CLEAR 4G WiMAX Innovation Network Open for Developers in Silicon Valley

Clearwire details logistics, goals and objectives for the "4G" CLEAR Developer's Network in Silicon Valley. Largest 4G WiMAX "sandbox" for developers covers more than 20 square miles in Santa Clara, Mountain View and Palo Alto, California.

Introduction

At the September 17th Telecom Council Carrier Connections conference, Clearwire's Allen Flanagan provided an overview and short video on the company's "4G" mobile WiMAX Innovation Network - a pre-commercial network for mobile WiMAX application development and testing in Silicon Valley.  The network went live only two days prior -on September 15th.  The development focus was said to be "4G" Mobile Applications.  These will be described later in this article.

The CLEAR developer network is a precursor to commercial service planned for the San Francisco Bay Area¹ in 2010.  It will cover more than 20 square miles in Santa Clara, Mountain View and parts of downtown Palo Alto, California.  The current coverage footprint includes the local campuses of Intel and Google, two founding Innovation Network supporters who have also commenced their own internal 4G application development programs.  Cisco's campus will receive coverage in the coming months as the network expands.  Clearwire will update the coverage area maps over time.  Download detailed maps of coverage areas with suggested drive routes and test locations:

- Palo Alto
- Santa Clara
- Mountain View, Los Altos, Sunnyvale

Clearwire plans an aggressive expansion program for CLEAR in the U.S., with a combined coverage area that would service up to 120M people by the end of 2010.

Logistics for the Innovation Network

After reviewing terms and conditions, qualified software application developers that live or work in Silicon Valley can register for free mobile WiMAX service, as long as they buy or own a Clearwire approved terminal (see list below).  Bright House, Comcast, Sprint, and Time Warner Cable will join Cisco, Intel and Google in support of Clearwire's mobile WiMAX application development initiative.  All those companies except Cisco are strategic investors in Clearwire.  The first four plan to resell the CLEAR service, so they have a lot to gain.  All of the participants will aid in promoting the program and have deployed their own respective development resources into the network (e.g.  RAN equipment, IP NGN systems, devices, software, etc). 

Infrastructure providers include: Motorola, Samsung, Huawei (these three vendors supply RAN equipment), and Cisco (Core IP NGN Network). 

Editor's Note:  Allen could not confirm that all of these infrastructure vendors would be involved in the Innovation Network instance.

Components, modules and applications were said to be available from: Intel, Google, Cisco, and Beceem (chip set).  Netbooks with embedded mobile WiMAX interfaces are available from Lenovo, Dell, Toshiba, Samsung, and Fujitsu for use in the program.  The new Samsung Mondi MID handheld is also supported on the Innovation Network. 

Editors Note:  only the mobile devices listed are eligible for use on the CLEAR Innovation network.  Home modems and CLEAR VOIP products and service are not available on the Innovation Network.

To access the network, developers can purchase a Clearwire WiMAX USB modem for $49.99.  Developer-owned, CLEAR "network-ready" mobile WiMAX devices, such as the Samsung Mondi and WiMAX-embedded Intel-based PC's, are also eligible for the program.  To qualify, developers must register for Clearwire's developer program and describe the mobile WiMAX applications/ development ideas they wish to pursue.  Interested developers can sign-up at http://developer.clear.com/innovation.

Developers can expect to realize peak download speeds of up to 10 Mbps on this network, with average download speeds of 3 to 6 Mbps.  In contrast, some of today's 3G wireless networks typically deliver download speeds of between 600 kbps - 1.4 Mbps, according to Clearwire.  Unlike Wi-Fi, mobile WiMAX provides service areas measured in miles, rather than feet.  In addition, the IEEE 802.16e technology used supports full mobility and enables seamless handovers from tower to tower, similar to cellular networks. 


Goals and Applications for the Innovation Network

Flanagan stated the goal of the Innovation Network was "to stimulate software development for Internet applications, broadband media content, Internet and integration services." Allen identified several target applications: streaming media, LBS's, on-line gaming, voice and communications, social media, networking collaboration, optimization and performance tuning.

Clearwire will support developers by providing: CLEAR Platform API and network documentation, Location and Connection APIs along with associated guidelines.  Educational content will be available for mobility, optimization/ tuning, network setup, operations and coverage maps. 

In a short video, Clearwire CTO John Saw articulated the applications the company expected to be "enabled" by the Innovation Network.  These included: mobile video, location awareness, voice, social networking and gaming.

Click here to view Clearwire's CTO Dr.  John Saw discussing the Innovation Network

Q&A

In answer to a question, Mr.  Flanagan echoed a 4G World comment from Clearwire CEO Bill Morrow that both WiMAX Pico cells and femtocells would play an important role in "4G networks" and be critical to their success.  In a follow up email exchange, Allen stated: "In my opinion, it will take some time before they become critical.  Just as it took a lot of years for them to become deployed on previous generation cellular networks."

