No Strings Attached

By Mike von Wahlde
Associate Editor, INTERNET TELEPHONY

You want broadband speed without wires. You do. I know you do. Why wouldn't you? You want to sit in front of the TV with your laptop perched on your knees, without that pesky line to trip over when it's time to get a sandwich, chips, and a root beer from the fridge. You want to sit on the patio and check your e-mail before you get into work. You want it at the summer home at Lake Geneva. You want to avoid sitting and twiddling your thumbs as you take the red-eye train back to Boston from Washington, DC.

Well, if you live in several test areas around the world, you can have it. And soon you just might find it everywhere. Yep. Non-line-of-sight, unwired, true UMTS TD-CDMA broadband access is being made available by IPWireless. And with providers such as Sprint, Maui SkyFibre, Craig Wireless, and Walker Wireless using their strategy, IPWireless is making a name for itself.

IPWireless offers Advanced 3G Broadband, using internationally recognized UMTS TD-CDMA (TDD) standards. Their solution includes complete network infrastructure equipment and pocket-sized wireless modems, and the technology is designed for operation in three licensed bands: IMT-2000 1.9 GHz, MMDS 2.5 GHz, and FWA 3.4 GHz. Wireline data rates; coverage; 3GPP standards-compliance; advanced signal processing techniques that maximize receiver sensitivity to operate with high path loss and building penetration loss, and to cancel interference; and high-speed data services at rates of up to 9 Mbps (6 Mbps down and 3 Mbps up) are provided in a 10 or 12 MHz channel, or half in a 5 or 6 MHz channel.

Sprint's trials with IPWireless in Montreal exemplify the interest in the technology and the company by service providers who offer both fixed and wireless access. "As Sprint evaluates its broadband wireless strategy, these field trials allow Sprint to consider the viability of next generation technologies," said Cameron Rejali, vice president of broadband wireless products and operations for Sprint. "Sprint is exploring non-line-of-sight solutions that combine high data speeds, portability, and self-installation with an affordable, scalable deployment model. We are pleased to have successfully leveraged the existing resources of Sprint and other industry participants in order to minimize the time and expense associated with the simultaneous trial of multiple technologies."

The IPWireless trials deploy multi-cell architectures testing the capacity, portability, indoor penetration, and broadband customer experience from a pocket-sized portable device. In addition to the trials described above, Sprint also is evaluating a point-to-multipoint non-line-of-sight solution that offers the performance and reliability to make it attractive for applications such as PCS/cellular backhaul access as well as access for small- and medium-sized businesses. This allows Sprint to evaluate solutions that utilize advanced space-time processing and MIMO (multiple input multiple output) techniques to enable very high spectral efficiency and wireline-like reliability.

Sprint's trial with IPWireless, which is done in collaboration with Inukshuk Internet Inc., began last month, and will leverage the existing demonstration network of Inukshuk.

This technology should prove to be a boon not only to mobile users, but also rural users who have been kept out of the broadband loop. For service providers who have both fixed broadband and wireless data services, IPWireless -- and product offerings of a similar nature -- will prove to be a way to tie services together in a package that is ultimately valuable consumers.

Mike von Wahlde welcomes your comments at mvonwahlde@tmcnet.com.