4G Ecosystem Delivers New Capabilities, Devices & Participants

In this second article based on our series of interviews, Jose Puthenkulam, Director of WiMAX Standards at Intel provides his perspective on the evolving 4G ecosystem including user expectations, devices, mobile operators, spectrum, network infrastructure, business models, and new applications.

Mobile WiMAX & LTE: 3G networks evolving to 4G

To better understand the evolution of 3G to 4G networks, it is helpful to first examine them from a standards perspective.  It may not be widely known that ITU-R M.1457 recommendation (AKA 3G -IMT 2000 Release 1) - includes both IEEE 802.16e-2005 ("Mobile WiMAX") and the 3GPP LTE Release 8.  In fact, many of the core 4G ingredients are already in those standards: OFDMA, flat- all IP- network, fixed or mobile operation, MIMO, hybrid ARQ (automatic repeat request) at the PHY layer, multi-megabit speeds delivered to users, advanced FEC, etc.  Incremental improvements are also being made to the evolving IEEE 802.16m and LTE Advanced standards in order to align them with the 4G requirements specified in the ITU-R IMT-Advanced recommendation (which has yet to be finalized and numbered). 

The upshot of all this is that both Mobile WiMAX and LTE are officially designated 3G technologies, which are evolving to 4G in their respective standards bodies (IEEE 802.16 and 3GPP).  The race to 4G has been accelerated by a number of factors; the early deployment of Mobile WiMAX is one of the most important.

For more information please refer to:

4G Myth Busting: Intel's March 25th talk on Advanced WiMax

ITU-R Recommendations on IMT-2000


4G User Expectations and Network Capabilities

Users want a "seamless connectivity" experience for mobile Internet access.  They want to be able to easily access well-known Internet brands (e.g.  Google, Yahoo, MSN, Amazon, Facebook, etc) from whatever notebook PC or device they are using at the time.  That device could be a netbook, smart phone, MID, or other gadget.  Users expect seamless hand-over between base stations, roaming between carriers, and no dropped calls or Internet session.  And they want speed too- at least 2 to 5 M bit/sec average data rate over a mobile broadband network. 

4G will mark a huge transition from circuit switched voice and TDM wireless transmission to an all IP packet switched network and VoIP.  To a very large extent, that has already happened in fixed line networks (DSL, cable, or wireless), where VoIP is available over a broadband network from many different service providers.  Puthenkulam expects VoIP over WiMAX handsets to be available from Clearwire in 2010 and VoIP over LTE to be available by 2012 (presumably from VZW and Vodafone). 

4G mobile network technical capabilities must be in place to support user expectations and requirements.  These include: a flat (non-hierarchical) all IP network, MIMO on uplink and downlink, spatial multiplexing with transmit diversity, schemes to minimize packet loss (e.g.  advanced FEC and ARQ), robustness (high availability), reliability, and excellent security.


4G Devices and Network "Stress Testing"

While smart phones are arguably viewed as the driver for 4G networks, it will actually be notebooks (and possibly netbooks) that will stress test those networks.  Smart phones will work much better on a 4G network (higher speeds and lower latency) - they don't have enough storage capacity to send and receive large amounts of data or video so they won't sufficiently impact network capacity.  Imagine emails exchanged with tens of Megabytes of attachments.  While this is routine using a notebook PC, it would be painfully slow on a smart phone.

Within any given geographical area, the 4G network must serve many users at high speeds, high throughput, and low latency.  The network must not crash if all potential mobile data users were to access the network at the same time (Note: this often happens with WiFi used in conference rooms or at conventions).  Network capacity and planning for 4G must consider clusters of "heavy duty users" sending large volumes of data.  Multiple concurrent PC users -downloading or uploading large video files or presentations - could potentially break the network.  So 4G network capacity must be matched and scaled against this multi-megabit file transfer scenario, with several interleaved real time applications (e.g.  voice or video conferencing) that are tested for low latency.

In the future, Puthenkulam believes that the mobile Internet will be the prime application of smart phones, rather than voice.  He believes one of the reasons for this is the richness of alternative communication media like Email, Twitter, Facebook etc.  Music streaming will also become more popular in his view.  Internet radio will overtake satellite radio in a 4G world (this author strongly disagrees).  Personal casting¹ via media servers and social networks (like Twitter or You Tube) will be an important capability of 4G smart phones and all-in-one devices. 

Vehicle entertainment systems and devices have a lot of potential in Puthenkulam's opinion.  In one scenario, you could use a handheld device credential to authenticate a "4G terminal" in a car.  Once authenticated, that 4G terminal could provide a variety of services and applications - from emergency road service with automatic location ID to music streaming to portable on-line gaming applications (presumably for kids sitting in the back seat of the car, rather than the driver).

Smart sensors and meters for infrastructure applications, such as smart grids, could be very effective in a 4G network.  They could monitor how much energy was used in the home or office and optimize energy use by controlling a thermostat or other appliances.  Home solar cells could also be connected through a 4G enabled smart grid.  Other innovative machine-to-machine (M2M) devices and applications are possible using a 4G network.  An automated parking attendant that can keep tabs on empty parking spaces and time stamp those that are occupied is one example.  Child monitoring systems in a day care center is another.  Various forms of web server-to- web server communications capabilities for mobile commerce are also a possibility

Editor's Note:  Mobile e-business was envisioned to be a big application for web services in 2003, but six years later, it still hasn't happened yet.


The Evolving 4G Operator Ecosystem, Spectrum, and Network Infrastructure

Both Mobile WiMAX and LTE have similar capabilities from an operator service and end user standpoint.  To upgrade to either (from 2.5G or 3G) will require a new Radio Access Network (RAN), which will be about 90% -to-95% of CAPEX.  The other 5%-to-10% of CAPEX will be in Core IP Network Equipment.  The transition between 2.5G or 3G to an LTE or Mobile WiMAX 4G network is depicted in the presentation by Siavash Alamouti, Intel Fellow and Chief Technology Officer of the Mobility Wireless Group.

Editor's Note:  The incumbent cellcos are almost all planning for LTE, while the majority of Greenfield operators have chosen Mobile WiMAX.

A key question is how expensive will the 4G network equipment and devices be? Mobile WiMAX has already gone through two cycles of cost reduction in terms of chip sets and base stations.  LTE has not yet been deployed, so is already behind Mobile WiMAX in the cost reduction cycle.  Puthenkulam believes that this gives WiMAX a big advantage over LTE.

The duplexing method (for simultaneous transmission between the base station and subscriber unit) is a very important issue when considering spectrum utilization.  The "cellular industry at large" has to support a set of FDD legacy networks, including GPRS, EDGE, GSM, CDMA, and CDM2000.  So when cellular operators turn on LTE service, it will need to inter-work and be compatible with those networks, implying that the initial LTE deployments will be based on FDD.  China Mobile is an exception, having already deployed a TDD network (TDS-CDMA), they are planning on a TDD version of LTE.

Most Mobile WiMAX deployments use TDD, which is much more bandwidth efficient than FDD.  It uses half of the FDD spectrum, which requires separate frequency channels for upstream and downstream directions of transmission and is typically offered as a pair of channels, as depicted in the Figure below:
 



FDD can be quite inefficient (waste bandwidth) in a given direction of transmission, usually upstream, when carrying asymmetric data services.  This is because the actual data traffic may occupy only a small portion of the upstream channel bandwidth at any given time.  Mobile WiMAX traffic will be dominated by asymmetric data (e.g.  much higher downlink than uplink traffic), so TDD is a better choice. 

TDD uses only one channel for transmitting downlink and uplink sub-frames via two distinct time slots within a single frequency channel.  TDD therefore has higher spectral efficiency than FDD.  Moreover, using TDD downlink to uplink (DL/UL) ratio can be adjusted dynamically.




