WiMAX: Standard for Wireless Broadband
The WiMAX standard for a wireless metropolitan area network (MAN) technology will connect 802.11 hotspots to the Internet and provide a wireless extension to cable and DSL, for the last mile broadband access. The WiMAX broadband standard 802.16 provides up to 31 miles of linear service-area range and allows users connectivity without a direct line-of-sight to a base station. The technology also provides shared data rates of up to 70 Mbps, which, according to WiMAX, is enough bandwidth to simultaneously support more than 60 businesses and hundreds of homes with T1-type connectivity. 

The WiMAX standard is promoted by the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) forum. It consists of leading equipment and component manufacturers from the industry including Agilent Technologies, Ensemble Communications, Hughes Network Systems, Intracom, Nera, Nokia and Provigent.

The Purpose: It aims to promote deployment of broadband wireless access networks, by using a global standard and certifying interoperability of products and technologies. For network operators this would mean interoperability between equipment vendors and for equipment vendors it would mean fewer product variants. And the end-users emerges a winner as WiMAX gives faster and cheaper access.

WiMAX also plans to certify that products are compliant with the interoperability requirements set forth by WiMAX.

Open standards like WiMAX would make it possible to have wireless equipment from many sources. As new carriers compete with incumbent operators, cost of the systems would eventually go down. This could be passed on to customers. And, competition between access technologies will eventually lower the cost of services.

Gigabit Ethernet: Faster Traffic on Tested Platform
Gigabit Ethernet is an extension of the widely used 10 Mbps Ethernet and 100 Mbps Fast Ethernet standards for network connectivity. At 1000 Mbps, Gigabit Ethernet is 100 times faster than Ethernet and 10 times faster than Fast Ethernet. As Fast Ethernet becomes more widely deployed, Gigabit Ethernet would be increasingly used to help fortify bandwidth at the network backbone and the server.

The main factor driving 10 Gigabit Ethernet is the increase in Internet and intranet traffic. The 10 Gigabit Ethernet enables Internet service providers (ISP) and network service providers (NSP) to create high-speed links at a very low cost between co-located, carrier-class switches and routers. The technology also allows the construction of MANs and WANs that connect geographically dispersed LANs between points of presence (PoP). These connections will use dark fiber, dark wavelengths, or SONET/SDH networks.

Gigabit Benefits: Gigabit Ethernet uses the same transmission schemes and frame formats as Ethernet and Fast Ethernet. Design, installation, configuration are also similar. Thus, there is no need for complex and slow emulations. Due to its compatibility with old formats, there is no need to purchase additional protocol stacks or invest in new middleware. Established Ethernet and Fast Ethernet management systems can be used.

Adoption of Gigabit Ethernet would mean increased network performance levels including traffic localization and high-speed cross-segment movement. It would be easier to add and manage more users and ‘hungrier’ applications on the same network. In the long run, it will reduce the overall cost of the service.

VDSL: ADSL Improved
As use of fast Internet connections grows, the demand for broadband (high-speed) connections steadily increases. The current technologies, such as cable, modem, and asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) are not fast enough to support the integration of home services such as digital television and video-on-demand. To suit the requirements of the users, another digital subscriber line technology known as, very high bit-rate DSL (VDSL) has been developed.

VDSL provides an incredible amount of bandwidth, with speeds up to about 52 megabits per second (Mbps). When compared with the maximum speed of 8 to 10 Mbps for ADSL or cable modem, VDSL could be as significant as the migration from a 56K modem to broadband. As VDSL becomes more common, you can expect that integrated packages will be cheaper than the total amount for the currently separate services.

IP TV: TV on Your Desktop
Internet protocol television (IPTV) or TVoIP can deliver TV-quality live video programming—including: management broadcasts, training programs, university classes, business TV, and satellite programs—to desktop PCs, classrooms, and meeting rooms.

IPTV will allow users to enjoy digital broadcasting services and images, distributed through high-speed broadband connections. TVoIP is a distribution system where the last-mile access is via a high-capacity two-way IP network; and bandwidth intensive services such as TV and video-on-demand are carried into the living rooms in IP frames.

