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Azimuth offers MIMO channel emulator
Azimuth Systems is showing what it calls the industry's first MIMO channel emulator for testing WiFi products. The Azimuth Channel Emulator (ACE) 400NB reproduces 4 x 4 multipath environments with channel correlation to test MIMO or single-input-single-output (SISO) implementations. The ACE system is likely the first purpose-built 802.11 test solution which can emulate multipath signals in a controlled environment. Multipath--the reflection of radio frequency (RF) signals in a physical …
More schools offering RFID certification programs
The University of California Irvine Extension has opened enrollment for its first certificate program in RFID technology. It is but the latest in a series of business schools across the country showing academic interest in RFID and its business implications. Five courses totaling 150 hours are required to complete the program. The first two classes are being offered in the winter quarter and the remaining three in the spring. "The classes are based on business processes, rather than the …
SPOTLIGHT: You can look it up
WiFi is now an official word (not that anyone was waiting for this designation to use it). It is included in the new edition of the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary. Frank Hanzlik, managing director of the Wi-Fi Alliance, said, "You know you've truly made it when you're in Webster's dictionary. Webster's is a highly respected source for word definitions, so appearing in the dictionary lends real credibility to everything the Wi-Fi Alliance has been working toward." Story
ALSO NOTED: Hotspot hits Atlanta airport; Qwest drops bid for Portland WiFi contract; and much more...
> Concerns about security brightens future of smart cards markets. Report
> Atlanta's international airport last week launched a large WiFi hot spot. Report
> Qwest quits Portland WiFi network competition. …
FierceWiFi October 26, 2005
- Cisco to announce mesh product
- Dust shows mesh sensor network architecture
- New wireless protocol for public transport network
- Aruba unveils portable business LAN
- Metric: VoWLAN use to triple by 2007
- SPOTLIGHT: Deja vu all over again
- ALSO NOTED: picoChip, Wintegra to develop reference designs for WiMax basestations; Telecom New Zealand's prepaid WiFi hotspots
Cisco to announce mesh product
Cisco is about to launch its first WLAN mesh solution next month. Airespace, which Cisco acquired for $450 million last December, had planned on bringing out a two-radio mesh product in March, so Cisco's mesh plans are not exactly a surprise. Hints--but only hints--about the product may be gleaned from the fact that Metricom's Bob Friday now works for Cisco. At Metricom he developed the first metro-scale mesh system. For our nostalgia buffs, Metricom was known for two things: It pioneered …
Dust shows mesh sensor network architecture
Wireless sensor networks are gaining in popularity in government and industry and are being used more and more in inventory tracking and control and industrial and building monitoring. There are, however, problems with the reliability and performance of sensor networks. Hayward, CA-based Dust Networks says it has solved many of these problem with a new mesh platform.
Rob Conant, Dust's co-founder, said that frequency hopping is the best approach for wireless networks in industrial …
New wireless protocol for public transport network
A new intelligent wireless protocol for public transportation networks is being developed by researchers at the University of New South Wales, Australia. When deployed, the new protocol will allow passengers on busses and trains cheaper and less power-hungry WiFi connections. The new protocol is called OCEAN (On-board Communication Entertainment and Information), and it will be embedded in chips placed on board buses and trains. In effect, the vehicle itself will then become a …
Aruba unveils portable business LAN
Aruba Networks is shipping its Mobile Edge, a portable WLAN AP which will allow business travelers to plug in a bubble of corporate WLAN wherever they are. Aruba's Keerti Melkote posited Aruba's solution as an alternative to Cisco's effort to sell upgrades to the network for the purpose of supporting wireless, security, and VoIP. Aruba's approach is different: "Mobility, security and VoIP are all at layers 4 to 7 of the network model, so they can be delivered as an …
Metric: VoWLAN use to triple by 2007
Use of VoWLAN will triple by 2007, according to a new study by London-based Infonetics Research. Currently about 10 percent of organizations have VoWLAN, and this number will increase to 31 percent in the next two years. The growing availability of VoIP handsets will provide the main impetus for this growth. A few weeks ago the Economist predicted that IP telephony will bring about the end of traditional telephony. Infonetics' Richard Webb agrees: "The traditional model of …
SPOTLIGHT: Deja vu all over again
As Yogi Berra said, "It is deja vu all over again." Anaheim, CA, is mulling a proposal to offer a 20-year franchise to EarthLink for broadband wireless services covering all 50 sq.mi. of the city. EarthLink is being considered as the preferred provider following the city's issue of a nationwide request for proposals to build such a network. The proposal calls for EarthLink to receive an exclusive franchise to mount, install, operate and maintain its equipment in areas approved by …
ALSO NOTED: picoChip, Wintegra to develop reference designs for WiMax basestations; Telecom New Zealand's prepaid WiFi hotspots
> picoChip and Wintegra announced joint development of reference designs for a new generation of WiMax basestations (BS). Report
> Telecom New Zealand will deploy prepaid WiFi hotspots service. Report
> Madison, WI, to install city-wide WiFi network. …
FierceWiFi October 19, 2005
- Work on 802.11e concluded
- Allied Telesyn's alternative to 802.20, 802.16e
- VirtualWiFi connects one device to multiple networks
- Freescale UWB pushes into consumer electronics
- Reva's solution for RFID data avalanche
- SPOTLIGHT: May the best team win
- ALSO NOTED: Nintendo at McDonald's; The state of WiMax; and much more...