Because most Mobile WiMAX operators are not cellcos, they don't have to be backward compatible with a 2G or 3G FDD network (Sprint as a WiMAX MVNO is an exception).  So they instantly realize a savings in licensed spectrum, which is a very scarce and expensive resource.  As a result, they are able to provide the most spectrally efficient technology that is available on the market now.

For more on this topic, please see:
Settling the confusion of WiMAX duplexing method: TDD or FDD or both?


Fixed line Operators will move to deploy 4G networks

Let's look at fixed broadband (DSL or cable) network operators that want to be 4G network providers.  BT, Comcast, Tata Communications, and BSNL (India government operator) come to mind.  To offer a quad play service bundle, those operators need a broadband wireless/mobile network.  They can either build it themselves or lease capacity and become a MVNO. 

Puthenkulam firmly believes that Mobile WiMAX is a better choice than LTE for those fixed broadband operators, because it is a "native broadband wireless technology." By deploying a single infrastructure, they are able to provide mobile service as well as a variety of fixed line services, e.g.  VoIP and entertainment video. 

On the other hand, LTE (for most operators) needs to be backward compatible with the TDM based 3G network infrastructure, which is not well suited to carrying broadband data.  It's not just the Radio Access Network (RAN), according to Puthenkulam.  The core infrastructure must be substantially upgraded, with higher capacity routers.  So a fixed broadband operator choosing Mobile WiMAX is "one-up" on the cellular operator choosing LTE.  Comcast, Time Warner and Brighthouse investment and partnership with Clearwire is a perfect example of this strategy.  Comcast has just announced it will provide mobile WiMAX service and laptop cards in Portland, OR, as a Clearwire MVNO.  More cities are scheduled for roll-out later this year, tracking CLEAR deployments.

While it hasn't happened yet, Puthenkulam believes that these same fixed broadband operators can migrate from the flat rate VoIP calling plans they have now (e.g.  Comcast) to mobile VoIP, which he thinks will be a lot cheaper than traditional mobile voice service.  Puthenkulam makes the following bold prediction: "Network operators that know how to deliver mobile VoIP - in the most efficient way and with roaming- will thrive and attract a lot of subscribers.  Mobile VoIP will rewrite voice calling as we know it."

Puthenkulam observes that many cellular operators have not completed their 3G roll-outs yet.  This is especially true in emerging markets, where he thinks operators should skip 3G entirely (it's too expensive and inefficient of bandwidth) and go directly to 4G.  Mobile data will be the biggest growth engine for the next three to five years and 3G networks won't be able to support the explosion in mobile data traffic that we are already observing. 

Editor's Note:  This has already been a well-documented problem for AT&T in supporting iPhone traffic over its HSPA based 3G network.  For example, AT&T does not allow iPhone tethering (use as an external 3G modem for notebooks) and completely blocks Sling Media video traffic on its mobile network.

Mobile WiMAX doesn't have the constraints of 3G, which is essentially a packet overlay (HSPA or EVDO) to a TDM network.  Mobile WiMAX is more spectrum efficient (with OFDMA, MIMO and TDD) than 3G networks.  And through the efforts of the Open Patent Alliance (OPA), the intellectual property licensing costs for Mobile WiMAX will be significantly less than for 3G technologies (especially CDMA based). 

The upshot is that network operators moving directly from 2G or 2.5G to Mobile WiMAX (802.16e now; 802.16m later) makes a lot of sense to Puthenkulam.  Nonetheless, Intel will soon be able to provide 3G-HSPA modem technology for mobile computing devices, based on a licensing deal with Nokia announced June 23rd by Intel's Ultra mobility Group (which is responsible for MIDs and Smart Phones).  It will enable Intel to have a more complete wireless technology solution portfolio, according to Puthenkulam. 


Managing Network Capacity: Wireless Backhaul and Reduced OPEX

Mobile WiMAX is well positioned to use wireless backhaul to reduce OPEX costs over wire-line backhaul.  We've seen Dragonwave capitalize on this trend by using micro-wave radio to backhaul WiMAX network traffic.

In the end to end reference architecture defined by the WiMAX Forum NWG, network traffic from several base stations are aggregated to a single backhaul point by the Access Service Network (ASN) Gateway.  The ASN Gateway backhauls the aggregated traffic to the broadband service provider, ISP, or MVNO core IP network (depending on who owns the backbone network). 

By aggregating capacity at a smaller number of backhaul points, the business model can be more flexible, including the offering of un-metered, flat rate billing plans.  Puthenkulam believes that metering traffic will only impact very high bandwidth WiMAX users.

In particular, the WiMAX Forum end-to-end reference architecture supports sharing of the network in a variety of ways and business models:
- Network Access Provider (NAP) owns and operates the network.
- Network Service Provider (NSP) owns the subscriber and provides service. 
- NSP shares the NAP or a NSP uses multiple NAPs.
- Application Service Provider (ASP) provides application services.

According to Puthenkulam, the WiMAX Core IP network² consists of "off the shelf" IP network building blocks with specifications based on IETF RFC's, e.g.  IP routers, Authentication Servers, OSS, BSS, mobile IP home agents, etc.  While WiMAX does not require any specific core IP network, 3G and LTE require specific core network building blocks that are specified by the 3GPP.  In particular, LTE uses an "Evolved Packet Core," for managing network traffic.  Dedicated 3GPP defined Network Elements are used here, rather than generic IP network equipment.


Media Ecosystem is Evolving

As people grow tired of channel surfing their TVs to watch programs and movies, technology is providing new opportunities on when, where and how people view content.  Consumers are now taking advantage of You Tube™, Hulu.com and other sites to watch web based streaming video and audio.  In addition, there's more use of DVRs and VoD to watch favorite TV shows, news and movies. 

By now, we're all familiar with this time shifting theme.  But now it's being combined with place shifting (e.g.  watching video on notebook PCs or smart phones via Sling box).  We are now entering the era of "media personalization," where you can watch whatever you want when you want it and wherever you are.  The key driver that will make this happen is mobile broadband access, especially 4G networks.  Of course, we'll need roaming and hand-offs between mobile networks to make it a reality, but it's coming.  In this vision of the future, almost every type of media will be delivered over IP.  There will be very few exceptions.  There's a huge demographic change that favors web content, delivered over 4G networks, to notebooks, netbooks, and mobile computing devices.  Puthenkulam says that all user devices will have 4G-network access and be able to watch good quality video. 

Editors Note:  There is a difference of opinion as to how mobile video should be delivered to cell phones and other hand held devices.  Some favor using a separate, dedicated network for broadcast video- like Qualcomm's Media Flow.  Others favor using the existing cellular network to watch video on devices, like the software download from MobiTV.  AT&T has currently chosen to block Sling box transmitted video over its 3G cellular network.  This may all change when 4G networks get deployed.  Let's see.


4G Business Models Favor More Services Delivered at Lower Cost (than 3G)

With a flat- all IP network, all information flows over the same Network layer protocol (IP).  Therefore, the network operator will be able to offer the user a "pay for what you use" pricing model that will be a powerful motivator to develop and sell new services.  In this scenario, broadband Internet access will be standard and there will be small, incremental prices for additional services, like VoIP or mobile real time video.  This will be a powerful motivator for innovation.  It will very likely stimulate application software developers to create new and useful applications, which will broaden the market even more.  This will attract new users and drive costs down due to economies of scale.  Some of the new services and applications include: home security and power monitoring, child-care center monitoring, telemedicine and health check-ups.  Certainly, there will be many more that we haven't thought of yet.

There will also be radio technology innovation that far outpaces 3G.  This is clearly evident in MIMO and beam forming that has been included in Mobile WiMAX Wave 2 products (see the first article in this series for an explanation).


Closing Thoughts from a 4G Visionary

- IEEE 802.16 and Mobile WiMAX technologies have all the capabilities to serve the broadband mobile Internet operators and users.

