 2003
<http://www.80211-planet.com/news/article.php/2178281>

802.11-networks are called Wi-Fi because they've got the Wi-Fi
Alliance to push the standard and its interoperability. But what does
802.16, better known as WirelessMAN (Metropolitan Area Network) fixed
wireless broadband, have?

As of today, it's got a slew of big names, in the form of members of
the WiMAX Forum. This industry consortium has been around since April
of 2001, but since just the beginning of this year, it has added
seven new members. The current line up includes Airspan Networks,
Proxim (Quote, Company Info), Alvarion (Quote, Company Info), Aperto
Networks, Wi-LAN, Intel (Quote, Company Info), Nokia (Quote, Company
Info), OFDM Forum, Ensemble Communications, and Fujitsu
Microelectronics America. Major support from Intel and Proxim alone
(that latter has also joined the WiMAX board of directors) is likely
to shove WirelessMAN into the mainstream as a viable contender
against other forms of last-mile Internet connections.

WiMAX hopes to take on a roll for WirelessMAN just as the Wi-Fi
Alliance has for wireless LANs. Margaret LaBrecque, WiMAX president,
says the similar approach will include interoperability and
compatibility testing of future 802.16a products. A WiMAX stamp of
approval will also be used.

LeBrecque, who is also part of the broadband wireless initiatives at
Intel, says there likely will be some initial 802.16 equipment
shipping in the latter part of 2004, with volume shipments in 2005.
No major carriers have yet deployed anything with 802.16 technology.

WirelessMAN 802.16, which was initially approved in April 2002 by the
IEEE provides up to 50 kilometers of range. It has a single-carrier
modulation scheme that operates between 10 and 66GHz radio frequency
and requires line-of-sight towers for the connection to work. The new
802.16a extension was ratified by the IEEE in January this year (thus
the recent flurry of activity for WiMAX) and uses a lower frequency
range of 2 to 11GHz. It doesn't need line-of-sight to work.

For throughput, LeBrecque says, "because 802.16a covers 2-11 GHz
bands, it has variable channel bandwidth. 802.16 works in both
licensed and unlicensed. You must be able to have flexible channel
bandwidth. That directly determines throughput."

802.16 will be a potential competitor to any broadband connection for
homes or businesses, from DSL/Cable on up to T1s, and likely cost
much less to deploy to multiple users since cables won't be run.
While 802.16 and 802.11/Wi-Fi are not compatible -- expect 16 to be
used as Internet/ISP network backhaul to hotspots -- LeBrecque says
"We believe that now that a standard is in place, integration like
having a laptop connect directly to the Man, may be achieved."

A typical 802.16 setup would include a base station about the size of
a pizza box mounted on a building or tower at the ISP that
establishes a signal with a smaller subscriber unit at the home or
business. The subscriber unit could be mounted out doors for best
throughput, or even brought inside a building for potential
self-installations to avoid truck rolls.

The upcoming 802.16b specification will add Quality of Service (QoS)
to WirelessMAN and increases the spectrum used between 5 and 6GHz
bands. An 802.16e specification for broadband mobility is also in the
beginning stages.

"With the completion of the [16a] specification in January, there's a
lot of excitement," says LaBrecque. "In terms of WiMAX, we've had
seven new members join since January. We think 802.16 is the next big
thing in wireless."

------ End of Forwarded Message

-------------------------------------
You are subscribed as interesting-people () lists elistx com
To manage your subscription, go to
  http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip

Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/