Wireless News Roundup

• HomeRF Working Group Demos New NG Standard
• PAN Handling Bluetooth
• How You Going To Pay For That?
  
  

by ISP-Planet Staff [May 29, 2001]

HomeRF Working Group Demos New NG Standard
The HomeRF Working Group, a non-profit organization consisting of industry leaders like Sprint, 3COM and Proxim, christened its newly ratified 2.0 standards by attaining 10 Mbps transport speeds over a frequency-hopping wireless network.

HomeRF Working Group Chairman and Proxim Marketing Director, Ken Haase, said the group has hit the road to spread the word about Home RF's capabilities at seminars and conferences around the globe.

"HomeRF hit the ground running at Connections 2001 with its pre-conference seminar, which was jam packed with conference-goers from silicon providers to consumer electronics manufacturers to media eager to see how truly powerful the 2.0 standard really is," said Haase.

"The great attendance and positive reaction we received at the seminar and at our panel discussions is proof that the industry is really looking for a solid platform that will help them provide consumers with advanced, wireless multimedia capabilities for the home," Haase added. "HomeRF clearly demonstrated its leadership position in providing superior integrated services specifically for the home user."

While HomeRF Working Group members were in Seattle espousing the benefits of the new standard, other HomeRF members were in Las Vegas at Networld+Interop, demonstrating HomeRF products featuring backward compatible 2.0 specifications.

According to Georganne Benesch, Proxim vice president and general manager of consumer products, HomeRF-approved 2.0 gear will start shipping in the third quarter of 2001.

The 2.0 version of HomeRF technology is optimized for high-speed wireless home networking allowing users to create multimedia networks that include computers, telephones, and audio/visual equipment. It operates at data rates of up to 10 Mbps and allows users to integrate voice, data and streaming media capabilities across a wide range of HomeRF devices—including phones, PDAs, PCs and a growing number of music and television devices. The technology avoids common household sources of interference like microwave oven use, cordless phones, Bluetooth devices and neighbors' networks.

HomeRF is an open industry specification that allows PCs, peripherals, cordless telephones and other consumer electronic devices to share and communicate voice and data in and around the home without the complication and expense associated with running new wires. HomeRF-compliant products operate in the license-free 2.4 GHz frequency band and utilize frequency-hopping spread spectrum (FHSS) RF technology for secure and robust wireless communications.

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PAN Handling Bluetooth
In related news this week, 3COM is set to unveil its Bluetooth PC cards and software, also designed to manage personal networking environments. Meanwhile, IBM last week introduced the Bluetooth UltraPort Module, a clip-on device designed to add Bluetooth functionality to ThinkPad laptops. And Hewlett-Packard and Compaq are readying Bluetooth-enabled systems for shipment in late summer.

Heralded a personal area network (PAN) messiah, Bluetooth specifications establish short-range radio links among PCs, handheld computers, phones, and a variety of other devices within a 30-foot range.

3COM's Bluetooth PC Card slots into a laptop computer or other device. Based on 1.1 specifications, it is capable of attaining speeds as fast as 1Mbps. The company also is shipping the Bluetooth Connection Manager software, which creates a user interface capable of discovering and managing PANs.

IBM's Bluetooth UltraPort Module, also available sometime this summer, clips on top of ThinkPad LCD displays to provide connections to a range of wireless devices.

Hewlett-Packard's first integrated Bluetooth printer, the HP Deskjet 995C Inkjet printer, permits users to print wirelessly from other Bluetooth-enabled devices.

Last week, Compaq said an integrated Bluetooth module for its new Evo Notebook would be available for shipping in August.

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How You Going to Pay for That?
But manufacturers aren't the only industry sector hitching future sales on wireless technologies—be it FHSS, RF or direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS). According to high-tech research group Frost & Sullivan, service providers will need to address the challenges that new network infrastructures place on their operation support systems (OSS), if they want to get a piece of the wire-free data transport market.

Frost & Sullivan's report, OSS Insight: Wireless OSS Issues, predicts that the wireless market is poised for tremendous growth as the demand for OSS rises to meet the projected increase in wireless Internet applications.

Jim Alsman, Frost & Sullivan program leader, said in order to prepare for the potential revenue boon, wireless OSS providers must be able to expand their service assurance and service fulfillment areas—specifically billing platforms. Alsman said early adopters would need to deploy billing systems capable of handling new network services.

"Market providers want to realize revenues for their OSS services, and to achieve this successfully, a billing system must be deployed as soon as possible," Alsman said. "Billing functions must be redefined, and move away from flat rate or per-minute models to billing by byte, packet and bandwidth."

New billing methods that take into account application content provider billing, often provided by third parties, will also need to be implemented. Differing pricing plans including pre-paid and bundled services should be considered along with Web self-care as a desirable feature for end users.

Alsman said wireless OSSs must also be able to rate and track combinations of subscription fees and usage-based service fees for each wireless Internet service offered.

"To deploy these networks, a huge investment must be made by the telecom service provider in network infrastructure equipment, not to mention the added cost of the OSSs required for support of the network," Alsman said.

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