Dennis,
Re: More LAS-CDMA (Large Area Synchronized Code Division Multiple Access) from LinkAir Communications Inc.
Mentioned in your post here:
Message 13712646
Now here:
>> Software Firms Race To Speed Wireless Data
Joanne Taaffe
19 June 2000
CWI Online
totaltele.com
Next-generation mobile services promise to offer much faster speeds for the transfer of data over wireless networks. But in the first few years transmission times are likely to be well below expectations.
As a result several U.S. software and hardware firms are springing up to meet the demand for increased speeds, offering solutions to operators and vendors.
Some solutions are already being deployed. Others may be more difficult to install or expensive, however, and may be held back as vendors race to get their equipment to market, say analysts.
"Manufacturers are focusing on production - getting it out the door first," said Henry Harrison, senior analyst, Schema Ltd., London.
Although mobile technologies such as GPRS promise data access speeds of 114 kilobits per second, transmission times will likely be much lower at first. For example, Slough, England-based BT Cellnet estimated that users initially will have maximum data transfer speeds of 20.44 Kbps for Phase 1 GPRS.
The story is likely to be the same for 3G services, with data transmission speeds falling well short of the promised optimum rate of 2 megabits per second, say analysts.
"3G standardization [when it comes to data access speed] was a fudge," said one analyst, who declined to be named.
It is therefore not surprising that software companies such as BlueKite.com and BoostWorks Inc., both of San Francisco, have rolled out software that gives the user the impression that connection rates are higher than they actually are.
BlueKite.com has already signed contracts with BT Cellnet and Swisscom, and BoostWorks software is being deployed by France Telecom's mobile unit, Itineris. BlueKite.com's network optimization software, for example, which needs to be installed both on a server in the operator's network and on the client device - such as a lap-top - works on the same principle as existing Web-caching systems.
Faster downloads
What makes BlueKite.com different to existing caching tools for fixed devices is that it transfers even less information each time a page is downloaded. "If a Web page took a minute to download, that improves to 10-11 seconds with BlueKite," said Stuart Newstead, head of BT Cellnet's data services development.
Yet this type of bandwidth optimization software is not the only answer.
Another U.S. company is taking a very different, and much more radical, approach by tackling the problem at the network level.
LinkAir Communications Inc. has developed software, called Large Area Synchronized Code Division Multiple Access (LAS-CDMA), which once integrated into a base station promises data speeds of up to 5.53 Mbps even on current 2G networks. The company, headquartered in San Jose, California, and Beijing, hopes to sell its software to equipment manufacturers for integration into their 3G base-stations.
LinkAir also hopes to develop LAS-CDMA into a standard recognized for use with CDMA, cdma2000 and TD-SCDMA. The company has few expectations of winning over GSM/GPRS network operators immediately, principally because adding LinkAir technology to existing GSM networks is unrealistically expensive. The company, however, sees a potential market in those GSM operators that fail to win 3G licenses, as well as those that do upgrade to UMTS.
Dead end
"If you have no option to go to 3G, then you are in a dead end," said Frederic Leroudier, vice president of business development and standards for LinkAir.
Another hitch is that the new services will require new handsets. But some handset vendors have responded positively, said Leroudier.
And analysts question whether equipment vendors will want to integrate a new technology when they are busy just trying to meet deadlines for equipment rollout to operators anxious to put their newly won 3G licenses to use.
"No-one is banking on high-speeds as part of the early business plan," said Schema's Harrison. <<
- Eric - |
