WLAN in France

From: willem huitema
Date: Fri Jan 31, 2003 7:31am
Subject: IEEE 802.16 spec could disrupt wireless landscape


IEEE 802.16 spec could disrupt wireless landscape
By Loring Wirbel and Patrick Mannion, EE Times
January 31, 2003
URL: http://www.siliconstrategies.com/story/OEG20030130S0055
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The IEEE Standards Authority on Wednesday (Jan. 29) approved the 802.16a specification for wireless metropolitan-area networks (MANs) in the 2- to 11-GHz range, giving a seal of approval to technology that one executive said could enable a disruptive change in communications.
Roger Marks, chairman of the 802.16 committee and a wireless director at the National Institute of Standards and Technology's labs in Boulder, Colo., said industry discussions are inevitable as to whether 802.11 and 802.16 wireless specs are complementary or whether they overlap.
In an ideal world, Marks said, 802.16a can serve as a backbone for 802.11 hot-spots. Still, some wireless LAN advocates promote 802.11's use as a MAN, even though its medium-access control protocol is fundamentally optimized for shorter-range topologies. At the same time, Marks said, others have talked of using 802.16a within the enterprise as an adjunct to 802.11a or 802.11g. If the 802.11e working group has trouble providing true quality-of-service prioritization for wireless LANs, then it might make sense to take 802.16a directly to an end user, Marks said. Otherwise, "it's more efficient and more cost-effective to look for the ways 802.11 and 802.16 complement each other."
The 802.16 MAN, which won approval in 1999 as its own study group in IEEE, has suffered and benefited from both the telecom collapse and the belated craze over WLANs. In its early days, the wireless MAN work was centered on licensed services in higher frequency bands, though this work has been swamped by lower-frequency efforts that come closer to bridging wireless LAN services into the metro area.
The 802.16a standard specifies three physical layers for services: a single-carrier access method which was retained for special-purpose networks; a 256-carrier orthogonal frequency division multiplexed (OFDM) multicarrier for mainstream applications; and a special "OFDMa" standard with 2,048 carriers, which can be used for selective multicast applications, and advanced multiplexing options in tiered metro networks.
The 802.16 Task Group C on interoperability for 10- to 66-GHz frequency ranges still is proceeding with useful work for higher-frequency services evolving from LMDS and point-to-point 50- to 60-GHz radio. Compliance and test documents for 802.16c were published in April 2002, and implementation profiles were published in mid-January. But the task group with the heaviest participation right now is 802.16e, which seeks to add some level of mobility to wireless MANs.
Defined interests