- The fusion of different services that will be delivered over "all IP" 4G networks will enable operators and application developers to custom tailor what you get to the device that you have. 

- End users will benefit immensely from the applications that are spawned by the availability of 4G mobile networks.  Global change will be brought about through mobile Internet based communications.

- Jose Puthenkulam firmly believes that 4G networks will be affordable and will empower the people that use it.  We certainly hope he is right.


Disclaimer:  The views and opinions in this article are those of Jose Puthenkulam and not those of his employer - Intel Corp.  Please refer to Intel's web site or contact their PR department for the company position on the topics discussed.  In addition, please see the first article in this series for the genesis of WiMAX standards. 

________________________________


(1) - Sending small messages, which are broadcast to the people following the sender.  This is how Twitter and other social networking tracking sites work.

(2) - This author believes Cisco's primary WiMAX initiative is to sell "Greenfield" network operators a complete "Core IP NGN" system, which may or may not include WiMAX RAN equipment.





 

Wednesday, July 01, 2009 in Business  | Permalink |  Comments (3)

Comcast Launches First WiMAX Market

Becoming the first cable operator in the US to offer WiMAX service, Comcast announced the availability Tuesday of bundled WiMAX services in Portland, Oregon. Other cities likely planned in the coming months.

With the launch, Comcast becomes the first cable MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) in the US offering high-speed WiMAX services.  Although no further announcements have been made, Comcast will likely launch additional markets in the coming months as its WiMAX wholesale partner Clearwire rolls out additional cities.

The new service will be marketed as "Comcast High-Speed 2go" and will provide mobile data to laptops, netbooks and other mobile devices over wireless networks with download speeds of up to 4 megabits per second.  Existing 3G wireless networks typically offer download speeds between 1 and 1.5 megabits a second or less.

Comcast will leverage its existing install base of customers, offering mobile broadband as a bundle to its existing internet service.  Comcast will offer two different devices and service plans: The Metro data card, which is typically installed into a laptop to allow wireless internet access, will cost $50/month when bundled with home internet service and will only work within the WiMAX coverage areas.  A nationwide version for $70/month will allow subscribers to get online via Sprint Nextel Corp's 3G network where the 4G network is not available.

Last year Comcast became one of the major investors in Clearwire, providing more than $1 billion of the $3.2 billion Clearwire received from Google, Intel, Time Warner and others. 

Putting the weight of the Comcast brand and sales channel should be a nice boost to WiMAX efforts in the US.  Mobile WiMAX will complement nicely with Comcast's current internet offerings - providing a bundle of one of the best fixed internet services with the best commercially available mobile broadband service.  Partnering with Sprint and offering a dual-mode 3g/WiMAX option gives them access to a nation-wide 3G footprint while WiMAX networks continue to be built-out.



 

Tuesday, June 30, 2009 in Deployments  | Permalink |  Comments (1)

The Evolution of Mobile WiMAX

The inside story on the development of the IEEE 802.16e-2005 standard - the first MIMO-OFDMA technology on the market and the only commercialy available broadband wireless technology supporting both fixed and mobile operation.

Wireless Broadband Perspectives - WiMAX.com Weekly Series Sponsored By: For the next few months, WiMAX.com and Cisco will be featuring weekly perspectives from leading thought leaders in the WiMAX & wireless broadband industry.

Jose Puthenkulam, Intel's WiMAX Standards Director, is a telecommunications renaissance man.  In addition to driving standards development and building consensus with the progression of the IEEE 802.16 family of standards (as Vice Chair of the IEEE 802.16 Working Group), Jose is also an active user of Clearwire's Mobile WiMAX service in Portland, and a very knowledgeable technologist in the emerging 4G eco-system.  He is a standards expert - having worked in IEEE, IETF, 3GPP, WiMAX Forum and GSM Association.  He is also involved in social networking, Internet telephony, video games, mobile devices, and keeps tabs on the latest wireless gizmos and gadgets.  Jose regularly contributes to www.wimax360 and IEEE ComSoc-SCV discussions (open to all IEEE members).  More about Jose at the end of this article.

Backgrounder:

The IEEE 802.16 Working Group on Broadband Wireless Access Standards is responsible for developing the IEEE 802.16 WirelessMAN® Standards for Wireless Metropolitan Area Networks.  In September 2003, a revision project called 802.16Rev-d commenced aiming to align the standard with aspects of the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) HIPERMAN standard and to define conformance and test specifications.  This project concluded in 2004 with the release of 802.16-2004 (see list of IEEE 802.16 Standards below), which superseded the earlier 802.16 documents, including the a/b/c amendments.  802.16-2009 is now the new base standard.  For more information, see the list below and http://wirelessman.org/ or http://ieee802.org/16/.

WiMAX, an acronym for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, provides wireless transmission of data using a variety of transmission modes, from point-to-multipoint links to portable and fully mobile internet access.  The WiMAX Forum, a non profit organization formed to promote the adoption of WiMAX compatible products and services, is "chartered to establish certification processes that achieve interoperability, publish technical specifications based on recognized standards, promote the technology and pursue a favorable regulatory environment."

A Brief History of the "Mobile WiMAX" Standard, Profiles and Certification

The objective of the IEEE 802.16e "Mobile WiMAX" standard was to provide mobility as well as fixed broadband wireless access with high data rates and a relatively long- range coverage area, much like cellular technologies today.  The mobile broadband access system also had to include functions to enable handoff between base stations as a mobile subscriber moved between cells.  An important objective was to significantly reduce the cost of WiMAX infrastructure per unit data rate by significantly increasing the system capacity compared to current 3G cellular systems. 

The MAC sub-layer from 802.16-2004 was to be retained in parts, in order to carry "IP packets." However, the MAC was significantly enhanced to support mobility features like Handover, Sleep and Idle mode power management.  The security features were also improved in 802.16e.

With strong interest from Intel and the KT/ WiBro community, work on the IEEE 802.16e-2005 (AKA Mobile WiMAX) standard commenced in December 2002, when the IEEE-SA Standards Board approved an initial Project Authorization Request (PAR) for "Mobile WiMAX." That was well before the IEEE 802.16d-2004 (Fixed WiMAX) standard was completed.  Note that IEEE 802.16e is not compatible with 802.16d-2004, because it's PHY layer has to support both mobile and fixed wireless access (the MAC layer has some commonality between the two standards).

By November of 2003 - almost one year after the 802.16e Task Force (TF) was created -interest was muted and progress slow due to the perceived competition from the (Qualcomm led) IEEE 802.20 standards effort (AKA Mobile Broadband Wireless Access).  Having established very well respected standards credentials in the IETF and 3GPP, Jose was selected to lead the Intel team that was developing the IEEE 802.16e standard. 

In late 2003, Jose started to contact interested parties to encourage them to move forward at a more rapid pace.  His goal was to make 802.16e a very robust and efficient broadband wireless technology when implemented according to the standard.  Jose met with several companies seeking their effort and support of the newly authorized 802.  16e "Mobile WiMAX" standards project.  Samsung, Alvarion, Runcom, Motorola, Nortel, Alcatel and Siemens were a few of those companies.  At the time, there was already a very similar standards effort ongoing in South Korea.  It was known as "High Speed Portable Internet" and was spearheaded by ETRI, Samsung and KT.  The challenge was to harmonize the functions and features of the Korean effort with those proposed to the 802.16e Task Group.

In early 2004 a Scalable OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access) proposal was drafted, which found broad support at the March 2004 IEEE 802.16 meeting.  Consensus was starting to build.  The 802.16e PAR was modified, amended, and approved by the IEEE-SA Standards Board in September 2004.  The main purpose was to include new PHY layer capabilities based on OFDMA, which was documented by several very supportive statements from the industry.

