Go CDMA Wireless Technology

By Kevin Fitchard 

A growing number of vendors are targeting femtocells at the enterprise with the goal of extending wide area cellular coverage to the office, but AirWalk Communications posits that the femtocell could be so much more, becoming not just an extension of the enterprise voice network, but replacing the enterprise wireless LAN entirely. 

Today AirWalk unveiled the enterprise version of its femto solution, the EdgePoint Pro, a miniature base station that can be mounted in a server rack and support up to 28 simultaneous calls. Like other enterprise femto platforms, the EdgePoint comes with mobility management functions that allow a cluster of femto cells to act as a group network rather than as individual isolated devices, but AirWalk has also added enterprise features to the device that allow the phone to act as an extension of the IP PBX. Standard PBX features such as 4-number dialing, call forwarding, waiting and directory services could be grafted onto any handset supporting a session initiation protocol (SIP) client. 

AirWalk CEO Serge Pequeux said that more and more people are using their cellphones as their primary work devices even while at the office. Instead of using the femtocell to expand the public wireless network inside the confines of the enterprise, why not bring the private enterprise network to the public one? What’s more a network of femtocells could be used to replace the corporate WLAN network entirely. AirWalk will offer both CDMA 1X and 1X EV-DO versions of the device, meaning an enterprise could deploy data femtos alongside of voice femtos. Such as set-up would create a data overlay, which an entire cell of EV-DO capacity dedicated to just a few users. Since the data-femto would form part of a private network backhauled through the enterprise’s own data connection, the operator wouldn’t have to worry about broadband capacity being siphoned off from the macro network. 

In the GSM-UMTS world, operators and vendors are exploring using unlicensed mobile access (UMA), which currently powers many residential dual-mode Wi-Fi deployments, as a means of tunneling voice traffic from enterprise femto network to the operator’s core. AirWalk and several other vendors are backing a different route, though, opting instead to bring the SIP protocols that power VoIP networks to wireless. Optimally a SIP-based femto network would seamlessly meld into an IP multimedia subsystem architecture, but as IMS is still a ways off in most operators, they would need to deploy convergence servers to connect their legacy voice networks to the SIP-based architecture at the enterprise. 

Last year, AirWalk, Tatara Systems and Tango networks collaborated to demonstrate just such a convergence solution. Tango’s supplied its Abrazo platform, which extends PBX functions to the mobile phone. AirWalk supplied its femtocell, while Tatara’s convergence server linked the network back to the operator’s network.

By: Michael Kwan

Earlier this week, we got a good look at the BlackBerry Niagara 9630, the CDMA amalgamation of the GSM-sourced BlackBrry Curve 8900 and Bold 9000. At the time, we saw a leaked roadmap pointing toward a Q3 release with Sprint.

This May release date comes courtesy of an anonymous source “familiar with the plan.” These analysts aren’t being particularly specific, but a May release date is well within the realm of reason, considering that the buggy beta units are already filtering their way onto YouTube.

If the GSM pricing for the Bold 9000 and Javelin 8900 are any indication, I’m going to venture a guess that Verizon will sell the BlackBerry 9630 Niagara for about $200 with a qualifying two-year contract. No word yet on when (and if) this handset will jump over to Telus and Bell in Canada, but they’re pretty likely candidates too.

Rajesh S Kurup / Mumbai  

Your wireless internet connection has just got faster, with CDMA operators launching services that offer speeds of up to 3.1 mbps.