When outsiders hear of such mobility goals, many assume that 802.16e is going after any broadband wireless metro market that might have been served by nascent 3G cellular services. In reality, Marks said, the task group has no interest in high-speed handoff in an automotive environment. Instead, 802.16e specs are aimed at the slow-speed, lightly mobile user who wants to maintain some level of roaming within metro access points. The task group hopes to have a first draft of mobility completed in July.
Wireless MANs now are supported by a coalition named the WiMax Forum, which develops interoperability tests based on the profiles developed by the 802.16 task groups. As important as the forum, however, has been public statements from Intel Corp. and other vendors saying they expect 802.16 to be every bit as revolutionary as 802.11.
The 802.16 effort got a major boost at the Wireless Communications Assoc. conference in San Jose in mid January. There, Sriram Viswanathan director of Intel Capital's Broadband and Wireless Networking Investments group, declared during his keynote that "802.11 is the first key disruption. 802.16 is the next." And he should know. He manages Intel's worldwide broadband and wireless networking investments where his team has made more than 40 equity investments, including the recently formed Cometa, as well as broadband wireless leader Navini.
Viswanathan stands by his words today, arguing that in areas where no wired infrastructure is in place, 802.16 is "a viable last-mile solution. And for WLAN hotspots, 802.16 is appropriate for backhaul." Viswanathan identifies backhaul as a major hurdle to the widespread deployment of WLANs in the public.
Intel backed up Viswanathan's words by leading the Wi-Max forum, a similar-style group to the Wi-Fi Alliance. "We believe that all [the fixed wireless access companies] will be standardized and get universally adopted, and 802.16 is a step towards this." Intel's ultimate vision was spelled out at Viswanathan's keynote when he said that "All communications devices will compute, all computing devices will communicate."
Sriram did not point to any direct Intel involvement in product development for 802.16. However, along with its current investment in Navini, it will continue to actively search out companies "that show the ability to bring down the cost of 802.16 technology and get it deployed."
Sweet harmony
The debate over 802.11 versus 802.16 gets an added twist thanks to the inclusion within the newly ratified standard that provides for harmonization with the still-alive European-based HiperLAN-2 5-GHz WLAN standard.
The push for harmonization was led by Alvarion Ltd., a well- entrenched provider of proprietary fixed wireless access equipment. "We're a strong believer in standards," said chief evangelist at Alvarion, Patrick Leary, "having led the standardization of 802.11a for two years."
The ratification of the original 802.11b specification and the subsequent formation of the Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance (now the Wi-Fi Alliance) interoperability group, was the driver behind the success that standard is currently enjoying.
"We fully intend to move our [proprietary] equipment over to 802.16, starting with the BreezeAccess5 which was designed from the ground up to be migratable toward the standard [when it became finalized]," said Leary. The BreezeAccess 5 uses OFDM in the 5-GHz band.
However, Leary did express disappointment that the standards group did not go along with Alvarion's push for more subcarriers in the OFDM physical-layer implementation, which according to Leary, would've provided an extra 6 dB in signal-to-noise ratio. "This would've led to larger cell sizes, but it didn't get through."
http://www.siliconstrategies.com/printableArticle?doc_id=OEG20030130S0055
Posted before: Preregistration List: 802.16 Session #23
13-16 January 2003
The list of counts by company names in pre registration is:
(as before, obviously named companies ( inc/ltd/corp) are merged - nokia has a number of branches that I put under the one group - and that brought them into focus where they weren't in the November list.)
3 ... Wi-LAN Inc.
3 ... Runcom Technologies ltd
3 ... Nokia
3 ... Intel Corporation
2 ... Wavesat Wireless Inc.
2 ... The Telnecity Group
2 ... Malibu Networks
2 ... MacPhy Modems
2 ... InterDigital Communications Corp.
2 ... Harris Corporation
2 ... Cowave Networks
2 ... Comtech AHA
2 ... AVALCOM-RINICOM
1 ... Xilinx
1 ... WaveIP
1 ... Vectrad Networks
1 ... Thomson
1 ... SiGlobe Corporation
1 ... STMicroelectronics
1 ... Redline Communications Corp.
1 ... Radiant Networks PLC
1 ... RF Magic
1 ... Proxim Corporation
1 ... Paul Thompson Associates
1 ... Panasonic
1 ... NIST
1 ... Medley Systems Ltd
1 ... Hitachi Cable Ltd,
1 ... Fujitsu
1 ... Ensemble Communications Inc.
1 ... EPIN Technologies, INC
1 ... Cymil Communications
1 ... CoWave Networks
1 ... Broadstorm
1 ... BeamReach Networks
1 ... Aperto Networks
1 ... Alvarion
1 ... Airspan Communications
1 ... Agilent Technologies
1 ... Advantech AMT Inc.
http://grouper.ieee.org/groups/802/16/meetings/mtg23/reglist.html




WiMax 802.16 Forum and more....

The IEEE 802.16 specifications are called IEEE 802.16 Wireless MAN, but the working group is called IEEE 802.16 Wireless BWA (Broadband Wireless Access). IEEE 802.16 is covered later. In addition, wireless broadband is called FWBA (fixed wireless broadband access) if the system does not support mobile users, but some systems do allow mobility within a small range of the base station.

The advantage of wireless systems is obvious: there is no need to install cable or rely on existing copper infrastructure that may be inadequate for various reasons. International Data Corporation has estimated that under 10 percent of the office buildings in the United States are reachable by fiber cable. Therefore, wireless access technologies should offer a large market opportunity.

http://www.linktionary.com/w/wireless_broadband.html

IEEE 802.16 marks broadband wireless access maturation
http://www.cnawireless.com/wrapup.htm

IEEE 802.16 attempts to provide reasonably high data rates over longer distances. 802.16 has several flavors including: 802.16.1 for millimeter radio waves in the range of 10-66 GHz and 802.16.3 for interfacing to 802.11a networks. In other words, 802.16 is designed to serve as a wireless backbone for longer distance communication between wired or wireless systems.

