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Proxim Wireless Corporation - WiFi and WiMAX in Tandem

Mobile broadband is here. For last mile access and enterprise LAN, Wi-Fi is established as a proven technology. Throughput, reliability, security and scalability are the concerns here. For back hauling this traffic within a metro or for a complete overlay wireless network, WiMAX is the proven standard for now. For broadband wireless access, these two technologies should go in tandem. Proxim Wireless Corporation is in an unique position to offer an end to end broadband wireless access solution by offering both WiFi and WiMAX technologies.

Proxim’s WIMAX Tsunami range of products work in the entire 2-11 GHz range specified by IEEE 802.16. The backhaul products offer wide link ranges, from Fast Ethernet, OC3 to Gigabit. Effectively Proxim can offer terrain specific solutions in both licensed and unlicensed bands, short haul and long haul and channelized operations.

Proxim offers site survey tools for network design and an Element Management System for ease of operation. These two together make the deployment and rollout of the service a smooth operation.

Broadband Wireless Access is a key technology for enabling some of the Voice over Net 2.0 applications like Mobile VOIP and Fixed Mobile Convergence. Wi-Fi and WiMAX are the technologies that are the key enablers of these applications. Proxim is a leading provider of both the technologies and so it will be a key player in VON 2.0.

Interview with Robb Henshaw,Senior Manager, Corporate Communications,Proxim Wireless

VN: Has WiMAX established a pivotal role in the 4G technology evolution?

RH: Absolutely – though not in the way most people thought WiMAX would establish itself. WiMAX – as a point-to-multipoint technology – is ideally suited as the backhaul technology of choice for whatever the 4G access technology is going to be, whether that is mobile WiMAX, 802.11n, or LTE. When you consider the fact that there are already 500 million plus Wi-Fi enabled devices in users’ hands today, as compared to only one commercially available WiMAX-enabled device, we believe that Wi-Fi (802.11-based) technologies will remain the primary access for the time being, with WiMAX providing the high bandwidth backhaul. With 802.11n capable of providing up to 200 Mbps throughput, we feel that using 802.11n for access and WiMAX for backhaul will be a popular choice for delivering 4G connectivity.

VN: DSL was considered to have head start for last mile broadband access, as it was considered ‘Infrastructure in place.’ But it could not sustain the initial growth rate. Cable MSOs gained momentum with quadruple play applications enriching their broadband access. For ‘Mobile Broadband’ WiMAX will play a crucial role. What is your comment?

RH: We do not think that WiMAX will be the technology of choice for mobile broadband access – but we definitely think it plays a key role as the backhaul technology of choice for mobile broadband. There are two issues here – the end user’s expectations for the quadruple play, and the availability of WiMAX devices.

Let’s tackle user expectations first. Today, the triple play is already a reality on wired networks, and many users already experience this at home. Because they have grown used to certain performance levels of triple play services via the wired network, users have a certain expectation of how these services should work – and they will not accept a lesser experience over the mobile network. So, as we transition to the quadruple play (data, voice, video and mobility applications), the mobile broadband network must support burst traffic speeds from 4-10 Mbps PERUSER to provide the same triple play experience they are used to on wired networks. In order to attain that level of per-user bandwidth, you need a system that can support anywhere from 100-400 Mbps – which is considerably more than the 20 Mbps that mobile WiMAX can achieve.

And finally – as we mentioned before – the simple fact of the matter is that there are not enough mobile WiMAX-enabled devices on the market today for people to take advantage of WiMAX as a mobile broadband access technology. But, with over 500 million Wi-Fi enabled devices out there today, we believe that high-performance Wi-Fi – and 802.11n in particular – will be the next big choice for mobile broadband access, and that WiMAX will provide the backhaul piece of the system.

With that said, at Proxim we don’t really care which technology becomes the primary access technology for 4G wireless broadband. Whether it’s WiMAX, 802.11n or LTE – we believe WiMAX will provide the point-to-multipoint backhaul for all of these technologies.

VN: Does Proxim have customers with green field, backhaul and 3G overlay deployments?

RH: Yes, Proxim is unique in the fact that – due to our end-to-end wireless portfolio – we are able to provide a completely customized wireless broadband solution for each and every customer’s wireless needs. We have over 235,000 customers today, with over 1.5 million units deployed in the field. This includes green field deployments where customers utilize Proxim’s WLAN gear for access, WiMAX gear for backhaul, and our Point-to-Point radios for long-distance links. From a backhaul perspective, WiMAX accounts for a majority of our sales – so we have many, many customers that utilize our WiMAX point-to-multipoint gear for backhauling large amounts of data, voice and video traffic. And finally, from a 3G overlay perspective, there are many instances in which Proxim wireless broadband networks are deployed in tandem with or as an intermediary between 2.5 and 3G networks. Based on our ability to provide the quadruple play via our broadband wireless systems today, we expect that high-performance Proxim broadband wireless deployments will coexist with other 4G networks (WiMAX, LTE, etc.) as they arrive.

VN: Do you offer site survey tools for optimized terrain specific Network layout etc.?

RH: Yes, we offer our customers Ekahau Site Survey (ESS), which provides planning, deployment, analysis, verification and reporting for Wi-Fi radio transmission behavior and performance. The ESStool saves our customers time in all phases of network deployment by combining accurate site survey information with visualization and reporting.

VN: Value added services become a key differentiator for service providers.Does Proxim offer system integration services for the service Provider to offer value added services?

RH: At Proxim, we work with thousands of partners and value-added resellers that provide system integration services for all of our customers, including our service provider customers.

VN: Have any of your customers deployed Voice over WiMAX?

RH: Yes. One such example is Sify, one of the largest Indian service providers, which utilizes Proxim’s Tsunami MP.11 WiMAX gear to provide Internet access, voice and video services to residential, enterprise and cybercafé subscribers in over 200 cities throughout India. You can read more about this deployment here: http://ir.proxim.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=303532

VN: Mobile data traffic has been increasing at a greater rate and has exceeded the Voice traffic in 2007. Based on this trend, will there be a plethora of 4G PDAs in the market to work with WiMAX very soon?

RH: – There is only one commercially available WiMAX-enabled device on the market today (the Nokia N810), so there really aren’t even options yet for people to start purchasing WiMAX devices. There are plenty of upcoming WiMAX devices that have been announced, but they are not available yet. And with over 500 million Wi-Fi enabled devices already sold and being used by end users, we don’t think that WiMAX-enabled devices will catch up anytime soon – at least not for the next 3-5 years. Therefore, in the meantime, we believe that Wi-Fi will remain the primary access technology – especially as 802.11n surpasses mobile WiMAX in bandwidth capabilities. With that said, we still believe that WiMAX serves as the perfect backhaul technology to 802.11n in the meantime.

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