On a comparative basis, this is faster by over 20 times than the existing wireless broadband connections, and 10 times than average broadband connections in the country.
At present, broadband is defined as always-on connectivity with 256 kbps speed on Ethernet connections (wired), while the maximum speed available over wireless is around 144 kbps.
However, the upload and download speeds do not match the advertised speeds, which can be misleading to users. Users in India, for instance, only get around 30-40 kbps connectivity on a 256 kbps connection and a meagre 9-10 kbps on a 144 kbps connection during peak times, according to Internet Service Providers Association of India (ISPAI) President Rajesh Chharia.
Tata Teleservices has launched ‘Photon+’, a plug and play device that offers data speeds of up to 3.1 mbps. It claims that this is 20 times faster than existing wireless mobile technologies. It has also unveiled another product — Power Launcher — an Ethernet-based broadband product that offers speeds up to 100 mbps.
“There is an explosion of internet usage in the country, with an increase in usage of bandwidth …the number of individual internet users far exceeded that of corporate users, and the launch of these services will enable faster and trouble-free internet access,” Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Ltd Managing Director Mukund Govind Rajan said.
According to the recent Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) data, the total number of internet connections in the country stand at around 13 million, of which broadband connections are 5.65 million.
Another CDMA player, Reliance Communications has also rolled out a high-speed broadband service, Reliance Netconnect Broadband Plus. This has a downlink speed of up to 3.1 mbps and a separate uplink speed of up to 1.8 mbps, which the company claims is much higher than any other offering in the country.
“This is the inflection point for the Indian internet industry and would enable broadband access to millions of online Indians,” RCom President Mahesh Prasad said, attributing the poor penetration to the limitations of wireline internet like last mile connectivity and time taken for network deployment.
But are these tall claims? According to Chharia: “Their claims are right as 3.1 Mbps connections can be offered. However, will these companies provide both access and international bandwidth at these speeds? If both access and bandwidth are provided at these speeds, it’s a great leap for the industry”.
The Cellular Operators’ Association of India (COAI) is not amused. The body of GSM operators has sought the Department of Telecommunications’ (DoT) intervention to stop these services, which it claims are 3G EVDO services. It is “legally untenable” to permit select players to get a preferential headstart to offer 3G services, it wrote in a letter to the DoT.
“Controversies are a part of this industry. However, in the end the services are beneficial to the customers,” said Mukund Govind Rajan.

Rajesh S Kurup / Mumbai  

Your wireless internet connection has just got faster, with CDMA operators launching services that offer speeds of up to 3.1 mbps.

On a comparative basis, this is faster by over 20 times than the existing wireless broadband connections, and 10 times than average broadband connections in the country.
At present, broadband is defined as always-on connectivity with 256 kbps speed on Ethernet connections (wired), while the maximum speed available over wireless is around 144 kbps.
However, the upload and download speeds do not match the advertised speeds, which can be misleading to users. Users in India, for instance, only get around 30-40 kbps connectivity on a 256 kbps connection and a meagre 9-10 kbps on a 144 kbps connection during peak times, according to Internet Service Providers Association of India (ISPAI) President Rajesh Chharia.
Tata Teleservices has launched ‘Photon+’, a plug and play device that offers data speeds of up to 3.1 mbps. It claims that this is 20 times faster than existing wireless mobile technologies. It has also unveiled another product — Power Launcher — an Ethernet-based broadband product that offers speeds up to 100 mbps.
“There is an explosion of internet usage in the country, with an increase in usage of bandwidth …the number of individual internet users far exceeded that of corporate users, and the launch of these services will enable faster and trouble-free internet access,” Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Ltd Managing Director Mukund Govind Rajan said.
According to the recent Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) data, the total number of internet connections in the country stand at around 13 million, of which broadband connections are 5.65 million.
Another CDMA player, Reliance Communications has also rolled out a high-speed broadband service, Reliance Netconnect Broadband Plus. This has a downlink speed of up to 3.1 mbps and a separate uplink speed of up to 1.8 mbps, which the company claims is much higher than any other offering in the country.
“This is the inflection point for the Indian internet industry and would enable broadband access to millions of online Indians,” RCom President Mahesh Prasad said, attributing the poor penetration to the limitations of wireline internet like last mile connectivity and time taken for network deployment.
But are these tall claims? According to Chharia: “Their claims are right as 3.1 Mbps connections can be offered. However, will these companies provide both access and international bandwidth at these speeds? If both access and bandwidth are provided at these speeds, it’s a great leap for the industry”.
The Cellular Operators’ Association of India (COAI) is not amused. The body of GSM operators has sought the Department of Telecommunications’ (DoT) intervention to stop these services, which it claims are 3G EVDO services. It is “legally untenable” to permit select players to get a preferential headstart to offer 3G services, it wrote in a letter to the DoT.
“Controversies are a part of this industry. However, in the end the services are beneficial to the customers,” said Mukund Govind Rajan.