In late 2004 to early 2005, Jose and several of his Intel team members drove the effort to include a state of the art security feature in the emerging standard, while contributing to the specifications for beam forming and MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output).  Those capabilities were included in the IEEE 802.16e final draft that was completed in October 2005.  The 802.16e standards work was iterated through twelve drafts, based on thousands of comments and hundreds of contributed documents.  IEEE Std 802.16e-2005 was approved in December 2005, setting the stage for commercialization of the technology.

"The IEEE 802.16e standard gives service operators the ability to provide a wide range of new and revolutionary high-speed, mobile wireless applications and services that will greatly improve people's way of life," said Brian Kiernan, Chair of the IEEE 802.16e Task Group at the time.

In late 2004 to early 2005, the WiMAX Forum started "Mobile WiMAX" profile specifications, based on the soon to be completed IEEE 802.16e standard.  The profiles were targeted at certification and inter-operability testing.  There were two types of profiles that were developed in two stages:

- Wave 1:  SISO configuration Primarily for WiBro (South Korea) in 2.3 GHz
- Wave 2:  MIMO based profile for global deployment in 2.5, 2.3 and 3.5 GHz bands

By June 2008, approximately 2 ½ years after the 802.16e-2005 standard was ratified, the WiMAX Forum certified the first Wave 2  products for 2.5GHZ bands.


IEEE 802.16e-2005 Scope:  Fixed and Mobile Broadband Wireless Access

The PHY layer of this standard incorporates several advanced radio transmission technologies, such as OFDMA, MIMO, adaptive modulation and coding, and adaptive forward error correction (FEC), is designed to provide broadband wireless capability using a well-defined quality-of-service (QoS) framework.  The standard is restricted to the access network and is not an end-to-end network architecture, as some people falsely believe.

The standard also provides enhancements to IEEE Std 802.16-2004 to support subscriber stations moving at vehicular speeds and thereby specifies a system for combined fixed and mobile broadband wireless access.

Functions to support higher layer handover between base stations or sectors are specified.  Operation is limited to licensed bands suitable for mobility below 6 GHz.  Fixed IEEE 802.16 subscriber capabilities are not compromised.  In addition to mobility enhancements, this document contains substantive corrections to IEEE 802.16-2004 regarding fixed operation."

Graceful degradation and return to normal speed are important attributes of the adaptive modulation process specified in IEEE 802.16e.  When the detected signal strength weakens, the transmitter will incrementally reduce the modulation (symbol) rate while maintaining the connection.  When the detected signal strength increases, the transmitter will bump up the symbol rate accordingly, thereby facilitating a graceful return to normal speed operation.  This attribute is quite important for truly mobile subscribers, as the radio signal conditions will change while the subscriber is moving (within a cell or to an adjacent cell).  Adaptive modulation works in each direction of transmission (i.e.  upstream and downstream).

A Network Reference Model is described in 802.16e-2005 Annex G (Informative- not Normative).  It includes "groups of BS units providing network service (not necessarily contiguous) to authorized Mobile Stations in a geographic region.  A group of BS units that share administrative affiliation, and are connected by a backbone (wired or unwired) are referred to as a provider network.  Multiple provider networks of varying design, performance, and ownership/administration may coexist in the same region.  Provider networks may employ specialized servers for AAA (Authorization, Authentication and Accounting), management, provisioning, and other functions.  These servers responsible are collectively termed Authentication and Service Authorization Servers (ASA-servers) this specification.  A provider may deploy single or multiple ASA-servers, and may do so in a centralized or distributed manner."

List of Important IEEE 802.16 Standards

- IEEE 802.16-2004 IEEE Standard for Local and metropolitan area networks Part 16: Air Interface for Fixed Broadband Wireless Access Systems

- IEEE 802.16e-2005 IEEE Standard for Local and metropolitan area networks Part 16: Air Interface for Fixed and Mobile Broadband Wireless Access Systems Amendment for Physical and Medium Access Control Layers for Combined Fixed and Mobile Operation in Licensed Bands.

- IEEE 802.16f-2005 IEEE Standard for Local and Metropolitan Area Networks - Part 16: Air Interface for Fixed Broadband Wireless Access Systems--Amendment 1--Management Information Base (MIB)

- IEEE 802.16g-2007 IEEE Standard for Local and Metropolitan Area Networks - Part 16: Air Interface for Fixed and Mobile Broadband Wireless Access Systems - Amendment 3: Management Plane Procedures and Services

- IEEE 802.16k-2007 IEEE Standard for Media Access Control (MAC) Bridges Amendment 2: Bridging of IEEE 802.16

- IEEE 802.16j-2009 Air Interface for Fixed and Mobile Broadband Wireless Access Systems - Multi-hop Relay Specification.  Approved by IEEE-SA Standards Board on 2009-05-13 as an amendment to IEEE Standard 802.16-2009. 

- IEEE 802.16-2009 (Revision of IEEE Std 802.16-2004 is the new base standard, developed by Maintenance Task Group under the draft title "P802.16Rev2").  This work resulted in the second revision of IEEE Standard 802.16, following IEEE 802.16-2001 and IEEE Std 802.16-2004.  It consolidates IEEE Standards 802.16-2004, 802.16e-2005 and 802.16-2004/Cor1-2005, 802.16f-2005, and 802.16g-2007. 

IEEE 802.16 Standards In Progress:

- IEEE 802.16m: Advanced Air Interface development of the P802.16m project to amend the IEEE 802.16 WirelessMAN-OFDMA specification so that, while offering continuing support for legacy equipment, it will meet the requirements of IMT-Advanced next generation mobile networks.

- IEEE 802.16's License-Exempt (LE) Task Group is developing a draft under the P802.16h PAR, which was approved by the IEEE-SA Standards Board on 2004-12-08 and extended on 2008-09-26 until the end of 2009.  The subject is "Improved Coexistence Mechanisms for License-Exempt Operation."



Jose Puthenkulam
Vice Chair, IEEE 802.16
Wireless Standards and Technology,
Mobility Group, Intel

Jose Puthenkulam is the Director of WiMAX Standards in the Mobile Wireless Group, Mobility Group in Intel Corporation.  He also presently serves as Vice Chair of the IEEE 802.16 Working Group developing Broadband Wireless Standards.  He was the Intel technical and standardization lead for the 802.16e standard and significantly instrumental in engaging the ecosystem for completing the standard on time. 

Presently he is leading the standardization efforts in the 802.16m project targeting IMT-Advanced.  He was also the editor of the initial ITU-R IMT-2000 contribution for inclusion of WiMAX in IMT-2000 family.  He has been at Intel since 1996, and has worked on wireless communications, security, video conferencing, information management protocols and related technologies.  He has also been active in promoting 802.16 standards internationally for Broadband Wireless applications.


Author's Note:  From personal observations at IEEE 802.16 standards meetings, I can attest that Jose has been the "behind the scenes" leader of the 802.16 standards effort.  He has been successful in building consensus amongst industry participants, which has enabled the 802.16 standards projects to rapidly progress and be accepted by many companies (as opposed to ratified standards that become "paper tigers").  This collaborative process has fostered the growth of the Mobile WiMAX ecosystem, which is evidenced in the new WiMAX deployments and build outs that we read about every day.

Alan Weissberger 

Part II of this interview will be on Jose's view of the emerging 4G Ecosystem.





 

Sunday, June 28, 2009 in Business  | Permalink |  Comments (8)

3G-HSPA, Mobile Linux and Open Source are the Big Winners in Intel-Nokia Partnership

Intel referred to it as "this year's most significant collaboration in our respective industries." The Intel-Nokia strategic partnership will "align and shape the next generation of mobile computing."

But it was very difficult to extract any tangible take always from the press conference announcing the partnership.  That's because no specific products were identified and no time frames were given to see the results of this highly acclaimed collaboration.

To a large extent, the press conference was a lot of hand waving and gesturing, without providing anything of substance that we might expect from such an important strategic relationship.  This is the third time in the last decade that Intel and Nokia have announced a partnership, with the previous two attempts not producing much if anything at all.  So the industry might have a right to be skeptical this time.  Nonetheless, it certainly sounded exciting. 