The use of network-efficient multicast technology makes it possible to deliver high-quality video content with optimal network performance. TVoIP uses a set of servers that work in tandem to broadcast and rebroadcasts programs. Companies, such as Cisco, offer broadcast server and control server and an IPTV client viewer for live delivery along with space for archive servers for on-demand viewing or scheduled rebroadcasts.

The servers used have capture cards to encode and transmit programs according to the directions they receive from control server. Broadcast servers are used for multicasting live or prerecorded programs from devices such as video cameras, VCRs, DVDs, satellite, and cable feeds; as well as prerecorded Windows Media, AVI, MP3, and MPEG files.

IP TV Benefits: Training: The use of IP TV, for training, cuts down on costs as it is more economical than sending the employee to the training center.

Business TV to the Desktop: IP TV makes it easy and economical to deliver current stock market trends, financial news, and satellite broadcasts right to the knowledge workers’ desktops.

Corporate Communications: It makes corporate communications only a mouse-click away from any employee anywhere in the world.

Distance Learning: IP TV can be used to implement a distance-learning curriculum. Universities and other institutions of higher education can offer tele-courses to network-based students on a fee or credit basis.

WCDMA: Wonderful CDMA?
Wideband code-division multiple-access (WCDMA) is one of the main technologies for the implementation of third-generation cellular systems. WCDMA is based on the radio access technique proposed by ETSI Alpha group, and the specifications were finalized in 1999.

From the outset, WCDMA was designed to provide cost-efficient capacity for both modern mobile multimedia applications and traditional mobile voice services. One of the key benefits of the technology is efficient and flexible support for radio bearers, in which network capacity can be freely allocated between voice and data within the same carrier. WCDMA also supports multiple-simultaneous services and multimedia services, comprising multiple components with different service-quality requirements in terms of throughput, transfer delay, and bit-error rate.

WCDMA brings much faster and easier access to existing services and enables development of a wealth of new exciting applications. Subscribers can, for example, enhance a mobile voice call with online live video, or surf the Web while simultaneously speaking on the phone.

In WCDMA, user data is spread over a bandwidth of about 5 MHz. The wide bandwidth supports high user-data rates and also provides performance benefits due to frequency diversity. The wideband carrier is also cost-effective as more users can be served by means of a single transceiver.

IPoS: Catching-up With Terrestrial Services
The new network equipments and management solutions enable IP traffic over the new generation of higher-bandwidth Ka-band satellites. This improves multicasting standards and last-mile connectivity.

Internet connection through satellite connects directly to the leading Internet backbones, at high rates, uninterruptedly. IP over Satellite (IPoS) gives fast and high-quality Internet connection as well as audio and video communications with every part of the world. Satellites extend the reach of the Internet and IP-based private networks to places that are poorly served by the terrestrial infrastructure. It is possible to use fixed-orbit or inclined-orbit satellites for the IPoS service, in accordance with customers’ needs.

However, using a satellite might be expensive and bit errors can impact performance. Also, satellite links must be integrated with terrestrial networks. As TCP/IP has become the de facto standard for all computer networking, it is critical for satellite operators and users to understand the fundamentals of TCP/IP because TCP is not designed for long delay, high bit error, and asymmetric bandwidth conditions—typical of satellite networks. The IPoS network must overcome these limitations to create an efficient and responsive network that does not suffer from the performance constraints and can compete with terrestrial alternatives.

EvDO: Wi-Fi Challenger
Wi-Fi has a challenger for the wireless space. It is called evolution data only or EvDO and is being developed as the new standard for high-speed cellular networks.

EvDO is a wireless network solution, which provides data connections almost 10 times faster than a regular modem.

In addition to being faster than Wi-Fi, EvDO can work over existing cell-phone networks and deliver a connection wherever there is a mobile-phone signal. In contrast, Wi-Fi users must be within 300 feet of a base station or a hotspot.

However, the cellular companies are facing constraints over spectrum use and at the moment have their networks clogged with voice traffic. If they implement EvDO without updating their networks and buying additional spectrum, which would require huge investments, benefits of EvDO are likely to be lost. At the moment, the EvDO solutions industry is bullish and it has been gaining popularity in US and South Korea. Though investments would be the key in EvDO rollout, telecom equipment makers and network solution providers should be ready to take the hit in anticipation of larger benefits.