February 12, 2009 (Computerworld) In early 2010, Sprint Nextel Corp. expects to launch a new smartphone that works over high-speed wireless WiMax, CDMA cellular and possibly Wi-Fi.

The actual form factor is “still being finalized,” said Scott Lane, director of marketing and sales for Sprint’s 4G unit, in an interview today.

Lane called the coming device a “trimode handset,” meaning it would function in three wireless modes. Including WiMax and CDMA, the third mode will most likely be Wi-Fi, although that piece has not been confirmed. “It will more than likely have Wi-Fi,” he added.

The WiMax portion could make the device the first stand-alone handset with WiMax capability. It will work over Clearwire Corp.‘s Clear WiMax network, which Sprint helped create last year in an ambitious joint venture with Clearwire, Intel Corp., Google Inc. and three cable companies.

The WiMax handset also “could be based on Android” partly because Sprint has a “close relationship with Google,” the main proponent of Android, Lane noted. Still, he said he would not commit to the operating system being based on Android because there are other operating systems that have the processing power to work with high-speed WiMax.

While Sprint spun off its WiMax initiative called Xohm in the joint venture with Clearwire, it has continued to run a 20-person unit devoted to WiMax product development and marketing strategy.

Regarding the Clear network being developed nationwide, Sprint will act as a Mobile Virtual Network Operator that uses the Clear infrastructure to transport data. But the WiMax products that Sprint sells, such as the coming handset, will be provisioned and supported by Sprint, Lane explained. In other words, customers would call Sprint for service calls.

In December, Sprint’s 4G unit announced a dual-mode air card for laptops in the Baltimore market that runs on WiMax and Sprint’s CDMA. While Sprint won’t disclose the number of sales of the air card, Lane said they are “on target.”

Sprint is also preparing to sell WiMax-related products in future Clear markets, which Lane said should reach 40 million to 50 million customers by the end of 2009.

In addition the current air card, which functions in both WiMax and CDMA networks, Sprint plans to offer an air card for laptops that functions only in WiMax. This card is mainly for users who don’t expect to move outside of a WiMax coverage area. It will be less expensive than the current dual-mode air card, which sells for $149 and requires an $80 monthly subscription to operate on both networks.

Also by the end of 2009, Sprint plans to introduce two WiMax modems, one for home users that rivals DSL or cable modem speeds, and the other for business users with higher speeds close to that of a T1 line, Lane said.

Research in Motion’s all-touch-screen handset for Verizon and Vodafone supports EvDO rev. A in the United States and high-speed GSM networks overseas. But it’s definitely not an iPhone clone.

Research in Motion has finally announced details about its long-rumored iPhone competitor, an almost-all-touch-interface 3G handset with a twist: The screen itself is a big hardware button.

The ability to mechanically click the entire screen (RIM calls the feature Click-Through technology) is the centerpiece of the BlackBerry Storm’s touch interface. As with the iPhone, you can scroll and select by dragging and tapping with your fingertip. But to initiate action, instead of double-tapping, you confirm a selection by physically depressing or clicking the screen.

Four hardware buttons at the bottom offer additional–and traditional–BlackBerry and phone navigation aids: Red and green phone buttons for accessing phone features and ending calls, a button with the BlackBerry icon for accessing menus, and a return button.

Due for the Holidays

The Storm should be available from Verizon Wireless in time for the holidays, RIM and Verizon officials said during a press tour earlier this week. But they did not specify an exact shipping date or price.

The device will support Verizon’s EvDO Rev. A network (where available) in the United States, but it will also be able to roam internationally on high-speed GSM networks (in Europe, on Verizon stakeholder Vodafone’s network). The Storm also supports both assisted and standard GPS (assisted GPS works with the cellular network to speed up location fixes) and Bluetooth. (However, unlike the iPhone, it does not support Wi-Fi.)

While the Storm dispenses with RIM’s signature QWERTY hardware keyboard in favor of a capacitive touch-screen interface, it’s clearly no iPhone clone. RIM’s device is both shorter (4.4 inches versus the iPhone’s 4.5 inches) and thicker (0.55 inch versus the iPhone’s 0.48 inches) than Apple’s; the touch screen is also somewhat smaller (the iPhone’s is 3.5 inches, while the Storm’s is 3.25 inches). Nevertheless, the display’s 360-by-480 resolution looks pretty sharp at that size.

