Recently in standards Category

So much news has been generated lately about WiFi that sometimes it seems as if the world has forgotten that technology’s younger, more powerful sibling, WiMAX.

But, market research firm In-Stat hasn’t forgotten. In a recent report, the firm predicted some significant growth in worldwide subscribers to WiMAX-based broadband.

In-Stat said it expects 2006 to yield 222,000 WiMAX subscribers, and that number should grow to 19.7 million by the end of 2010. The firm noted that most WiMAX subscribers today are in the Asia/Pacific region.

I find it interesting that, even looking ahead to 2010, WiMAX subscribers are measured in the millions rather than the billions. The technology does need to overcome some notable challenges before it becomes more widely adopted.

“The biggest challenge still comes from competing technologies and services,” In-Stat analyst Daryl Schoolar said in the report. “WiMAX will have difficulty competing in areas that already have established broadband services.”

I have read that one of the most promising markets for WiMAX is rural areas, and in the report Schooler conveys that idea.

“Much of WiMAX's early success will come from under-developed regions of the globe,” he says.

When it does get deployed, it appears likely providers other than those specializing in 3G will be the ones to jump in and get their feet wet. In-Stat predicts that, with the exception of Sprint, most 3G carriers won’t be deploying WiMAX anytime soon.

What do you think lies ahead for WiMAX in the future? Watch this space for more discussion of the topic soon.

It often seems to be the case that the latest and coolest wireless devices become available first in Asia, and eventually make their way to Europe and the U.S. Hopefully for us geeks, that will be the case with Samsung’s latest gadget, the WiMAX-enabled SPH-P9000 (or more affectionately referred to by Samsung as “MIT” for “Mobile Intelligent Terminal), which is a combination cell phone, MP3 player, and PDA with built-in QWERTY keyboard.

The device was unveiled today at Mobile WiMAX Summit in Seoul, South Korea. Samsung describes the P9000 as both “a PDA-based device utilizing Mobile WiMAX and CDMA EV-DO connectivity” and a “true convergence device capable of voice and multimedia data communications through Mobile WiMAX technology.”

Here are a few of the new device’s notable features:

• Five-inch LCD screen

• QWERTY keyboard

• Runs Windows XP

• 30 GB hard drive

• Weighs just over one pound

• Built-in 1.3 megapixel camera

• Bluetooth with BT Messenger

• Mini USB/24 pin connector

• 1 GHz CPU

• 2980mAh/7200mAh battery

 As sweet as Samsung’s newest gadget may be, like any tech toy it’s not without problems. An engadget review says that people playing with the prototype complain the screen is too small and that the device gets very hot.

Talk about vision. The government in Singapore this past summer announced a ten-year “digital future” plan (Singapore iN2015) to make the country number one in the world in terms of adding value to the economy and society using what it calls “infocomm” technologies.

InformationWeek, in its September 4, 2006 edition, reported that one of the iN2015 goals, to have connect at least 90 percent of homes up with broadband, is being pursued in conjunction with the efforts of service provider SingTel.

More specifically, the InformationWeek report notes that SingTel hopes to make nationwide WiFi a reality in Singapore by year’s end. That may sound huge, but on its Disrupt-O-Meter (which shows how disruptive various technological developments may be to the market), InformationWeek ranks SingTel’s WiFi plans well below the halfway mark.

Maybe that’s because wide-area WiFi projects seem a dime a dozen these days. Why, just in the past fortnight alone, municipal WiFi plans were announced in Hartford, CT and Riverside, CA. That’s on top of many other cities in recent months to hop on the WiFi bandwagon.

WiFi may be all the rage, but its younger, sexier, more expensive sibling WiMAX—which covers bigger areas—is catching on slowly. An Associate Press report Friday noted that Germany’s Deutsche Telekom has decided not to pursue WiMAX as a way to expand its high-speed Internet services.

That means Deutsche Telekom also won’t be participating in the upcoming German auction for WiMAX spectrum licenses. According to AP, the company said “it has decided to use other technologies to expand its high-speed Internet offering into rural areas.”

I checked Deutsche Telekom’s Web site, and couldn’t find any press releases about its plans to forgo WiMAX, so I’m not sure what other technologies the company plans to use in rural areas. Maybe WiFi?

