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highlights |
March 18, 2009 | A
Penton Media, Inc. Publication |
feature
Tech Primer: What you need to know about fixed
wireless broadband
By
Rich Karpinski
In previous newsletters, we discussed solution scenarios for deploying
fixed wireless broadband, particularly in this down economy. Fixed
wireless technology — in either point-to-point or point-to-multipoint
applications — can support a variety of services, including voice,
data and video, as well as deployments at indoor and outdoor locations.
Those deployments can support a wide array of applications, including
some quick wins we previously explored in areas such as government,
transportation/traffic management, education and more.
In this, the final newsletter in our series, we take a step back and
provide a checklist of what you need to know to successfully deploy
fixed wireless broadband technology in support of such applications.
Scroll down to read more of this feature.
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Exploding the Myth that Unlicensed Spectrum Means Unreliable
Service
An examination of how a growing number of operators are designing
reliability into broadband networks using unlicensed frequencies. Read
this free white paper here.
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Learn the Benefits of Wireless Technology for Fixed Video
Surveillance
Read this free solution paper here.
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In previous newsletters, we discussed solution scenarios for
deploying fixed wireless broadband, particularly in this down economy.
Fixed wireless technology — in either point-to-point or
point-to-multipoint applications — can support a variety of
services, including voice, data and video, as well as deployments at
indoor and outdoor locations.
Those deployments can support a wide array of applications, including
some quick wins we previously explored in areas such as government,
transportation/traffic management, education and more.
In this, the final newsletter in our series, we take a step back and
provide a checklist of what you need to know to successfully deploy
fixed wireless broadband technology in support of such applications.
Fixed wireless basics
At the most basic level, fixed wireless broadband is a type of
high-speed network that uses radio signals rather than physical cables
to deliver broadband service. Operators use fixed wireless to serve both
residential and business customers, depending on their requirements.
Fixed wireless is often used in areas where wireline coverage is either
difficult or uneconomical to deploy.
The network equipment required to deploy fixed wireless is fairly
straightforward as well: fixed ground stations or transmission towers
that serve as the core of the network and transceivers installed at
customer sites to communicate with the core network. Such links
traditionally have required line-of-sight access — i.e., no
obstructions between them — to work most effectively, but
technology improvements mean that today’s fixed networks can support
no-line-of-sight access as well. Today’s fixed wireless networks
support high-bandwidth, low-latency transmission, meaning that the
networks cannot only support “bursty” Internet access, but more
real-time data applications, including online gaming or voice-over-IP
service.
In sum, fixed wireless broadband systems typically offer a number of
advantages over wireline deployments, including simple network design
and infrastructure, enabling rapid deployment (and tear-down, if
necessary) and limited infrastructure, which makes it easier to deploy
in hard-to-reach areas such as urban environments or remote areas with
inhospitable terrain.
The spectrum question
One of the big advantages of fixed wireless broadband technology is that
it doesn’t require operators to acquire expensive licensed spectrum in
order to operate. The recent 700 MHz auction by the U.S. government
resulted in winning bids reached almost $10 billion. That puts licensed
spectrum out of reach for smaller operators. The economics of emerging
WiMAX systems also tend to favor larger carriers and larger deployments.
Today’s fixed wireless broadband platforms operate in a variety of
spectrum slices, including 900 MHz, 1.8 MHz, 2.4 MHz and 5 GHz. With
unlicensed spectrum, interference is always an issue. The key for
operators is to, one, do careful upfront spectral testing and network
design work to get a firm grip on interference issues and, two, choose
— and in some cases even mix and match — the right spectrum
for their particular location and supported applications.
Choosing the right architecture
Fixed wireless broadband deployments come in a variety of flavors to
support different solution requirements. The three most common
approaches are point-to-point, point-to-multipoint and mesh:
• Point-to-point: If you are looking to replace a
single-leased-line network — such as one for transmitting traffic
between two enterprise locations or for backhauling from a cell tower
location — a point-to-point architecture is the right approach. A
point-to-point topology, thanks to its simplicity, offers the highest
throughput over the longest distances. But connect more than a few sites
in a point-to-point fashion and the costs quickly rise — and
individual links become more complex to manage.
• Point-to-multipoint: If point-to-point won’t work for you,
consider deploying the network in a point-to-multipoint topology. Such
networks connect multiple sites from a central location using an
omnidirectional antenna, which sends out a signal equally to all end
points on the network. You make a bit of a sacrifice in distance, in
particular, but gain cost savings and decrease complexity when
connecting multiple sites.
• Mesh: Another approach is to deploy a mesh network, in which
every radio can transmit signals to every other radio on the network.
The benefit of such an approach is improved reliability and coverage;
the downside is increased cost — at times for less throughput
performance — versus less complex point-to-point approaches.
Fixed wireless advances
At this point, fixed wireless broadband is a very mature technology
deployed in thousands of installations around the globe. Vendors have
introduced an array of advances in areas including network design,
security and quality of service assurances to make fixed wireless
technology a strong alternative to wired solutions for a variety of
applications, from simple wireless ISPs to enterprise point-to-point
leased-line replacement to specialty applications such as video
surveillance.
And advances keep improving the performance of the technology. For
instance, solutions such as Motorola’s point-to-multipoint platform
use orthogonal frequency division multiplexing technology to enable a
wireless deployment to penetrate or go around foliage, buildings and
other obstructions. Another advance, GPS synchronization, uses GPS
time-stamps to better coordinate signal transmissions and reduce errors.
With such improvements in the core technology and a wide array of
platforms and approaches to choose from, service providers should feel
comfortable opportunistically selecting and deploying fixed wireless
broadband for a variety of network approaches and applications.
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Connecting the Unconnected
Designed to be a quick read to get you up to speed on Wireless Broadband
opportunities. Read this value guide here.
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Tech Primer: What you need to know about fixed
wireless broadband