802.16.1 uses fixed rather than mobile antennas and is commonly referred to as Fixed Wireless. It supports data rates of 2 Mbps to 155 Mbps per channel. The currently available communication bands from the FCC include:

Frequency Use
2.5960 - 2.6640 Licensed MMDS
2.6500 - 2.6560 Licensed MMDS
2.6620 - 2.6680 Licensed MMDS
2.6740 - 2.6800 Licensed MMDS
5.7250 - 5.8750 Licensed MMDS
24.000 - 24.250 Unlicensed ISM
24.250 - 25.250 Licensed
27.500 - 28.350 Licensed LMDS
29.100 - 29.250 Licensed LMDS
31.000 - 31.075 Licensed LMDS
31.075 - 31.225 Licensed LMDS
31.225 - 31.300 Licensed LMDS
38.600 - 40.000 Licensed

MMDS (Multichannel Multipoint Distribution Service) is a line-of-sight access protocol that uses 6 MHz channels operating in parallel to send bits at high data rates using FDM. It operates at the lower frequency range and has relatively long ranges of up to 50 km.

LMDS (Local Multipoint Distribution Service) is another access protocol that has relatively short range (4 - 6 km) and it operates at higher frequencies, which makes it more susceptible to environmental interference. LMDS can use either FDM or TDM techniques which makes it adaptable to a wide range of applications.

WiMax Forum has stepped in to serve the 802.16-based BWA industry much in the way the Wi-Fi Alliance (formerly known as " WECA " ) in the 802.11 has advanced the wireless LAN space. The WiMax Forum will conduct interoperability testing and certification for 802.16-based products as they become available.
http://wimaxforum.org/about/index.asp
http://wimaxforum.org/tech/tech.asp
http://wimaxforum.org/memberinfo/index.asp

Unwiring the Last Mile
By Andy Dornan , Network Magazine
Jan 6, 2003 (10:36 AM)
At the turn of the century, ubiquitous broadband access seemed within reach. Facilities-based providers were laying fiber and cable, while competitive carriers were scrambling to sell DSL at or below cost. Now, only two years later, cheap and fast network access seems farther away than ever. Almost no one is putting new wires under U.S. streets anymore, and DSL is falling back under the control of incumbent monopolies.

It sounds bad, but there is hope.....

(excerpt)

......Aperto Networks (www.apertonet.com), Breezecom (now Alvarion, www.alvarion.com), Malibu Networks (www.malibunetworks.com), Western Multiplex (now Proxim, www.proxim.com) and Wi-LAN (www.wi-lan.com) all sell point-to-multipoint systems that are based on Wi-Fi or other WLAN technologies. These usually use a single omidirectional antenna on the service provider's tower, with client units that incorporate directional technology. They don't always have to be pointed toward the base station, either, or even require a line of sight. Some clients will automatically seek out the base station, and Wi-LAN's can even be placed inside.

more

NEWS! IEEE 802.16a approved as IEEE standard


Dear 802.16 Members, Observers, participants, and friends:

I am delighted to bring you the news that 802.16a/D7 is now approved
as IEEE Standard 802.16a!

Congratulations to the whole 802.16a team and to the entire Working
Group. We owe a particular thanks to the hardworking 802.16a Chair,
Brian Kiernan, and Technical Editor, Nico Van Waes, for their hard
work and for the continuity they brought to the project during its
the three years of development. I also want to thank former RevCom
Chair Howard Frazier for his readiness to provide help and sound
advice.

We'll be working hard to get the standard professionally edited (by
IEEE Staff Project Editor Don Messina) and published sometime in
March.

We made it! Go raise a glass to WirelessMAN!

Cheers!

Roger

Dr. Roger B. Marks
Chair, IEEE 802.16 WG on Broadband Wireless Access
National Institute of Standards and Technology/Boulder, CO, USA
tel: +1 303 497 3037 fax: +1 509 756 2642

(See also ))

>29 January 2003
>
>Roger Marks
>NIST
>325 Broadway, MC 813.00
>Boulder, CO 80305
>

Funk Software's Odyssey(TM) Client Wireless LAN Access Client Now Part of HP's Enterprise Wireless Software Package
Tuesday January 28, 9:05 am ET
Solution Fully Meets Enterprise WLAN Security and Manageability Requirements

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Jan. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Funk Software, Inc. announced today that Odyssey Client, Funk Software's wireless LAN access client, is now part of HP's notebook product portfolio targeted at large enterprise customers. With Odyssey Client, HP notebooks configured with integrated wireless LAN adapter cards are able to connect to the network with full protection of credentials and data privacy over the wireless link.


"We're very pleased HP selected Odyssey Client as part of their WLAN access solution," said Joe Ryan, vice president of Funk Software. "Odyssey represents a WLAN access solution ideally suited to the enterprise, fully meeting their security, manageability, and ease-of-deployment requirements."