Anand Chandrasekher, Sr VP and GM of Intel's Ultra Mobility Group stated, "The leaders in both computing and communications are coming together to accelerate innovation while driving exciting new revenue opportunities.  Intel and Nokia are joining forces to announce a long term strategic relationship that will align and shape the next generation of mobile computing."

We are all aware that smart phones and intelligent hand held devices contain powerful processors and need mobile broadband capability to unleash "the tremendous power and potential to reshape our lives." With many different wireless communications options, most of us expect that "the future will bring even more ways to be connected- a future full of different possibilities." Yet that kind of talk dominated the prepared remarks of Intel and Nokia during the conference. 

Nokia told us more of what we already know:  "The Internet continues to evolve and touch every aspect of our daily lives.  Today, there are more Internet users (at 1.6B) than there are fixed phone lines (at 1.3B).  New applications will drive the need for more powerful compute engines and faster (mobile) broadband wireless access, Consumers looking for mobile devices to do more, e.g.  sensors, new apps, new materials, new device design and form factors (e.g.  netbooks MIDs).  We need to extend computing platforms, build on common open platforms and explore new architectures."

Anand told us that Intel would continue to "relentlessly focus on driving down the cost and power requirements (of new devices), while delivering continuing performance improvements." Should we have expected something different? We were also told more of the obvious, "Mobile devices require high bandwidth- mobile broadband communications and ubiquitous Internet connectivity at a reasonable cost.  Users should expect a rich experience, any time, anywhere.  New and exciting services across a range of devices, including new ones the companies will be defining together."

So what's really new? There are three aspects of the partnership, which is not limited to just hardware and R&D:

1. Intel and Nokia will collaborate on several open source initiatives, most importantly Mobile Linux.  Nokia pointed out that "Hardware and software are decoupled these days.  Mobile Linux is an important part of the new converged mobile computing world." We would expect Intel and Nokia joint software development to be centered on two open source projects:
   • Moblin, originally an Intel project but now run by the Linux Foundation.
   • Maemo, a Nokia implementation created for an Internet tablet. 
2. Intel is licensing 3G HSPA modem technology from Nokia, complementing its own WiFi and WiMAX silicon.  (Note that two years ago, Intel licensed an HSPA module from Nokia for use in notebooks.  This technology transfer is intended for Intel to offer HSPA silicon for mobile hand held devices).
3. Intel and Nokia have entered into "a long term strategic partnership to develop a new class of mobile computing devices." Those future mobile computing devices will be based on Intel architecture defined chip sets and will "leverage each company's expertise."

And what about Mobile WiMAX? Don't expect anything from the partnership.  In response to a question on further WiMAX co-development, Anand replied, " This announcement has no effect on WiMAX one way or another.  We are still committed to it.  In this announcement, we are expanding our wireless portfolio to be able to implement Nonie's 3G HSPA technology."
This implies that Intel will no longer debunk HSPA technology in favor of Mobile WiMAX and suggest that network operators leapfrog 3G and move to Mobile WiMAX instead.

When a questioner pointed out that Nokia now had licensed 3G-HSPA to five different companies, Intel and Nokia responded as follows:

Intel: "3G HSPA technology has been licensed to build into future mobile offerings.  No comments on products or timing.  Nokia and Intel's vision is very similar- bringing communications and computing together.  This is not an exclusive agreement."

Nokia: "3G HSPA is what's on the market today (implying Mobile Wimax is NOT really on the market).  Nokia is licensing its 3G-HSPA-modem technology as widely as possible within the industry."

When asked if Intel had made any other inroads in the mobile phone business (which the company has tried to crack for years, but has not succeeded), Anand replied, "Intel is not public on any wins in the mobile phone arena except for LG." Then when asked what type of LG device would be forthcoming, Anand would not comment on the specific LG device that will have "Intel inside." This despite Intel having previously touted the LG MID (with Ericsson HSPA) as the highlight of this year's Barcelona MWC.

The stonewalling continued in response to other very reasonable questions about partnership deliverables:

Question from Bloomberg News: "There have been a lot of announcements about visions of the future.  Intel has tried to get into the mobile communication business for a number of years, yet they have not succeeded.  There's still a degree of skepticism until we know when the first Intel powered mobile device will be out there.  Can you tell us?"

Intel: "We will work together on strategic technology collaboration which spans three areas: Intel Architecture defined chip sets for future mobile computing devices, mobile and MIMO collaboration to deliver a very rich software environment for applications and user experience, Intel licensing of Nokia's 3G HSPA technology No products announcements at this time- not for today's discussion."

Question: "Do you expect the Atom family (Intel's lower power micro-processors) or x86 family to be embedded in future mobile computing devices?"

Intel: "No comment on brands or usage."
Nokia: "Premature to say how we will apply the technology at this stage."

How will the Mobile Computing Industry be effected as a result of this partnership?

1. Could these mobile devices, with open source operating systems like mobile Linux, cause MSFT to lose its software domination of the computing world? Mobile Linux - one of the three focus areas for the Intel-Nokia partnership - is a direct competitor of MSFT's Windows Mobile.  As people increasingly use mobile computing devices to do things that would have required a PC a few years ago, MSFT is likely to lose ground.  Mobile computing devices, e.g.  smart phones, MIDs, all-in-one gadgets, etc are already replacing a lot of things we do today on PCs.  This trend will likely accelerate as mobile computing replaces desktop computing.
2. Does this announcement negatively impact Mobile WiMAX, which already has been severely criticized for the lack of mobile devices with native mode air interfaces? After all the about WiMAX MIDs, we are still waiting for those devices to hit the market in a big way.  Will "the Internet in your pocket," be based on 3G-HSPA, rather than Mobile WiMAX?
   An anonymous Intel employee, provided his own read on the partnership:
   "This announcement does not change any of Intel's plans on WiMAX which are solid going forward.  Intel has not been a major player in Smart Phones/MIDs and we want to get into that space with the Intel Atom® Processor so this one part of this strategy.  Also most smart phones shipping today at least have 2G/2.5G and many also 3G.  So this licensing deal help fill a gap in our wireless technology portfolio. 
   It also allows us to provide WiMAX solutions to Nokia once more networks get deployed and they want their mobile devices to have WiMAX support as well.  So by no means does this negatively affect our WiMAX strategy.  It only opens new doors for us with a large customer like Nokia."
3. When will the new mobile computing devices hit the market? They will need to come quickly, if they are to compete with all the new smart phones from Apple, RIM, and Palm.  We hear there will also be MIDs coming soon from Samsung and various Taiwanese companies.  Previous Intel - Nokia partnerships, e.g.  HSPA modules for notebooks, have not been successful so the industry is skeptical that this one will succeed.  We would expect to see Intel-Nokia mobile computing devices on the market in less than one year and perhaps as early as this December.

References:
Intel and Nokia Announce Strategic Relationship to Shape Next Era of Mobile Computing Innovation
http://www.intel.com/pressroom/archive/releases/20090623corp_b.htm?iid=pr1_releasepri_20090623rb

Intel makes stab in the dark with Nokia deal
http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/42977/118/
 

Wednesday, June 24, 2009 in Business  | Permalink |  Comments (22)

Green Packet Leverages Its WiMAX Advantages; Sees Strong Growth Opportunities

Operating as both a WiMAX equipment & solutions provider as well as a WiMAX service provider through its Packet One Networks subsidiary in Malaysia, Green Packet Berhad offers a unique prospective into the growing wireless broadband industry. Interview with Kelvin Lee, Senior General Manager of Green Packet.

Although originally founded in Silicon Valley in 2000, Green Packet is based in Kuala Lumpur with over 630 employees in Malaysia, Singapore, Bahrain, Australia, Taiwan, China and the US.  The company operates as two distinct business: Its Solutions & Products Group, and its Converged Services business - operating as WiMAX service provider "Packet One Networks" in Malaysia.

