Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Nextel Improves Push-to-Talk / Fast CDMA Push-to-Talk

From: [email-masked]
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2003 03:35:35 -0400

Advisor Update
What's new in the world of mobile and wireless.

ARTICLE INFO
MOBILE BUSINESS ADVISOR MAGAZINE

802.11g Slows Down So 802.11b Can Keep Up

The long-awaited 802.11g (Wi-Fi) standard has been approved by the IEEE. The final
spec was greeted with disappointment when the Wi-Fi community realized data
throughput is much slower than expected, about 10 to 20Mbps compared to the claims
of 54Mbps.

The disappointment is partially the result of confusion about what is being measured. The 54Mbps rate claimed for 802.11g is raw throughput that doesn't factor in the overhead of a wireless network system.
A more realistic throughput for 802.11g was 20 to 30Mbps. But that dropped to 10
to 20Mbps so 802.11g can be compatible with ubiquitous 802.11b systems. The radios of
both systems operate in the 2.4GHz range. To eliminate interference, 802.11g devices have a request-to-send/clear-to-send (RTS/CTS) mechanism that acts as a traffic cop between 11b and 11g transmissions. This slows things overall, but because it reduces interference, it is claimed to be an improvement over mixed 11b/11g networks that don't use RTS/CTS.
IEEE estimates wireless users on networks running pure 802.11g will get about 20Mbps throughput. Networks that mix 11b and 11g will get about 10Mbps through 802.11g devices. For comparison, 802.11b's raw speed of 11Mbps yields actual throughput of 4 to 6Mbps.
Installation, connection, and operation of access points are the costly aspects of Wi-Fi, so the benefit of 802.11g is that a single access point can handle both 11g and 11b mobile devices. The shorter-range but faster 802.11a doesn't have to compromise speed because it operates in the 5GHz range, but mixing 11a with 11g or 11b mobile devices requires separate 11a and 11g or 11b access points.

Palm Buys Handspring

Palm is acquiring Handspring, a manufacturer of Palm OS PDAs and smartphones that
started as an unofficial spin-off of Palm. In 1992 Jeff Hawkins and Donna Dubinsky
founded what became known as Palm, and Hawkins created the original Palm Pilot. In
1998 Hawkins and Dubinski left to found Handspring, and licensed the Palm OS for the innovative Handspring Visor PDA.
Today's Palm comprises two businesses. The Palm Solutions Group handles hardware, designing, making, and marketing handheld devices. It and Handspring will be combined into a new company with a new name. Hawkins will become chief technology officer of the new merged company and Dubinsky will join the board of directors.
Palm's second business, PalmSource, develops and licenses the Palm operating system.
PalmSource will be spun off as a separate company. Both deals should be finished
by fall 2003.

Palm says the combined companies should save about US$25 million per year in
improved operating efficiencies, staff reductions and the elimination of
overlapping programs and unnecessary real estate. By merging product lines, the enlarged
company expects increased sales, too. In the first quarter of 2003, Palm shipped 932,011
units, giving it 32.8 percent of the world handheld market, down 22.1 percent from a year
earlier. Handspring has been shifting its focus from PDAs to Treo smartphones, selling 70,000 units representing 4.1 percent of the global market, according to IDC.

Wireless IM Leaps Compatibility Hurdle

Plagued by interoperability problems, instant messaging (IM) for wireless devices has been slow to take off. To the rescue rides Air2Web 2IM, which lets users of IM systems from Yahoo, Microsoft MSN, and AOL swap messages on wireless PDAs.
"One of the challenges associated with IM, in general, is there isn't a dominant instant messaging service. You might have one set of colleagues on one service and another set of colleagues on another, and friends and family on still other services. That means, if you want to communicate with all of these groups, you have to be logged into multiple networks," says Air2Web CTO Dale Gonzalez. "On a PC, it's a drag, but not debilitating. On a wireless device, it's almost impossible. You can't reasonably run multiple applications simultaneously and flip from one to the other as easily as you can on a PC where screen real estate isn't as much of an issue." With 2IM, users can access any IM network through a single interface. Users get a consolidated alphabetical buddy list, regardless of the IM service each buddy uses.
Experiencing technical difficulties Instant messaging was created for wired networks, so wireless IM is tricky. IM uses a socket protocol, establishing a connection between the client and the server that's kept open for the length of the conversation. However, socket-oriented communication doesn't work with a wireless device that's going in and out of coverage. To solve this problem, 2IM creates a bridge that supports socket protocol from the 2IM server to the IM server, but packet protocol over the network to the wireless device.
2IM is available for Palm devices, RIM wireless handhelds, and Cingular Wireless' myBiz pagers, and soon for other wireless handsets including J2ME devices. Users can connect via Wi-Fi and cellular. Air2Web plans to support the Pocket PC, IBM Lotus Instant Messaging (formerly Lotus Sametime), and Jabber by the end of 2003.