Odyssey Client is a multi-platform, multi-protocol access client based on the IEEE security standard 802.1x. It lets WLAN users securely connect to the network, without danger of attack on connection credentials or data over the wireless link. It runs with equivalent functionality and security on Microsoft operating systems including Windows XP and Windows 2000 98, and Me, and supports the WLAN security protocols EAP-TTLS, EAP-TLS, EAP Cisco Wireless (a.k.a. LEAP), and EAP-MD-5. It runs on any 802.1x-compliant wireless adapter card, including HP's Wireless LAN MultiPort adapter cards, and lets a WLAN user securely connect to any 802.1x-compliant WLAN access point.

"Wireless LAN security is a major concern for our large enterprise notebook customers," said Kevin Frost, vice president of worldwide notebook marketing at HP Personal Systems Group. "By adding Funk Software's Odyssey Client software to our portfolio, HP is able to offer support for a range of industry security standards that give our customers the confidence to broadly deploy wireless networks."

An 802.1x-compliant RADIUS server which supports EAP-TTLS, EAP-TLS, and/or LEAP, such as Funk Software's Odyssey Server or Steel-Belted Radius, is also required. This total security package plays the crucial roles of controlling who gains access to the WLAN, ensuring that only authorized users can connect, and distributing encryption keys to the access point to enable it to set up the secure connection.

Availability

The HP version of the Odyssey client is available for download from www.hp.com and is also shipped standard with Wireless LAN MultiPort W200 option kits. The software is supported on all Compaq Evo notebooks configured with the Wireless LAN MultiPort running Microsoft Windows XP, Windows 2000 or Windows 98SE.

About Funk Software

Based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Funk Software is the leading commercial developer of RADIUS/AAA and wireless LAN security solutions. Its market-leading Steel-Belted Radius family of commercial AAA solutions for wireless operator, service provider, and enterprise networks is in use on thousands of public and private networks worldwide, delivering a highly scalable AAA solution that meets the needs of the largest customers. The company also offers an end-to-end 802.1X WLAN security solution, Odyssey, that can be easily and widely deployed on enterprise networks. For more information, visit www.funk.com .




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: Funk Software, Inc.

Atheros Multi-Mode WLAN Technology Is First To Market

        SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 29, 2003--


Dual-Band WLAN Solution Now Integrated in New ThinkPad Notebooks Offers Best Performance and Transparent Connectivity Across 802.11 Standards


    Atheros Communications, the leading developer of advanced wireless LAN (WLAN) technology, today announced that IBM is introducing the first of several new ThinkPad models that integrates the Atheros multi-mode WLAN chipset. This new model, called the ThinkPad R40, is shipping now and offers users the ability to seamlessly connect to any IEEE802.11 network based on both the 802.11a and the 802.11b standards.
    IBM has chosen the Atheros multi-mode 802.11a/b solution in order to help simplify the wireless user experience and provide the highest WLAN performance to its customers. Multi-mode products, while still supporting legacy WLAN devices that operate in the 2.4-GHz band, provide all the benefits of the 5-GHz band and the 802.11a standard. These benefits include more non-interfering transmission channels and a cleaner spectrum, along with five times the speed and more than 20 times the user capacity of 802.11b-only deployments.
    Multi-mode WLAN is a global phenomenon that's happening now to allow notebooks to operate in any country where unlicensed spectrum has been allocated for WLAN usage. As the first ThinkPad model to offer built-in Wi-Fi 802.11a/b connectivity, the new IBM ThinkPad R40 is capable of connecting to any Wi-Fi network based on any IEEE 802.11 standard. Other key features include the advanced IBM UltraConnect antennae technology and Access Connections wireless software that is capable of automatically sensing a wired or WLAN connection and switching between them based on priority or performance. This means ThinkPad users can seamlessly and transparently move from a wired office connection to a wireless LAN campus connection, without having to manually switch profiles.

New: PCMag.com's New Research Library
Reports and whitepapers on the B2B marketplace, 802.11, Windows, Linux and much, much more.

AT&T Wireless announces wireless data services

AT&T Wireless Services Inc.says it will offer wireless data services using Wi-Fi technology and introduce a service plan that requires no long-term contract or deposit.

The company said that the wireless data service will be available in major airports and hotels starting in mid-February.

AT&T Wireless GoPort is currently available at the Denver International Airport.

'Wi-Fi' firm iPass files $50 million IPO
Silicon Valley firm had planned to go public in 2000

By Steve Gelsi, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 12:08 PM ET Jan. 27, 2003

NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- Wireless networking firm iPass filed a $50 million initial public offering in what constitutes a rare move by a tech startup nowadays.