Green Packet's Solutions & Products group is lead by Kelvin Lee and offers next-generation mobile broadband and network management solutions.  The company started out developing 3G solutions which still comprises 70% of its business, but sees vast growth opportunities for WiMAX and has invested extensive resources. 

The company develops a wide range of devices across all WiMAX profiles including 2.3GHz, 2.5 and 3.5 utilizing silicon from all the major WiMAX chip providers.  Earlier this month at the WiMAX Forum Global Congress in Amsterdam, the company announced its latest partnership with Beceem to develop a USB dongle based on Beceem's BCSM250 single chip solution.  Green Packet supplies devices to its Packet One subsidiary as well as other WiMAX operators.

"We see significant growth in this market and are encouraged by the number of operators coming out," says Lee.  "We have engaged operators in all of the major markets.  We can already do many of the things with WiMAX that can be done with 3G, including seamless mobility, roaming, etc."

The company has also developed expertise around connection management solutions with its "Intouch Connection Management Platform" (ICMP) that allows for seamless connections as user move between WiMAX and Wi-Fi networks.  "We are the first in world to provide Wi-Fi to WiMAX seamless handoff roaming, says Lee.  "If you are on WiMAX and move to Wi-FI are using skype, (or other IP applications) that session would continue without the session being dropped."

Another popular device for many carriers has been the integration of Wi-FI into WiMAX devices.  Earlier this year Green Packet came out with its DV230 integrated WiMAX/Wi-FI modem.  These devices provide Wi-MAX into the modem and then Wi-FI out to other devices.  "This is something that a lot of operators want and something we just launched in Malaysia on Packet One," says Lee. 


DV230 - Integrated WiMAX/Wi-Fi indoor modem

As a service provider, Green Packet operates the largest WiMAX network in Asia outside of Korea through its Packet One Networks subsidiary in Malaysia.  Packet One operates a mobile WiMAX network on 2.3 GHz and plans to have 250,000 subscribers and cover 35% of the country by the end of the year. 

"Working with Packet One the company gets a lot of R&D insight," says Lee.  "We work closely with Packet One and are able to iron out problems.  We know the issues and start-up problems and are able to articulate that when we talk to other operators."

Lee also sees advantages for WiMAX with regards to cost in comparison with 3G technologies.  "In the WiMAX ecosystem, there are a lot more players.  In chipsets you have 4 major ones and bunch of smaller ones.  With 3G, it is controlled by Qualcom and a few others.  We see 3G prices doping slowly, but with WiMAX, prices are dropping much faster."

Given its large existing 3G business, Green Packet is somewhat agnostic to a specific technology and instead prefers to listen to its customers.  "Since we are playing on both sides (3G & WiMAX), we don't prefer one technology over the other," says Lee.  "But since Packet One is a WiMAX operator, WiMAX is close to our hearts."


 

Tuesday, June 23, 2009 in Business  | Permalink |  Comments (0)

Organization Strives to Reduce Cost & Complexity in Licensing WiMAX Technology

After months of preparation and planning, the Open Patent Alliance (OPA) made its formal debut this week by announcing an open call for WiMAX patents and the appointment of a patent administrator. Interview with OPA President Yung Hahn.

Wireless Broadband Perspectives - WiMAX.com Weekly Series Sponsored By: For the next few months, WiMAX.com and Cisco will be featuring weekly perspectives from leading thought leaders in the WiMAX & wireless broadband industry.

The WiMAX industry reached another milestone this week with regards to the handling of patents and intellectual property rights (IPR) among WiMAX companies. On Monday, the Open Patent Alliance (OPA) issued a formal call for patents - asking companies with relevant IPR to submit them to the independent board for review.

The Open Patent Alliance (OPA) is an industry-led group that supports the development and widespread adoption of WiMAX technology by establishing a structure to create fair and transparent licensing of 4G IP-based technologies.

In some sense, the announcement may seem somewhat anti-climactic given that much of the heavy lifting had already been accomplished by getting the buy-in of many of the existing companies that have WiMAX IPR. Current participating OPA members include Acer, Alcatel-Lucent, Alvarion, Cisco, Clearwire, Huawei Technologies, Intel Corporation, and Samsung Electronics, as well as newly announced associate members Beceem, GCT Semiconductor, Sequans, and UQ Communications. Participating organizations range from semi-conductor companies, device and infrastructure manufactures to service providers.

Also this week, the OPA announced that it has selected Via Licensing Corporation to facilitate the formation and administration of the license pool. The company, an independent organization with access to technology resources, will act as a "patent referee" evaluating the claims submitted by WiMAX patent holders.

The WiMAX patent pool is similar to models used with other technologies such as MPEG. Once a call for patents is issued, companies may confidentially submit their claims to a patent administrator who will test for "essentiality." Companies that are deemed to have relevant IPR by the administrator are invited to participate in the process, during which negotiations will occur. The end result is consensus and licensing rules for those participating in the pool, a process that typically takes 12-18 months from the first call for patents.

"The advantages of a patent pool is that is provides transparency among intellectual property rights (IPR) for across the ecosystem," says OPA President Yung Hahn. "It reduces overall risk for those looking to develop WiMAX products and devices by making it more predictable and transparent."

But what about companies that choose not to participate? Two notable exceptions - Motorola and ZTE, both with significant WiMAX activity, are conspicuously absent from the group.

"A lot of people think that you have to achieve consensus before you can form the pool," says Hahn. "That is actually not the case. The only requirement is that each of these companies get a say and get to express their view on the various positions."

Companies that choose not to participate in the pool would likely seek to form separate bi-lateral license agreements with other companies. These agreements, however, can slow innovation and adoption by driving up the cost of licensing and increasing the overall licensing process. Details of the agreements are also confidential and covered by NDAs.

"We are not trying to replace the bi-lateral agreements - we believe they have a place and support that. But we believe if you use bi-lateral in conjunction with patent pools, you get them done quicker with broader coverage and less effort."

Another advantage of a patent pool is that it provides a market indicator of reasonable licensee fees. If participation is strong and a significant amount of IP is collected, the pool can become a basis for disputes and litigation. "One of the things that we are trying to achieve is to create a market reference point for what is a fair and reasonable IPR framework," says Hahn. "If you create a pool and have a significant portion of IP in the pool, when you have disputes about what is fair and reasonable, the pool becomes a very credible market reference point."

Another question that often comes up is how the WiMAX licensing process will compare to other technologies such as LTE. The general consensus is that WiMAX IPR is more broadly held than LTE and therefore easier to form a pool when you have a larger number of owners, than when it is more concentrated. Further complicating things, a number of organizations on the LTE side have separately begun to make separate calls for patents.

"There are several different ways to do this," says Hahn. "In LTE, 3 separate groups have conducted patent calls without necessarily getting the backing of key companies and are going to use that process to secure the comments. We have done it the other way around - we went and secured commitments from 8 companies, plus we just announced 4 associate members for a total of 12. For us the patent call is the end of the process rather than the beginning of the process."

"It's kind of like the Tortoise and the Hare analogy," say Hahn. " It's not so important how you start, but how you finish."



 

Monday, June 22, 2009 in Business  | Permalink |  Comments (2)

Alvarion Scores Major WiMAX Win in the US

This week WiMAX equipment provider Alvarion announced that had been selected by US broadband provider Open Range Communications, Inc. to build a 4G wireless network covering 17 states, 546 rural communities and reaching up to 6 million people. The $100M deal spans 5 years and represents the largest deal to date for the company.

Open Range Communications began moving forward with its plans after receiving funding of $374M earlier this year to build out its network - including a $274 loan from the USDA's Rurual Utilities Service (RUS) and $100M from One Equity Partners.  The funds received from RUS are from its annual re-reoccurring program and separate from the US Broadband Stimulus Funds being released later this year.  The company plans to begin deploying the network in Q3 with the first services offered in Q4 this year. 

