AirNet signs licensing agreement with ArrayComm

Following its announcement in September of its new super-capacity base station meant to increase wireless operators' capacity and performance, AirNet Communications Corp. (Melbourne, FL) has signed an agreement with San Jose-based ArrayComm to support the base station's launch. The AdaptaCell super-capacity base station—planned to be available in mid-2001—will be built on AirNet's current broadband, software-defined base station platform, with ArrayComm's IntelliCell adaptive array technology.

IntelliCell achieves gains in spectral efficiency—translating into significant increases in network performance—by focusing radio signals on individual handset antennas instead of broadcasting them throughout the cell. The technology has proven its value in commercial mobility systems serving more than 3.5 million subscribers via 35,000 base stations throughout the world. It has enabled increases in system capacities by as much as a factor of 20, while provisioning wireless data rates of up to 128 kb/s.

The IntelliCell technology brings several key benefits for carriers transitioning from current wireless standards to GPRS and EDGE. For example, the new AdaptaCell solution will provide universal access to high-speed data on existing radio networks. Competitors' solutions provide high-speed data in only the central part of the existing cell, requiring operators to install as many as five additional base stations to cover the same area.

In addition, the super-capacity base station will improve the quality and quantity of network throughput by maximizing use of the operator's radio spectrum. This improved throughput lets the base station handle more traffic in any given cell, which in turn allows the operators to increase the number of users within their coverage area. They can also provide additional high-speed services, such as the wireless Internet, without adding new base stations or towers.

Another benefit will be the ability to improve the quality of voice and data communications on their networks. In traditional systems, communication quality and system capacity are limited by interference caused by radio signals broadcast over a wide area to reach a single end user. Most of this signal power is wasted. In contrast, the adaptive array technology reduces interference, improves voice quality, and conserves signal power by focusing energy directly toward the end user.

Finally, because the base stations are software-defined, the operators can expand or upgrade their systems to include these new capabilities easily, typically by switching the software, not changing out hardware.

Edited by Ellen Jensen
Managing Editor, Wireless Networks Online