This author asked if Clearwire might have trouble motivating garage shops and small software developers to participate in the Innovation network program, considering the absence of any smart phones or hand held devices (except the brand new Samsung Mondi).  Allen said that Clearwire was very aware of that issue and together with its investors would be able to recruit a critical mass of developers for the network.

Clearwire will participate as a platinum sponsor of the Sprint Open Developer Conference scheduled for October 26-28 in Santa Clara, CA (this author is registered to attend).  Developers can register to attend the conference at:  http://developer.sprint.com/devcon2009.

Flanagan suggested that developers interested in working on applications for mobile WiMAX might want to attend the conference to learn about the Innovation Network directly from Clearwire executives. 

Editor's Note:  This author expects important new announcements from Sprint regarding handsets and perhaps other devices that will operate on CLEAR.


What the Big Boys Have to Say

"We see tremendous potential for true, mobile broadband to act as the catalyst for new and compelling Internet applications that leverage our 4G bandwidth, free of the confines associated with wired connections," said John Saw, Chief Technology Officer of Clearwire.  "Our goal is to harness the concentration of developer talent in Silicon Valley and accelerate the pace at which these disruptive services are being developed."

"Our long history of innovation with WiMAX, including our development efforts in Portland, OR, allowed Intel to be among the first in the U.S.  to have access to this exciting, next-generation 4G environment," said Sriram Viswanathan, vice president of Intel Capital and general manager of WiMAX Program Office at Intel.  "Along with the WiMAX ecosystem, we look forward to expanding these mobile broadband resources and efforts in an area home to the one of most technology-savvy groups of individuals in the world."

"Mobile broadband is fundamentally changing the way people use the Internet, and 4G networks like Clearwire's have incredible potential," said Larry Alder, mobile product manager at Google.  "We are excited to see how developers will take advantage of this unique asset as Internet users increasingly expect connectivity regardless of their device or location."

"Cisco's Internet Protocol Next-Generation Network infrastructure is playing a key role in the Silicon Valley Innovation Network," said David Goeckeler, general manager of Services and Mobility business unit, Cisco.  "An IP network is the right platform to deliver on the promise of mobility and put 4G services in the hands of some of the most talented and creative developers in the world."
"At Bright House, we're always searching for new and innovative capabilities to bring to our customers," said Leo Cloutier senior vice president, strategy & business development, Bright House Networks.  "We're strongly supportive of this initiative and its ability to leverage the creative talent of developers in the region for the creation of new mobile broadband applications."

"Combining the speeds of broadband with the mobility of wireless communications gives the development community in Silicon Valley a unique opportunity to create differentiated applications," said Tom Nagel, Comcast's senior vice president and general manager for Wireless.  "Comcast is pleased to support this development program to spur further innovation with 4G capabilities.  The initiative is consistent with our own commitment and efforts to encourage developers to leverage open standards such as Tru2way."

"Sprint continues to demonstrate its leadership in the growth and deployment of 4G networks and technology and in the developer community," said Len Barlik, vice president of wireless and wireline services for Sprint.  "Sprint is the first carrier to offer an open community that gives developers the platforms and network to create innovative applications and the ability to introduce new services to the market.  The availability of 4G in the Silicon Valley is a great opportunity for developers to immediately begin the development of the next generation of wireless applications."

"Time Warner Cable looks to provide services that are simple, easy to use and give customers more control and convenience," said Michael Roudi, group vice president of wireless services for Time Warner Cable.  "We are proud to support the efforts of developers in the Silicon Valley to experiment and create new applications which will take advantage of the mobile broadband network and enhance our customer's wireless experience."

Conclusions

The Silicon Valley community is very pleased to have Clearwire's Innovation Network up and running.  In particular, IEEE ComSoc SCV members have expressed a strong interest in mobile broadband applications for netbooks and notebooks as well as for hand held devices.  We hope to report results of these application developments in forthcoming articles.  IEEE ComSoc SCV is also looking forward to hosting a panel session in early 2010 where Innovation Network participants will describe the tangible take-aways and lessons learned from this very important endeavor.

_________

Footnotes:

(1) http://www.wimax.com/commentary/blog/blog-2009/april-2009/Commercial-WiMAX-Network-Planned-for-Silicon-Valley-0410

Web References

http://newsroom.clearwire.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=214419&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1331811&highlight=

http://www.wimax360.com/profiles/blogs/clear-launch-in-sf-bay-area

http://www.wimax360.com/profiles/blogs/silicon-valley-becoming-the-4g

Sunday, September 20, 2009 in Business  | Permalink |  Comments (13)