Below is an article that talks about DMIC's hot Altium product line.
Further below is a short list of some reasons why the microwave radio
equipment market is the place to invest over the next few years.
Lastly, a brief note on DMIC's timetable for new product introductions.
Rob
PS) Rumor on the street is that DMIC is going to get a huge order
from one of the CLEC's very soon... but its just a rumor and
I have no way of substantiating it.
====================================================================
Source:
sites.stockpoint.com\057u2205.htm
Wireless Networking -- Digital Microwaves Wireless Backbone
Feb. 25, 2000 (InternetWeek - CMP via COMTEX) -- There are lots of corporate
growing pains, but one of the worst is the wait while you install fiber between
the building you outgrew and the one you're moving into. Sometimes, considering
today's full conduits and construction restrictions, the wait can be forever.
One answer is to go wireless.
Digital Microwave's Altium provides a high-speed wireless link that can connect
locations that are miles apart. More important, it can provide a complete ATM
backbone solution. Designed for broadband applications up to 155 Mbps, the
Altium is a solid alternative to laying fiber in applications where the antennas
placed at each end point have an unobstructed line of sight between them.
We were impressed with the design of the Altium on two counts. First,
installation of the radio equipment was easier than we anticipated. The
equipment ran immediately, data flowed across the link on the first try, and we
completed the tests without a glitch related to the microwave link. Second, the
Altium performed remarkably like an equivalent length of fiber optic cable. The
only way a user could tell the backbone connection wasn't a physical link would
be to walk to the equipment closet and look at the dish.
The Altium radio system has a unique design that does a lot to ease the pain of
ownership. Our units each consisted of an indoor baseband control unit and a
microwave transceiver mounted outdoors. Each of the outdoor transceivers was
attached directly to a 2-foot parabolic dish antenna.
Linking the indoor and outdoor units is a length (up to 850 feet long) of RG-11
coaxial cable that provides a pathway for the 300-MHz and 70-MHz intermediate
frequencies used for transmitting and receiving the microwave signals. This
cable also carries the DC power for the outdoor transceiver, which means you
don't need a separate power source on the roof, where you're probably mounting
the transceiver and the antenna.
Testing the Altium
We tested the Altium at the Advanced Network Computing Laboratory at the
University of Hawaii, where we had access to the infrastructure needed to
install and test the equipment. We placed one antenna on the third floor of the
building next to the lab and laid about 300 feet of cable from the antenna to
the main radio unit in the lab.
We mounted the second antenna on a mountaintop about 2 miles away at an
elevation approximately 700 feet higher than the lab in UH's Pacific Ocean
Science and Technology building. The remote network consisted of Compaq Armada
E500 and E700 laptops, a Cabletron SmartSwitch 2200 with Ethernet 10/100 and ATM
blades, and the Altium, which was connected to the SmartSwitch 2200 ATM section.
We created traffic using Ganymede's Chariot to test throughput, and we tested
delay and packet loss using Adtech Inc.'s AX/4000 portable test set. We were
able to test timing remotely using Adtech's new GPS interface.
The outdoor unit for the remote site was placed in a location with a view of the
UH campus. Setup and aiming of the remote unit took only a few minutes, and
despite heavy rain, there was no measurable impact on the microwave signal
quality.
We used the Adtech AX/4000 to test for delays, errors and data integrity for
both Ethernet and ATM, and for cell quality for ATM. The tests, which took place
across both the entire network and across just the ATM link provided by the
Altium, demonstrated there was no loss of bandwidth, no cell loss and no
significant delay.
Of course, there's more to adding a microwave link to your network than just the
connection it provides. To be a useful part of the enterprise, a network device
must be easy to manage, and it must work with your existing network management
system. The Altium accomplishes this by using SNMP to support network management
systems. However, Digital Microwave has also equipped the Altium with an
integrated Web management and configuration utility. This means you can access
the Altium with your browser and have complete control of the device.
We found the Web interface to be very intuitive. The pages are logically
designed, and the means of making changes was clear.
One feature that adds to the usefulness of the Altium is that the device uses
its extra bandwidth to provide additional communications channels. These
channels can support phone calls, so by simply plugging a standard phone into
the unit at each end, you can carry on a conversation. It's useful for
performing maintenance where you have to make adjustments at each end of the
microwave link. The Altium also supports a low-speed data channel for modem
communications between the two units, and it supports device controls for such
things as security systems.
