Wimax Watcher

Wavesat introduces a 208 pin BGA (ball grid array) package option for its Evolutive WiMAX DM256 Family of Products, the smallest package currently available for 802.16-2004 compliant chips. The DM256 BGA package significantly reduces area size, providing OEM’s & ODM’s with an ideal WiMAX tool for small form-factor applications.

The small (15 x 15mm) DM256 BGA package, also available lead-free, offers the same low power consumption as the plastic quad package, but reduces the circuit board mounting space by 75 percent.. The DM256 BGA packaging is designed to be the ideal solution for a wide variety of power and space constrained WiMAX applications that require modular, small size and high reliability form-factors, such as mini-PCI and PCMCIA.

Wavesat’s Evolutive WiMAX DM256 Family of Products consist of a full-range of standard-based integrated circuits, software and reference kits for the most demanding BWA 802.16 compliant applications requiring flexible product and network configurations. The Evolutive WiMAX family of products is a complete and cost-effective solution supporting all the necessary features to design base stations and subscriber units for both licensed and license-exempt radio frequencies.

See more at www.wavesat.com.

As the mobile industry starts the mass roll-out of 3G, it is prescient to ask: where does the mobile industry go from here? Incredibly, the mobile services market has grown to 1.4 billion users worldwide and revenues of $500 billion with little deviation from the classic mobile operator business model which has existed since commercial cellular services started in the early 1980’s.

However, wireless technologies are in the market today and on the imminent horizon which offer superior speeds to wide area cellular technologies and are completely IP-based. This threatens to disrupt the conventional cellular service model, and in the process shift the competitive positioning of mobile operators worldwide.

Over the coming years, step changes in the wireless industry will not be characterised by a serial overlay of evolved cellular technologies, such as the move from 2G to 2.5G and now 3G. Instead, it will be marked by the addition of evermore advanced wireless standards to a mixture of local, metro and wide area wireless technologies. These wireless technologies will consist of Wi-Fi and Ultra Wide Band (UWB) in the local area; broadband wireless access technologies like WiMAX, UMTS-TDD and Flash-OFDM in the metro area; and 3G cellular technologies like CDMA 1xEV-DO, W-CDMA and HSDPA in the wide area. This is set to create the “wireless cocktail”, a mix of multiple wireless standards combined into a single service platform for the consumer.

This report examines the range of new wireless communication technologies scheduled for deployment between 2004 and 2008. We analyse the technology characteristics, the forces driving supply, demand and deployment into the global market, and the factors affecting convergence of these technologies at a device and service level.

The report covers the key topics that are fundamental to an understanding of the evolved state of the wireless industry.

MTI Wireless Edge will provide an antenna that can be used with Intel Corporation’s PRO/Wireless 5116 WiMAX Modem silicon. MTI is implementing innovative antenna technologies to meet WiMAX technical requirements, while maintaining lower costs.

MTI is providing CPE and BTS antennas to many WiMAX solutions available in the market, including Smart CPE antennas and Smart BTS antenna systems to allow high network performance with low cost CPE’s and low investment capital.

“As a WiMAX member and the world leader in providing antennas for the WiMAX market, we are very excited with Intel’s choice,” said Dov Feiner, CEO & President, MTI Wireless Edge Ltd. “We had to implement innovative antenna technologies to meet the very tough WiMAX technical requirements while maintaining the very challenging WiMAX price tag.”

“Ninety-eight percent of the population of the developed world is going to be highly wired. We do not think that fixed wireless for the last mile makes a lot of sense,” Giancarlo said at Cisco’s annual Networkers 2005 user conference.

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Qwest Communications is making plans to test an emerging wireless technology called WiMax - designed to give subscribers high-speed Internet access over longer distances.

Officials with the Denver-based company say WiMax would give remote Web surfers faster access to the Internet across distances up to 30 miles, and could be an affordable solution for Web surfers who don’t have access to D-S-L or cable service.

Qwest is already testing WiMax among employees in Denver and in Rio Rancho, New Mexico. An expanded trial would include residential and business users.

AT&T is planning a trial of “WiMax-compliant” equipment in Atlanta in the fourth quarter of this year.

The new trial will follow on from a successful test of so-called “pre-WiMax” equipment involving a “handful of users” in Middleton, N.J.

“WiMAX Outlook 2005 - 2010, Europe”, analyzes WiMAX opportunities in Europe. It includes a useful set of market data and recommendations in order to help you understand the current and future market. This WiMAX study looks at the drivers for, and barriers to, WiMAX.

Companies involved with WiMAX, and some companies that will consciously avoid WiMAX, are profiled. Forecasts are built to a very complex bottoms-up design, and include subscribers by region in various market segments. Equipment forecasts for both BTS and CPE equipment are provided as well, including shipments, ASPs and revenues by region, in each market segment. Total equipment revenue information is provided as well. This study also forecasts equipment shipments by frequency and CPE equipment by placement types. Moderate and aggressive forecasts are provided for virtually all forecasts.

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With several new WiMax products being released, the standard appears to be moving out of the lab. The WiMax Forum expects its first certified products to be available by the end of 2005, and some vendors have already moved into hype mode.

WiMax won’t have much of an impact until 2007 at the earliest. The first WiMax-certified products to hit the street will be based on the IEEE 802.16d specification, which is designed to provide a broadband alternative to DSL and cable modems by defining a standard for multipoint fixed wireless. The primary markets for 802.16d will be U.S. rural areas and developing countries that lack a wired network infrastructure.

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Ertach has just officially launched a national wireless network using Wimax standard technology and expects to sign 10,000 clients for this service, particularly from the biggest corporations in the country. Israel’s Alvarion was the equipment supplier.

Wimax also provides a better quality of service since transmission of data, voice or video can be prioritized, improving the service. In terms of coverage, this technology can extend up to 20-30km.

“From the provider’s point of view, Wimax does not need line of sight between the base station and the antenna installed at the client premises, as other technologies do. Because of that we failed to install nearly 20% of our previous projects, and now this number has been reduced to 10%,” he added.

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WiMAX Telecom GmbH is the only licensee of 3,5 GHz frequencies in the entire Austrian territory. The alternative, international Internet Service Provider will be the first WiMAX-provider to start operations in Austria. This year’s expenses will amount to € 2,5 Mio. The sum of investment until 2008 will account for approx. € 70 Mio. The staff will increase from currently 10 employees to approx. 40 until 2008. These figures were announced by the WiMAX Telecom Management during the first press conference in Vienna, Austria.

While the first test–customers are already telephoning and using the internet, the roll–out for Burgenland and Styria is starting at present. By the end of the year 60 WiMAX base stations shall be installed. The first commercial customers will be able to use WiMAX in September 2005.

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