Work on 802.11e concluded
The IEEE 802.11 Working Group has concluded its work on 802.11e specification. The standard bolsters the MAC layer of 802.11 chips so they can set traffic priorities for video, audio and voice on WiFi networks. It is not as if vendors can take full advantage of the new specifications right now as this will have to wait on word from the Wi-Fi Alliance. The Alliance has been testing a subset of the 802.11e's draft specification, informally referred to as WMM (for WiFi Multimedia), for a …
Allied Telesyn's alternative to 802.20, 802.16e
European users of wide-area WiFi networks would be interested to know that Allied Telesyn is planning to deploy a system which would allow them to move from one AP to another without losing a connection. Allied's proprietary technology is already deployed in Asia. The mobile IP system was developed by Japanese company Root and acquired by Allied Telesis Holdings KK earlier this year.
The system is based on Root's proprietary Layer 3 …
VirtualWiFi connects one device to multiple networks
Microsoft Research has released a new software tool which allows a computer to connect to multiple WiFi networks simultaneously. With VirtualWiFi, a single wireless card can appear as multiple virtual WLAN cards. A user may then configure each virtual card to link to a different AP, computer or other device. The application is a prototype project.
The solution may be used in two other applications. The first, called Client Conduit, is useful for fault diagnosis and recovery in …
Freescale UWB pushes into consumer electronics
The UWB standard war is raging on, but that hasn't stopped one of the combatants, Freescale Semiconductor, from moving forward. The company has been active, with the help of Chinese consumer electronics giant Haier, in promoting its silicon in the consumer electronics market. Freescale's UWB technology is based on one developed by Xtreme Spectrum, which Freescale acquired (together with Xtreme's capable founder, Martin Rofheart) in late 2003. What used to be Xtreme's Trinity UWB is now …
Reva's solution for RFID data avalanche
RFIDs proliferate by leaps and bounds. These small devices collect a huge amount of information stored in back-end storage and servers. Data center managers thus have to cope with ever increasing quantities of data. The issue is not only the management of the sheer amount of data involved, but also the separation of useful data from data which were collected merely because it was possible to do so. Chlemsford, MA-based Reva Systems has just come out with a solution to make this management …
SPOTLIGHT: May the best team win
nextWLAN wants to deploy a network of wireless nodes which would be connected to existing DSL or cable lines. If enough people signed up, San Francisco could create a network using the nodes to expand residential coverage for about $10 per month per household. SFLAN suggests the city erect wireless access points on rooftops and make the service available for free. These are but two of the 26 proposals--one by --submitted to San Francisco as the city tries to decide which proposal would best make city-wide WiFi a reality. Report
ALSO NOTED: Nintendo at McDonald's; The state of WiMax; and much more...
> Nintendo reached an agreement with Wayport to set up free access to Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection in almost 6,000 McDonald's. Article
> The state of WiMax. Report
> Russian operator Start Telecom chose Siemens to build the first commercial WiMax network in Russia. …
FierceWiFi October 12, 2005
- New 802.11n group offers alternative standard
- picoChip impresses with 802.16 reference designs
- Bluetooth layered over UWB for 110 Mbps demo
- Alvarion in Italian WiMax trials
- BEA buys ConnecTerra
- SPOTLIGHT: Location, location, location
- ALSO NOTED: Sony Ericsson updates P-series smartphones; Nokia's WLAN phone; and much more...
New 802.11n group offers alternative standard
I am in retreat (or, as they say in the army, I am embarking on a strategic advance to the rear). Four weeks ago, when WWise and TGN Sync said they would bury the hatchet and advance a joint proposal for the 802.11n standard, I declared "La guerre est finie." Last week, against the backdrop of a steady mix of statements about how progress was being made or how the process has stalled, I wrote that this was beginning to resemble the end of the fourth movement of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. …
picoChip impresses with 802.16 reference designs
picoChip, an intellectually restless UK company, is first off the blocks again--this time with a new and complete family of 802.16 reference designs. The new line promises to extend its menu of offerings to cover 802.16-2004, 802.16e, and WiBRO for mobile station and base station designs. Unstrung correctly points out that picoChip is the first--and only--company to offer such a wide range of systems: First to offer reference designs for 802.16e, first to support both 802.16d and …
Bluetooth layered over UWB for 110 Mbps demo
So far, both Bluetooth and UWB have fallen a bit (perhaps more than a bit) short of the promise many saw in the two technologies. It was thus not much of a surprise when earlier this year the Bluetooth Special Interest Group and the two groups active in UWB, the WiMedia Alliance and the Ultrawideband Forum, said they would work to merge their wireless technologies. Now we can see the result. In an industry-first, Freescale last week demonstrated UWB silicon operating under existing …
Alvarion in Italian WiMax trials
Several Italian operators have bought Alvarion's WiMax-ready platform, BreezeMAX 3500, to conduct WiMax trials in different regions of Italy. Pilot systems are now in operation in Milan, Rome, Arezzo, Piedmont, Val d'Aosta, Sardinia, Abruzzo, Sicily and Parma. The trials will be completed by the end of this year. The Italian government has selected the Ugo Bordoni Foundation to conduct WiMax field tests across Italy, and the foundation is responsible for handling the pilot projects and …