There's very little to using the Altium once it's in place. Digital Microwave
has succeeded in trying to make this device as transparent as possible. There's
little to distinguish the Altium from an equal length of fiber, except the cost.
And usually the fiber installation is more expensive.
One factor that will enter into the equation, however, is that the Altium, which
operates in frequency ranges from 6 GHz to 38 GHz, requires a license from the
Federal Communications Commission.
Is It Better Than Fiber?
If you've already got fiber in place between your buildings, then you might as
well use it. On the other hand, if you don't, or the distances are significant,
the Altium is often less expensive.
The Altium can be up and running almost immediately. If you have to install
fiber between buildings, just getting the necessary permits could require
months, and doing the construction could take longer.
A wireless-transmission solution may be your only realistic choice, and Digital
Microwave is one of the best of those choices we've seen.
Wayne Rash Jr. is managing editor/technology. He can be reached at
wrash@cmp.com. Elizabeth Safran is a freelance writer based in Honolulu. She can
be reached at esafran@earthlink.net.
---
Altium Digital Microwave Radio
Digital Microwave Corp.
San Jose, Calif.
408-943-0777
www.dmcwave.com
List price: Approximately $25,000 each (two required; price may vary according
to configuration)
====================================================================
+ According to Dataquest, there are 750,000 office buildings in the U.S.
Only 10,000 are connected with fiber.
+ It costs up to $300,000 to install fiber to a building. With microwave
radios, it only costs $25,000 to establish a 155 Mbps connection that
is 99.999% reliable. The price/performance relationship STRONGLY favors
microwave radios.
+ Cable infrastructure exists for residences but largely does not exist
(and will not be built out) for office buildings. Cable modems, like DSL,
have a maximum capacity of about 1.5 Mbps. DSL or cable modems simply
cannot compete with microwave radios on speed and they are highly unlikely
to be able to provide full-motion video, which requires at least 4 Mbps
speed. The T-1 line I currently use at work only has a 1.5 Mbps capacity.
+ DataQuest has calculated that North American CLECs (including Winstar,
Teligent Nextlink, Advanced Radio Telecom, Maxlink and WIC Connexus) have
announced plans to spend at least $6 billion in the next few years to build
out wireless radio networks to serve small and medium-size businesses that
lack broadband access. These companies have already raised their capital
from smart players (like Craig McCaw, Microsoft, Lucent, Forstman Little, etc.)
and they are ready to spend. Who's gonna receive this money and go to work?
The equipment manufacturers.
+ The international market, like the U.S., is just beginning. To achieve widespread
broadband access, will London, Paris, Berlin, Rome, Antwerp, Jerusalem, Hong Kong,
Tokyo, Beijing, Caracas, Rio de Janiero, etc. rip up their streets and cause massive
traffic jams to lay fiber optic cable, or will they mount discreet microwave radios
on the roofs of office buildings? Korea Telecom last year already began the rolling
out its broadband wireless radio system in Seoul.
+ In Feb 2000, the Prudential Volpe Technology Group released a research report that
estimates the worldwide broadband access equipment market will grow from $200 million
in 1999 to $9.9 billion in 2003, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 165%. It
also estimates this market will continue to climb up to $15 billion by 2005.
+ In August 1999, CIBC Oppenheimer predicted the overall point-to-multipoint (PMP)
microwave radio market will grow from $300 million in revenue in 2000 to $3 billion
in 2004, a CAGR of 77%. CIBC also predicts the point-to-point (PTP) market will grow
from $2.58 billion in 1998 to $5 billion by 2003.
====================================================================
DMIC's current Altium radio offers OC-3 (155 Mbps) capacity. Soon, they
will bring out new 'ultra-high-capacity' OC-12 (622 Mbps) radios based on
their recently announced 'velocity' chipset. Here's their new product
timetable (as of January 2000):
9-12 months: P-P radio with OC-6 (311 Mbps) capacity.
12-18 months: P-P radio with OC-12 (622 Mbps) capacity.
18-24 months: P-MP radio with OC-12 (622 Mbps) capacity.
In addition to this ultra-high capacity P-MP radio coming out in 18-24
months, DMIC hopes that the lower-capacity P-MP radio from Ensemble
Communications will work out well so they can do some sort of partnering
arrangement with them. Altogether, this will give them an extremely
broad product line... they'll always have the right product to meet
each customer's particular requirements. |