Open Range plans to use WiMAX technology to deliver broadband services to un-served and underserved communities in America - offering portable and eventually mobile voice and internet services to its planned coverage areas including western states California, Colorado and Nevada; Midwestern states Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Nebraska; southern states Arkansas, Alabama, Florida, Georgia and South Carolina; and eastern states Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey and Delaware. 




"We are excited that we are able to be involved in such a visionary program that can bring broadband services to un-served and underserved areas to the rural US," said Greg Daily, President for Alvarion North America.  "You are looking at a 4G state-of-the-art network that is going to roll into rural America, similar to a metropolitan area and frankly, better than a lot of metropolitan networks."

The network will be built on Alvarion's WiMAX Forum® Certified™ 802.16e BreezeMAX® solution utilizing spectrum in the upper 2.4GHz ATC band, based on an arrangement with mobile satellite and data provider Globalstar.  Last November, Globalstar received an Order and Authorization ruling from the FCC allowing Globalstar's spectrum to be used for Ancillary Terrestrial Component (ATC) services in the US.

"Its a ground breaking project from many perspectives," said Daily.  "In addition to our own RAN (radio access network) solutions and CPE (customer premise equipment), we are also integrating the backhaul, IP core and ASN gateway and AAA server functionalities.  In terms of the network build-out, we are the lead system integrator."

The deal reflects a major milestone for Alvarion and perhaps offers a glimpse of the types of deals to come.  For the past 18 months, the company has been signing-up smaller turn-key projects including ICE in Costa Rica and VMAX in Taiwan, but this one is unprecedented in terms of size and scope.  Open Range reflects the second service provider for Alvarion that has received Rural Utilities Services (RUS) funding.  In April, Main Street Broadband announced that it had selected to deploy Alvarion equipment after securing $34M in RUS funding.

The announcement sends a strong signal for the overall wireless broadband industry and WiMAX technology in particular.  With the first Notice of Funds Availability (NOFAs) from the Broadband Stimulus Funds due out at the end of this month and subsequent release of funds later this year, I'm sure we can expect to see more of these deals in the near future.


 

Thursday, June 18, 2009 in Deployments  | Permalink |  Comments (5)

WiMAX Internet Service Now Commercially Available in Atlanta

US WiMAX provider Clearwire officially launched its CLEAR™ WiMAX service in Atlanta on Tuesday. The Atlanta metro area receives the distinction of becoming the largest Internet hot spot in the US with service available to three million people across 1,200 square miles.

The announcement on Tuesday follows the soft launch of the city a little over a month ago.  The launch will officially kick off early today with festivities planed at Atlantic Station located in midtown Atlanta, including a CLEAR-branded hot air balloon and live demonstrations of WiMAX products and services.  In addition, CLEAR and Intel will announce plans to provide dozens of embedded WiMAX laptops based on Intel® Centrino® 2 processor technology, as well as netbooks based on Intel® Atom™ processors, with CLEAR service to Atlanta Public Schools before the start of the next school year.

"By delivering broadband connectivity to people, and not just places, we now offer Atlanta the freedom to enjoy super-fast Internet access wherever they go in our coverage area," said Marc Brachman, General Manager of Atlanta market for Clearwire.  "Whether it's a busy parent who wants full Internet connectivity in the back of the family minivan, a small business owner looking to conduct online video chats with customers from the field, a person looking to access entertainment sites like Hulu without being tied to a fixed-location, or a college student simply looking for one Internet service provider to meet their needs at home and on-the-go, CLEAR delivers.  We're providing a valuable, new kind of Internet service designed to make our customers' lives more enjoyable and more productive, wherever they happen to be in our coverage area."

As part of a multi-year network build-out plan, Clearwire's 4G network will be available in major metropolitan areas across the United States.  In addition to Atlanta, mobile WiMAX is already available in Baltimore, Maryland, and Portland, Oregon.  Clearwire plans to officially launch service in Las Vegas later this summer (although service is already currently available on its website).

The company plans to bring CLEAR to 80 markets and up to 120 million people by the end of 2010.  Some of the additional markets planned to launch in 2009 include Chicago, Charlotte, Dallas/Ft.  Worth, Honolulu, Philadelphia, and Seattle.  Some of the additional markets planned to launch in 2010 include New York, Boston, Washington, D.C., Houston and the San Francisco Bay Area.

It should be interesting to see how the Clearwire Atlanta launch unfolds in the coming months, especially on AT&T's home turf and its aggressive marketing of its own mobile broadband offerings.  The key for success with Clearwire will be in "clearly" differentiating the performance advantages of its WiMAX network relative to AT&Ts 3G network.  Go Clearwire!


 

Tuesday, June 16, 2009 in Deployments  | Permalink |  Comments (7)

Cisco Delivers WiMax Wake-Up Call With Clearwire Deal; More Markets, More Opportunity?

After Cisco bought WiMax radio supplier Navini in October 2007, industry watchers waited and wondered why the biggest networking vendor wasn't doing more with WiMax in the U.S. market.

Wireless Broadband Perspectives - WiMAX.com Weekly Series Sponsored By: For the next few months, WiMAX.com and Cisco will be featuring weekly perspectives from leading thought leaders in the WiMAX & wireless broadband industry.

Now after the announcement last month of a multi-year deal between Cisco and Clearwire, the waiting is over - and you have to think Cisco just delivered a big wake-up call about WiMax to Silicon Valley and Wall Street in one big move.

What really made the deal big news was the inclusion of Cisco's pledge to ship a mobile WiMax end-user device before year's end. The other part of the deal, which involves Clearwire using Cisco gear in its core IP network, isn't so surprising -- in any IP network of Clearwire's size, you might be more surprised not to find Cisco gear in the wiring closets.

But by pledging to develop end-user devices, Cisco is signaling to the rest of the industry (and investors, if they are listening) that WiMax is more than a curiousity. Cisco CEO John Chambers is famous for not wanting to get into new businesses until they offer Cisco significantly large opportunities, usually in the billion-dollar range. Is WiMax the next billion-dollar business for Cisco? Thanks to the May 13 deal, that question is now more than hypothetical.

And now, with more Clearwire markets coming on line, Cisco's planned device may have a lot more potential users. As Clearwire officially launches its Atlanta market June 16, the company is in the midst of some aggressive pricing promotions, including a new unlimited-use home and mobile package for $55 per month. The new prices, Clearwire said, will be available in all its "live" markets, which include Portland, Atlanta and Las Vegas (which will "officially" launch later this summer even though services are being sold already).

In a recent call following up on the company's first-quarter earnings announcement, Clearwire chief strategy officer Scott Richardson said that some better-than-expected network performance was partially behind the idea of the new "bundled" pricing plans.

The "Pick 2" unlimited plan promotions, for example, allow either a mobile and home connection -- or two mobile connections -- for just $55 a month (regular price $80/month), with download speeds of 6 Mbps. Such plans might be interesting to users who want to deploy Clearwire's Clear Spot Wi-Fi/WiMax router, a $139.99 device that lets up to eight different Wi-Fi connections piggyback off a WiMax service plan. The "unlimited" part of the plan, Richardson said, is the part that other wireless data providers might have a hard time matching.

"Our friends in the 3G space [with similar products] are already limiting application use," Richardson said. "Providing open access is the strategy that's really important to us. I don't think that's the kind of thing the cellular guys can really support."




PAUL KAPUSTKA is the editor and founder of SIDECUT REPORTS, which recently released its "Clearwire NTK" research report (which stands for Clearwire -- Need To Know), priced at just $4.95. You can order the report directly by following this link.






 

Tuesday, June 16, 2009 in Business  | Permalink |  Comments (2)

WiMAX Forum Congress 09: Wrap-up & Perspectives From the Show

The WiMAX Forum Global Congress concluded last week in Amsterdam. Commercial deployments continue as operators share key insights and lessons learned in deploying WiMAX networks.

