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Sci Tech
IT TRENDS
Is WiMAX the way to go?
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The recent recognition of WiMAX as a 3rd generation mobile Internet standard creates a competitor to cellular alternatives
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WiMAX pioneer: The work of Dr. A. Paulraj in MIMO pushed Wireless Internet access beyond 200 megabits per second.
Like Tantalus of Greek mythology, whose lips reached tantalisingly close to water - only to see it recede, India seems fated these days, to be always within reach, but never quite in possession, of the precise technology to fuel the rapid empowerment of her people.
IMT-2000
WiMAX - Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, the anytime, anywhere, wireless broadband technology also known as the IEEE 802.16 standard, is the example. The mobile, or 16e, version of WiMAX, has recently been included by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in the set of standards known as IMT-2000.
This means it can compete with the so-called `3G' or third generation cellular technologies, being deployed by mobile telephony providers to provide Internet services at broadband speeds.
That will pit 16e WiMAX, directly against the two incumbent broadband cellular technologies: CDMA 2000 in the case of CDMA users and WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) - specifically HSPA or High Speed Packet Access - in the case of GSM providers.
Operators worldwide will now have to make a choice on behalf of their customers of which technology roadmap to adopt.
And for customers this means there are two ways to link their laptops and other portable computing platforms to a fast Internet connection: They will soon be offered a choice of two plugins: a HSPA card or a WiMAX card, both promising throughput speeds of 10-15 MBPS - though a more realistic initial expectation is around 5 MBPS,
Previewed devices
At the September Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco, the chipmaker previewed devices fuelled by its mobile processor codenamed Montevino which integrates today's WiFI connectivity with WiMAX capability and promised to launch the chip in late 2008.
And at the Mobile Asia Congress in Macau last month, GSM operators vied with each other to preview notebook PCs with built-in HSPA broadband access. Indian telecom players seem to be betting on WiMAX : VSNL, now Tata Communications, is known to be readying for the launch of wireless broadband services based on WiMAX, early in the new year.
Reliance has already tested the waters of WiMAX for corporate networks and can be expected to strengthen its broadband mobile offerings any time the market is ready.
Bharti and BSNL are also chaffing at the bit, waiting for the government to clear the track. The wait will be particularly frustrating for a handful of Indian-ingenuity-fuelled companies who have created compelling Mobile WiMAX technologies which are used here, there and everywhere - except in the land of their birth.
The Telecom 2007 show in Delhi last week, saw the global unveiling of Telsima Corporation's WiMAX `triple play' base station for mobile Internet access, multicast video and Internet telephony.
Leading provider
The Bangalore and Santa Clara, California-based Beceem has just announced the availability of 10 separate devices - based on chip sets developed by its Indian engineers.
Laptop and desktop PC modems, USB `dongles,' PC Express cards. all ready to offer mobile WiMAX services as soon as the Indian government completes the allocation of spectrum. Meanwhile, the devices fuel WiMAX applications abroad.
This low key operation was co-founded by India-born Arogyaswamy Paulraj, a pioneer of WiMAX: specifically, he is the inventor of MIMO or Multiple In Multiple Out, the `smart' antenna technology where multiple antennas are used both as the source (or transmitter) and the destination (or receiver).
This has pushed wireless Internet speeds far beyond that of WiFI, to 200 MBPS. and will eventually enable WiMAX systems to work at 600 MBPS.
Dr Paulraj first proposed the MIMO concept in 1993, jointly with Prof Thomas Kailath, while both were at Stanford University: they were granted a patent a year later.
Dr Paulraj, continues as Professor of Electrical Engineering at the university and co-founded Beceem in 2004.
Father of WiMAX
His earlier company, Iospan, where he further developed MIMO, was acquired by Intel in 2003. Business Week magazine called him the `father of WiMAX', in a tribute to the `Wizards of WiMAX' a few months ago.
Last week, the WiMAX Forum, the non profit organization bringing together almost 500 WiMAX players, announced that its first-ever WiMAX certification laboratory would be based in India - sometime in 2008.
Global market
This is clearly perceived to be a key global market for the technology: While Juniper Research estimates Mobile WiMAX surfers worldwide at 80 million by 2013, another study by Report Buyer suggests that WiMAX subscribers in India (not necessarily all mobile) will number 21 million by 2014.
Way forward
And speaking at the WiMAX Forum India Summit Dr Mo Shakouri, the Forum's Vice President (Marketing Group) suggested: "There is no doubt: WiMAX is the way forward; if India needs to reach out to all of its population within the stipulated time, it needs to act now".
The challenge is to create low cost deployment systems to spread broadband to the rural hinterland.
Time alone will tell if WiMAX is indeed, the tool whose time has come. But can we afford not to give it a try?
ANAND PARTHASARATHY
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