The Friday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission named Morgan Stanley (MWD: news, chart, profile) as lead underwriter.

iPass bills itself as a provider of a global virtual network "that allows customers access to their corporate networks or the Internet from virtually anywhere in the world."

Wayport, the leading provider of wireless and wired high-speed Internet access
in 475 hotels and 10 airports, today announced it is working with Intel Corporation to promote Wayport's service in hotels and airports in conjunction with Intel's forthcoming Centrino(TM) mobile technology for notebook PCs.

January 27, 2003 06:01

Air2U and Mobilian Ink TrueAlliance Agreement to Deliver Wi-Fi + Bluetooth Combo Solutions; Leading Taiwan ODM/OEM Joins Mobilian's TrueAlliance Partner Program
HILLSBORO, Ore & HSINCHU, Taiwan--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 27, 2003-- Air2U Incorporated and Mobilian(TM) Corporation jointly announced today that Air2U has joined Mobilian's TrueAlliance(TM) Partner Program and selected Mobilian's TrueRadio(TM) chipset to be used in a range of combination Wi-Fi + Bluetooth products including cardbus, mini-PCI and access points.
Air2U is also joining Mobilian's TrueAlliance Partner Program, designed for early adopters of Mobilian's technology. Under the alliance, Air2U will have access to Mobilian's multi-standard reference design and radio expertise, TrueRadio chipsets and development kits and systems consulting. Likewise, Mobilian will have access to Air2U's product development, retail marketing and large-scale manufacturing. The alliance will also allow Mobilian to benefit from Air2U's well-established worldwide distribution channels and partners.

"Mobilian will be an excellent addition to our growing portfolio of wireless solutions. We believe combination Wi-Fi + Bluetooth products offer an exciting business opportunity, and that Mobilian's TrueRadio combo chipset puts us in an excellent position to capitalize on this trend," said Peter Chen, President, Air2U and AIPTEK International.

"Air2U is an excellent partner for Mobilian," said Gordon Schenk, VP Sales for Mobilian. "They and their partners are providing both card manufacturing expertise and channel demand fulfillment. We look forward to establishing and maintaining an outstanding business relationship with them."

Proxim Makes Enterprise WLAN Systems Affordable by Announcing Major
Price Reductions on Its Award-Winning Enterprise-Class Access Points
Monday January 27, 8:02 am ET

Proxim Also Announces Industry's First Enterprise-Class 802.11g
Product, The ORiNOCO AP-2000 11g Kit, the Company's Next Step in
Future-Proofing The ORiNOCO Installed Base

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Jan. 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Proxim
Corporation (Nasdaq: PROX - News), a leading provider of high-
performance wireless local area networking (WLAN) and wireless wide
area networking (WWAN) products, announces immediate price reductions
up to 34% on ORiNOCO AP-2000 and AP-2500 products. These price
reductions make Proxim's ORiNOCO Access Points the most affordable
enterprise-class systems available, broadening their appeal to a
wider range of businesses and organizations.

Motorola, Avaya, and Proxim to Collaborate on New Converged Wireless Communications Solutions That Will Enable Businesses to Cut Costs, Boost Productivity

Companies Bring Together Cellular, Wireless LAN and IP Telephony Technologies To Provide Seamless Roaming Between Enterprise and Cellular Networks

Arlington Heights, Ill., Basking Ridge, N.J., and Sunnyvale, Calif. – Jan. 14, 2003 - Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT), Avaya Inc. (NYSE: AV), and Proxim Corporation (NASD: PROX) today announced they will collaborate on the creation and deployment of converged cellular, Wireless Local Area Networking (WLAN), and Internet Protocol (IP) Telephony solutions that will deliver new levels of communications mobility and network connectivity. These solutions will be enabled by an array of new products including a Wi-Fi/cellular dual-system phone from Motorola, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)-enabled IP Telephony software from Avaya, and voice enabled WLAN infrastructure from Proxim.

The jointly-developed, standards-based solutions will support contiguous voice and data service to users across enterprise networks, public cellular networks, and public hotspot WLANs based on 802.11 technology (commonly known as Wi-Fi). The convergence of these technologies will enable businesses to gain new cost savings, user efficiencies, and enhanced communications capabilities.

MOTOROLA and the Stylized M Logo are registered in the US Patent & Trademark Office. All other product or service names are the property of their respective owners. © Motorola, Inc. 2003

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