Wireless Broadband Perspectives - WiMAX.com Weekly Series Sponsored By: For the next few months, WiMAX.com and Cisco will be featuring weekly perspectives from leading thought leaders in the WiMAX & wireless broadband industry.  This week, we provide highlights from the WiMAX Forum Global Congress 2009 in Amsterdam.

WiMAX Forum Global Congress 2009
 

While overall attendance was down like many events this year, the show featured an impressive list of speakers and case studies from leading WiMAX operators and key industry insiders.  This year's show was focused on WiMAX providers and featured presentations from over 43 operators including Clearwire, Yota, Comstar, PacketOne, Telefonica Brasil, MTN Nigeria, Time Warner Cable, KDDI, Korea Telecom, WiMAX Telecom, and Orange Botswana, among others.  What was most notable was the openness in which the service providers shared details about their experiences and business models and the sense of cooperation and collaboration among providers, even those operating in similar markets.

While 2008 was about WiMAX trials and vendor/equipment evaluations, 2009 was the year for deployments - with several high-profile networks recently launched and more deployments planned in the next few months.  In addition to service currently available in Portland Oregon, US WiMAX provider Clearwire is planning a full commercial launch of Atlanta on June 15th.  In addition, service is currently available in Las Vegas with commercial launch planned for later this summer, along with Dallas, Chicago and other markets later this year.  Russian WiMAX provider Yota launched service just a few months ago and is adding over 40,000 subscribers per month.  Japanese WiMAX provider UQ Communications is planning commercial launch by July 1st and plans to have 1/2 of Japan covered by WiMAX by year end.  According to the WiMAX Forum, there are now over 475 commercial WiMAX deployments in over 140 countries, covering over 140M POPS.

A few key takeaways/notes from the event:
 

The opportunity for wireless broadband & its potential impact on people's lives is enormous

Access to broadband is essential to helping build prosperity and improve people's lives, but is not available to many people.   According to information presented by Cisco during the conference, only 4.6 percent of people on earth have access to broadband and 70 percent of the world's population live beyond the reach of a wired broadband network.  Furthermore, even in the top 20 most connected countries, the average broadband penetration is only 23 percent.

The correlation between broadband penetration and GDP growth and the resulting improvement in standards of living is clear and has been well documented.  A McKinsey study early this year found that every 10% increase in broadband penetration resulted in a corresponding 0.6 to 0.7 percent increase in GDP.   As country's GDP increase, so will standards of living, helping to lift people out of poverty.

Operators with recognized brands and established installed base of customers in emerging markets should do especially well.   Service provider Mobilink in Pakistan is a GSM operator that has grown from less than 2M to over 27M subscribers in the last 5 years capturing over 43 percent market share.  The operator has launched a 3.5Ghz WiMAX network in October 2008 with plans to capitalize on broadband as it has done with voice.  "Cellular has led the way, broadband is next," noted Naeem Zamindar, Vice President, Mobilink.



Naeem Zamindar, Mobilink
 

The demand for wireless data is increasing and more capacity is needed 

The combination of new devices and applications is driving a tidal wave of demand for wireless data.  The internet is going mobile and in 5 years more people will access the internet from mobile devices than from fixed devices.  Sony has said that 90% of their devices will connect to the internet and to each other in the next few years.   New applications such as Facebook, YouTube, Skype and others are driving increased demands for broadband, especially with regards to video.  Monthly average data usage will rise from less than 1MB on current 3G networks to 5-10GBs+ per month in the near future.   Voice-centric 3G networks were never designed for these types of loads and has forced many carriers to impose data limits to discourage high bandwidth usage.



Gordon Graylish, Intel

Interestingly, data usage on WiMAX networks has shown similar patterns to home internet usage.  While many 3G users have put data caps to restrict usage, some WiMAX operators have choosing to forego data caps altogether.  Russian WiMAX provider Yota has launched their WiMAX service with no data caps and has seen their average subscriber monthly usage soar to 10.3GB per month.  Further information provided by Intel showed that when subscribers have access to a high data-rate service like WiMAX, their usage patterns change and they tend to use these technologies as their primary internet service.  "Fundamentally, the internet is going mobile," noted Gordon Graylish, VP EMEA for Intel.  "Data usage shows that people use 3G as an occasional, ancillary way to connect to the internet, but WiMAX usage indicates a more primary connection."
 

Source: Intel
 

WiMAX is flexible and is being used in many different business models

WiMAX operators are noted for their diversity - from Greenfield operators, cable-cos, utilities, enterprise and telcos.  Even traditional GSM carriers in emerging markets such as Orange Botswana and Mobilink in Pakistan are utilizing WiMAX to provide higher bandwidth applications to their customers. 

WiMAX is often criticized for being just a "fixed wireless access technology."  What people often fail to realize is that for most of the world, that is where their is the greatest demand and consequently where operators are focusing their efforts.   Once these needs are met, other usage including portable and mobile use will follow.
 

The correct comparison is not between LTE & WiMAX, but between 3G & WIMAX

While the press loves to debate the merits between WiMAX and LTE, that comparison is just not relevant.   Despite a few early trials, wide-scale  LTE deployments will not occur until 2012 at the earliest.  The incumbent cellular carriers have too much invested in spectrum and equipment not to maximize their 3G investments.  Therefore the real comparison for the next few years is between 3G networks and WiMAX.

While 3G networks may prove satisfactory for lower bandwidth applications like email and basic browsing, all carries will need to move toward OFDM based technologies with wider channels and an all IP core network (like WiMAX) to provide higher bandwidth services.  Current  3G networks and their narrow channels are not able to deliver a large amount of capacity to a large number of people.  Furthermore, much of the capacity for 3G networks will be needed for continued growth in voice and light data usage; while WiMAX will focus more on heavy data usage. 

With regards to performance, consistent terminology needs to be used in comparing the technologies.  While cellular carries continue to advertise peak performance on 3G networks as "up to 3.5Mbps, etc." a more meaningful measurement would be "average throughput" received by subscribers on the network.  While conditions may vary, tests have typically shown that WiMAX networks perform 2-3x better than 3G networks in both downlink and uplink performance.
 

Laptops, Netbooks and other innovative and dual-mode devices will drive adoption of WiMAX

Similar to the adoption of Wi-FI, the embedding of WiMAX in notebooks and netbooks will drive down costs and ensure that laptops are "WiMAX ready."  According to Intel, over 16 OEMs have announced support in laptops and netbooks and over 100 models will be available by year-end.

Also, new Integrated WiMAX/Wi-Fi devices will provide flexible ways for subscribers to connect.  These devices essentially utilize WiMAX for internet connectivity back to the tower and then use Wi-FI to connect devices in the last hundred feet. 
 

Source:  Intel
 

WiMAX Will Drive New Partnerships

As more WiMAX networks are deployed, new partnerships and business relationships within WiMAX companies will occur.  Clearwire is calling for collaboration among ecosystem partners in procurement and in technical specifications to help drive down costs and minimize the need of vendors to support multiple technology profiles.  With its Global Alliance Partner program, Clearwire provides access to its management and technological expertise and  allows companies to leverage Clearwire's purchasing power to lower device costs as well as assist WiMAX operators with a wide range of deployment activities from technology evaluation, vendor selection to customer billing.

The WiMAX Forum also announced the first operator roaming trial in the US between Clearwire and Digital Bridge Communications (DBC).  According to the Forum, 14 participants are in the trial including the clearing houses that will process the transactions.  As part of the trial, Clearwire customers will test access to the DBC network and services.  Although only a test, the trial is taking place over both operators commercial equipment so it would be straightforward to turn it into a commercial service once the trial is complete.

Tuesday, June 09, 2009 in Business  | Permalink |  Comments (6)