Also making a good first impression is the 3.2-megapixel camera with autoflash, autofocus, 2X digital zoom, and video-capture support.

The Storm weighs nearly 5.5 ounces (versus the iPhone’s 4.7 ounces), perhaps because it carries radios for both major cellular networks (Verizon’s CDMA/EvDO and the GSM/EDGE/UMTS/HSDPA technology for Vodafone in Europe and elsewhere). Verizon officials say it supports even more countries than the carrier’s last world BlackBerry, the BlackBerry 8830, because this model has quad-band EDGE (versus the 8830′s two-band). Note, however, that the Storm supports only the fastest GSM networks (UMTS/HSDPA) on the 2100-MHz band.

The Storm has 1GB of internal storage, but it also has a MicroSD slot and will ship with an 8GB MicroSD card. Also present: a standard 3.5mm headphone jack, and a second external mic (on the back, in addition to the one for voice on the front) that picks up ambient noise data for the built-in noise reduction technology, which in theory should improve voice call quality. The Storm, like the iPhone, has an accelerometer that adjusts the display’s orientation as you rotate the device.

But the Storm’s most interesting and potentially controversial innovation is RIM’s implementation of a touch interface, especially for typing. The Storm provides three different software keyboards: When you’re holding it in landscape orientation and you need to enter text, a standard QWERTY software keyboard appears; the keys flash blue when you depress them.

In portrait mode, you have a choice: You can have a software keyboard that looks like the one on the Pearl (20 keys, some with one character, others with two) and that supports RIM’s SureType predictive text entry system. Or you can opt for a standard phone keypad (although why you’d want to enter text by multiple letter taps is beyond me).

Only time and hands-on testing will tell whether the Click-Through technology will make text entry and navigation easier (for example, by helping to avoid inadvertent finger taps) or more confusing (the device has a number of tap-and-click shortcuts that take some getting used to).

Visual Voicemail and More

The Storm’s phone-related features include so-called visual voicemail. As on the iPhone, this allows you to peruse a list of incoming calls (identified by caller ID number or, if the number is in your address book, by name) and address them in whatever order you wish.

Like all BlackBerry devices, the Storm will have BlackBerry’s first-rate e-mail features, including support for just about all corporate e-mail systems via the BlackBerry Enterprise Server. The Storm will also ship with Verizon’s VZ Navigator software (but service charges apply) and with instant messaging clients for the major IM services.

However, there’s no universal IM client for the Storm, so if your buddies patronize different services you’ll have to run all of them in the background.

The Storm will support at least limited functionality for most older BlackBerry applications. But at launch, RIM says it will offer a developer’s kit that will make it easier to adapt existing BlackBerry apps for the Storm–for example, optimizing them to take advantage of the touch screen, the accelerometer, or both.

You’ll be able to buy, download and install apps from the VZ Apps Zone over the air, RIM says. And the Storm has one feature that many iPhone 3G users have moaned about missing: It lets you cut and paste text.

Canada’s Bell Canada and Telus Mobility announced plans to overlay their CDMA networks with HSPA technology by 2010 with an eventual move to LTE technology. The announcement builds on the CDMA network-sharing deal the two CDMA operators have had in place since 2001.

The move follows Verizon Wireless’ decision to deploy LTE in the 700 MHz spectrum it won earlier this year. However, Verizon is skipping an HSPA deployment, choosing to continue investing in its EV-DO network that will likely complement the new LTE network for some time. Telus said the HSPA deployment would enable “a smoother transition to long term evolution (LTE) technology.”

“Bell’s transition to the global 4G LTE standard with a combined EV-DO and HSPA network path aligns us with more than 30 major carriers worldwide planning a similar move to LTE,” said Stephen Howe, CTO with the operator. “This broad global technology ecosystem will mean a fast, efficient and cost-effective network transition to 4G LTE, and access to the broadest possible range of next-generation phones and data services.”

Telus Mobility and Bell Canada both won spectrum in Canada’s AWS-1 auction.