AP noted in its Friday report that Intel is a big supporter of WiMAX, committing $1 billion during the next five years to the technology for rural areas including part of the U.S. and Brazil. (The company’s CEO also paid a visit last week to India to stump for the technology there, AP reported.)

WiMAX is, however, gaining some momentum in Korea, thanks to Korea Telecom’s plans to use the technology for a wireless network in the capitol city of Seoul, AP said. But for now, it appears that WiFi is the technology of choice in the U.S.

What do you think—is WiMAX worth the extra cost?

Symbol Technologies, a company that specializes in enterprise mobility solutions, announced today what it says is the first ever radio frequency (RF) wireless switch (RFS7000) capable of bridging all RF technologies—including RFID, 802.11n, mesh, voice over wireless LAN (VoWLAN) and WiMAX.

In its announcement about RFS7000, Symbol said the switch “is designed to support and consolidate Wi-Fi and emerging RF technologies,” enabling businesses to “efficiently and cost-effectively deploy and centrally manage wireless voice, data and infrastructure devices throughout the RF spectrum.”

In an article today, Laptop Magazine reporter Jeffrey Wilson noted that the RFS7000 supports up to two-hundred and fifty-six 802.11a/b/g access port, and enables Layer 3 roaming, “which allows mobile users to maintain a connection to high-bandwidth applications as they roam.”

Here is an image of the unassuming-looking RFS7000, courtesy of newscom.com.

Wilson’s conclusion is that, because the switch runs on Linux OS, it has definite promise to let “users to abandon piecemeal RF technology installations and allow them to leverage their investment on an ongoing basis rather than ripping and replacing hardware when it becomes obsolete.”

Symbol’s VP and General Manager of the company’s Wireless Infrastructure and RFID divisions, Anthony Bartolo, said in a statement that, “Business needs are driving the convergence of voice, video and data, effectively pushing the new mobile edge from the wired to the wireless touch point, and requiring the network to adapt to the changing needs of new mobile devices and applications.”

Bartolo continued: “The industry's first RF switch will provide the platform to integrate and manage current and future mobile devices and wireless technologies.”

Here are some of the key features Symbol is using to market its new product:

• Robust, scalable support for enterprise mobility

• Use of modular Wi-NG-based architecture

• 802.11n-ready

• Supports optional add-on modules for dual-mode (cellular/WiFi) handheld devices

• Integration with Symbol’s RF Management software

The big wireless news so far this week is T-Mobile’s launch of its dual-mode WiFi/Cellular service in Seattle.

TMCnet Associate Editor Patrick Barnard reported yesterday that the new service “lets T-Mobile’s subscribers make free phone calls using their at-home WiFi network or from any number of public WiFi hot spots which have been set up throughout the city. For now, only subscribers using the Nokia 6136 and the Samsung T709 dual mode phones can place free calls over WiFi.”

The new service uses Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA) technology, which was developed by Kineto Wireless and is now part of 3rd Generation Partnership Project’s (3GPP) standards. (T-Mobile also is using femtocell technology to enhance wireless network coverage, according to TMCnet Executive Editor Robert Liu.)

Liu, who reported last month on T-Mobile’s service ahead of its official deployment in Seattle, corresponded today by e-mail with Kineto Director of Marketing Steve Shaw, to get some additional details about how the service functions.

In an e-mail correspondence, Shaw told Liu that UMA enables true seamless handover between WiFi and cellular networks, “without any noticeable (sub 50 msec) service interruption.”

UMA enables this functionality, Shaw explained, because it works in the same way as a base station  controller in a cellular network.

“When you drive across town, your GSM call is seamlessly handed between BSCs and radio antennas as you drive,” Shaw said. “UMA uses the exact same technology to accomplish call handovers.”

For subscribers, the benefits are pretty obvious: the ability to conserve cell phone minutes and make calls from any location. Using the service in a WiFi hotspot (T-Mobile says it plans to increase the number of hotspots it already maintains) gives subscribers access to transfer speeds faster than even 3G cellular—making it possible to download content such as music, videos, and games.

T-Mobile wins first prize when it comes to rolling out national, U.S. dual-mode service—but lags somewhat behind in the global race. British Telecom was first to market globally, with the roll-out of its Fusion a year ago June. TeliaSonera’s dual-mode service, Home Free, followed suit earlier this fall, and Orange’s unik was fast on its heels. Telecom Italia also launched a dual-mode service last month.

