Infrastructure Providers Team With Vodafone AirTouch on Wireless IP Demonstration
Rather than using the traditional transport method for a wireless system, the entire demo network is connected through IP. The goal is to improve cost, interoperability, and services among a variety of competitive wireless equipment suppliers.
Although the Reno demonstration was completed in the PCS frequency bands, Vodafone AirTouch expects multi-vendor wireless systems to be available at cellular frequencies as well. Hyundai Electronics' CDMA Pico Base Stations (BTS) were used in the demonstration between mobile subscribers and the IP network. The IP network transport capability was provided by Cisco, and Telos provided IP-based support for wireless mobility.
The voice quality on mobile to land and mobile to mobile calls during the demonstration frequently approached landline quality. The trial system demonstrated that vendors could successfully collaborate to generate a total IP core network solution.
Hyundai-AirTouch Agreement
In other news, Hyundai Electronics has signed a five-year agreement allowing AirTouch Cellular and its affiliates to purchase cdmaOne Pico and Micro wireless base stations for their PCS and cellular networks.
"This agreement facilitates AirTouch and our affiliates' ability to deploy affordable, modular base station technology, resulting in significant operational savings in both backhaul and site expenses," said Brent Bettencourt, director of strategic technology at AirTouch. "It also provides flexibility to offer improved service in locations where it has not been cost efficient to do so in the past, such as outlying areas, variable traffic corridors, and inside buildings."
The Pico base station mounts nearly anywhere—indoors or outdoors. Its silent operation makes it ideal for office buildings where the noise of a fan is unacceptable. Additional base stations can be added for multi-sector or multi-carrier coverage while sharing a fractional T1 or E1 network connection. The Micro base station offers additional capacity along with many of the same advantages as the Pico base station.
The CDMA Pico and Micro base transceiver stations (BTS) and base station controllers (BSC) are interoperable with other vendors' mobile switching centers (MSC) in accordance with IS-634A and CDG-IOS 2.0 standards.