Many wireless carriers and their customers are eagerly looking forward to the types of services enabled by 4G technologies like WiMAX and LTE (News - Alert). Of course, deploying new or upgraded networks and the devices that work with them takes time.

 

To get some perspective on what lies ahead for the wireless industry, TMCnet turned to Eric Andrews, Vice President of Product Management at WiChorus. WiChorus offers a wireless core platform for service providers looking to deploy LTE and WiMAX (News - Alert) networks. Andrews has more than 20 years of marketing and executive experience in the networking industry.

 

 

EA: WiMAX is a wireless technology based on the IEEE (News - Alert) 802.16 standard that enables efficient delivery of broadband services. Initial WiMAX deployments, based on 802.16d, have focused on fixed applications that provide an alternative to cable or DSL for broadband access.

 

More recently, mobile WiMAX, based on 802.16e and the WiMAX Forum’s NWG specification, has emerged as a compelling solution for high-performance, mobile broadband applications. Vendors are integrating this technology into CPE devices as well as into laptops and a variety of handset devices, thus enabling service providers to offer a premium mobile Internet experience to their customers.

 

 

EA: WiChorus helps service providers build scalable, profitable WiMAX and LTE networks. Founded in 2005, WiChorus recognized that the wireless carrier marketplace is migrating to flatter, all-IP network architectures leveraging higher-performance OFDMA air interfaces. These emerging wireless architectures, such as WiMAX and LTE, require a new class of wireless core infrastructure.

 

WiChorus focuses on this area of the network, providing high-performance, intelligent, wireless core solutions that enable service providers to efficiently deliver IP-based services, manage and monetize internet traffic, optimize network resources, and provide advanced subscriber management. In essence, WiChorus enables the mobile Internet experience.

 

 

EA: The WiMAX market continues to see healthy growth. Maravedis (News - Alert) recently projected the number of WiMAX subscribers to exceed 100 million by 2014. Emerging markets have traditionally been strong adopters of WiMAX, often deploying fixed versions of the technology. Mobile WiMAX has attracted the attention of large carriers such as Sprint and KDDI, and is in the early stages of trials and deployments. There is also increasing activity as countries worldwide complete auctions for WiMAX spectrum and new trials and deployments begin.

 

 

EA: The lack of wireline infrastructure in many regions of the world has been a catalyst for early WiMAX deployments. This driver is coupled with the growing demand for a rich, broadband internet experience anywhere at anytime. One need only look at the effect the iPhone has had on carriers’ network traffic to see the pent-up demand for a mobile broadband internet experience. This growing demand for unfettered access to the open internet and its associated services will perhaps be the largest driver for WiMAX. With WiMAX’s extensive support for QoS, we also see demand for VoIP services, IP TV and interactive video services.

 

 

EA: WiMAX is actually similar to other 4G technologies such as LTE, in that they are embracing a flatter, all-IP architecture with OFDMA air interface technology. From a wireless core perspective, they have very similar requirements, including the need for an intelligent Access Services Gateway that combines several functions from previous wireless architectures.

 

As for their differences, WiMAX comes from the IEEE standards group, the same group that brought us Ethernet. It is perhaps one to two years ahead of LTE in terms of standardization and market deployment, and it has a strong grassroots following and promising economics. LTE comes from the 3GPP standards group, the same group that specified the GSM technologies broadly used in today’s cellular networks. LTE is likely to have a strong following among large carriers that have already deployed 3GPP technologies in their networks and own spectrum relevant to this technology.

 

 

EA: WiChorus is an active member of the WiMAX Forum and is committed to open standards and interoperability testing based on the Forum’s NWG specifications. Some of our activities within the Forum include streamlining the R6 interface between ASN Gateways and Base Stations, adding policy-server interfaces based on Diameter to support dynamic policy, developing a framework for location-based services and multicast broadcast services and providing enhanced support for simple IP and Layer 2 services.

 

 

EA: One Open WiMAX is an initiative to accelerate the adoption of a single set of standard interfaces for WiMAX infrastructure equipment based on the WiMAX Forum NWG specifications. Through this initiative, WiChorus has worked with several base-station vendors and AAA vendors to ensure true interoperability based on open standards.

 

For WiMAX to be successful in the long term, WiChorus believes that the technology must adhere to its IEEE and IP roots in embracing open standards and offering service providers best-of-breed choices. History has shown that this open-standards approach generally leads to increased innovation and competitive cost structures that help fuel overall market growth.

 

 

EA: We see increasing adoption of 802.16e technology, even by operators that are deploying fixed solutions today. In addition to mobility, 802.16e provides advances in air interface technology that enable carriers to deliver optimal wireless networks. We also see increasing demand for open standards, which enable carriers to choose best-of–breed solutions.

 

Early mobile WiMAX deployments have primarily leveraged a single vendor to mitigate risk. As the technology matures and standards are broadly adopted, we see carriers demanding best-of-breed solutions so they can deliver a premium mobile internet experience to their customer base. Finally, we believe there will be increasing demand for cost-effective femtocell solutions that can increase in-building coverage without breaking the bank.

 

 

EA: WiMAX is a lot more than just an air interface. For carriers to be successful in deploying WiMAX-based solutions, they need to figure out how to build large, scalable networks that can generate a profit. This requires infrastructure that can support new and unique services, and that can deliver broadband internet in a profitable fashion.

 

These demands drive the need for an intelligent wireless core solution unlike what we have seen deployed in previous 2G and 3G environments. With continued pressure on ARPU, and ever-increasing demand for internet bandwidth, carriers are being forced to examine how to monetize the internet and avoid becoming just another “dumb pipe.”