In his article, Barnard raises some questions about how T-Mobile will handle billing of the service—specifically, whether or not it will be difficult for subscribers to keep track of how many cellular minutes they’ve used. I won’t be a spoiler, though—check out the article yourself to see some of the questions T-Mobile hasn’t yet answered about its new service.

The biggest question I still have is: are consumers actually interested in dual-mode services? I suspect the answer will lie in how easy the new services are to use, and to what extent they help people save money on their phone bills. 

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) hasn’t yet formally ratified its 802.11n wireless standard, but manufacturers already are planning or releasing products based on the draft specification. The latest to do so is D-Link, which today announced three new wireless devices based on draft 802.11n technology.

D-Link’s new products are the Link Xtreme N Gigabit Router, and two accompanying desktop and notebook adapters—DWA-552 and DWA-652. All three products, the company said in its press release, “are designed for consumers, small businesses and gamers who demand the highest performance possible from their wireless networks.”

One of the key selling points of the new products is their potential, according to D-Link, to deliver wireless speeds up to 14 times faster than 802.11g.

A PC Pro report yesterday noted that speed and reliability are key reasons why many manufacturers—including Belkin, Linsys, and US Robotics—now are offering products using the draft 802.11n specification, ahead of its official ratification.

“Offering broader bandwidths and engineered for quality of service, 802.11n promises the ability to stream video and audio wirelessly around the home in a more robust and reliable manner,” reporter Matt Whipp wrote in the PC Pro report.

Wikipedia’s entry for 802.11 notes that the new 802.11n specification “builds upon previous 802.11 standards by adding MIMO (multiple-input multiple-output). MIMO uses multiple transmitter and receiver antennas to allow for increased data throughput…”

According to Wikipedia, 802.11n is projected for official ratification in 2007, and promises to deliver a maximum data rate of 540 Mbps and a range of about 160 feet. The standard is being developed by IEEE’s task group for wireless local-area networks (WLANs), which was formed in January of 2004.

This past May, Wikipedia notes, IEEE’s 802.11 Working Group voted on Draft 1.0 of the proposed 802.11n standard, and the new specification fell short of majority, receiving approving votes of only 46.6 percent.

“To proceed to the next step in the IEEE process, a majority vote of 75 percent is required,” Wikipedia says. “According to the IEEE 802.11 Working Group Project Timelines,[2] the 802.11n standard is not due for final approval until July 2007.”

Wikipedia further notes that 802.11n draft technology can interfere with 802.11b and 802.11g networks. Despite this potential glitch, it appears manufacturers aren’t willing to wait for the kinks to be worked out—they’re moving ahead with the new technology, wrinkles and all.

The wireless story of today so far seems to be Nokia’s introduction of a new short-range wireless technology, dubbed Wibree, a possible competitor to Bluetooth.

Nokia is promoting Wibree as an “open industry initiative” designed to enable wireless connectivity between small devices (including watches, wireless keyboards, and toys) while consuming less power than other radio technologies. The company also says the new technology will be interoperable with Bluetooth.

In a press release, Nokia explains about the new technology: “Wibree is implemented either as stand-alone chip or as Bluetooth-Wibree dual-mode chip. The small devices like watches and sports sensors will be based on stand-alone chip whereas Bluetooth devices will take benefit of the dual-mode solution, extending Bluetooth device connectivity to new range of smallest devices.”

The company also noted that Wibree is being developed by Nokia Research Center, and will be made available through an open forum. (Founding members include Broadcom, CSR, Epson and Nordic Semiconductor).

The big deal about Wibree, apparently, is its energy efficiency (up to ten times as efficient as Bluetooth).

A Reuters report on Yahoo! News today notes that, “Because of their low energy consumption, Wibree radio chips will make it possible and efficient to connect phones and other electronics devices to low-power watches, sports sensors, wireless mice or health monitors, which often have not been able to use Bluetooth technology due to its power demands.”

Wibree may have potential, and it may be generating buzz, but it will be a little while before consumers get to judge how useful the new technology is. The commercial version of Wibree becomes available during the second quarter 2007, and one of the first chip makers to jump on board, Nordic Semiconductor, will begin shipping Wibree chips sometime in the second half of 2007, Reuters reports.

Only time will tell if Wibree becomes the next Bluetooth. Do you think it will?