Built-in Wi-Fi Forces Stronger Security

By 2005, 95 percent of corporate notebooks will have embedded Wi-Fi, says META Group. Therefore, IT managers must establish comprehensive policies and processes to mitigate security risks, increased infrastructure complexity, and cost.
"We estimate only one-third of large enterprises have a comprehensive policy clearly documenting the approach to wireless adoption," says Chris Kozup, senior research analyst of infrastructure strategies at META Group. "The Intel Centrino announcement highlights that it's critical to protect corporate resources against the high security risks associated with the broad introduction of Wi-Fi into the enterprise."
For more information on protecting your data when using Wi-Fi, see John Eder's article on page 18.

Novatel Update

In Mobile Business Advisor May/June 2003, Ken Getz evaluated the HP iPAQ 5450
and encountered problems using the Novatel Wireless Merlin C201 card to connect
the device to the Sprint PCS network. Novatel has posted a fix that adjusts a setting
on the iPAQ 5450/5455 to accommodate the card's higher data speed. You can get the fix at
http://www.nvtl.com/ipaq5455.

Nextel Improves Push-to-Talk

Nextel is adding cool new features to Direct Connect, its industry-leading push-to-talk (PTT) service. PTT lets users connect with a quick push of a button, much like a two-way radio -- no dialing, no ringing, no waiting.
Push-to-talk is attractive to users because of the speed, and because wireless carriers charge less for the more-efficient PTT minutes. That's good for the customer, and also good for Nextel, which has built the most loyal and highest-spending customer base in the mobile phone industry.
Competing carriers including AT&T Wireless, Cingular, Sprint PCS, T-Mobile, and Verizon have announced push-to-talk rollouts, but none are fully deployed.  Nextel's proprietary iDEN network was built for PTT, so there's only a brief delay when connecting (known as latency), usually one half to three quarters of a second. The other carriers are adding PTT to network that weren't designed for it, so connection delays are an issue. Some reports put these PTT connection times at two to four seconds, a gap too disruptive for natural conversation.
It appears that GSM carriers are in a better position to implement PTT than their CDMA counterparts for a couple of reasons. "With respect to push-to-talk, there are some routing issues to handle with CDMA," says Ken Hyers, senior analyst with research company In-Stat/MDR. "There are also problems overcoming latency." Also, it's unlikely there will be a CDMA standard as there will be for GSM. Several companies are working with the basic Qualcomm CDMA standard, but then go their separate ways.
While the other carriers work to get push-to-talk deployed, Nextel is rolling out nationwide Direct Connect. A Nextel user should get the same performance whether connecting to a user across town or across the country. Nextel expects to provide Direct Connect throughout all its service areas in the U.S., including Hawaii, by the third quarter of 2003.
Next on the Nextel agenda is to use satellites to deploy Direct Connect globally.  "This has enormous appeal to our friends in government/public safety -- our fastest growing market segment," says Tom Donahue, Nextel president and CEO. He also says Nextel is working to improve Direct Connect voice quality. Other plans include push-to-view functionality to take advantage of phones that contain cameras, and Web-based directories to help companies set up dynamic talk groups.

Fast CDMA Push-to-Talk

Although it's a Problem Nextel solved a long time ago on its Direct Connect system, getting a low-latency connection is still a challenge on other mobile phone systems.
Qualcomm wants to provide low-latency PTT capabilities for its CDMA2000 and other CDMA 3G networks wireless carrier customers. Its QChat technology provides PTT call set-up of less than two seconds using Voice over IP (VoIP). Qualcomm says QChat also minimizes use of radio resources compared with other PTT systems.
The QChat client runs as an application on Qualcomm's Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless (BREW) platform. It offers dynamic, over-the-air upgrades of handset software, management of group membership by subscribers, and ad hoc creation of chat groups.
For now, Qualcomm is pitching QChat only to mobile phone carriers in other countries.
Its PTT is locked out of the U.S. until 2006 because of an agreement with Nextel; in return, Qualcomm gets to market the technology to Nextel's international affiliates.

T-Mobile Bundles Wi-Fi and Wireless Phone Service

T-Mobile has closed another gap: selling Wi-Fi and phone service as a package with one bill. T-Mobile phone customers can add unlimited hotspot service for US$19.99, $10 off the regular rate. T-Mobile HotSpot service continues to be available as a standalone service via subscription and pay-as-you-go.
T-Mobile's next move is to integrate access to its GPRS phone and Wi-Fi hotspot.
T-Mobile will use technology developed by Boingo Wireless to let users manage
connections between hotspot and GPRS, so they can locate both T-Mobile networks
and connect at the best available speed. This will be followed by mobile+Wi-Fi
devices that let customers seamlessly roam between the two

T-Mobile networks. http://www.t-mobile.com

Product Watch

Mobile software, devices, and services

IBM Mobile Office Entry Jumpstart (MOEJ) helps companies get started with mobile
computing. MOEJ includes IBM WebSphere Everyplace Access, WebSphere
Everyplace Connection Manager, 50 Palm Tungsten PDAs, and Wi-Fi cards to connect
the devices. IBM WebSphere Everyplace Access lets mobile devices access enterprise
applications such as back-end databases, instant messaging servers, and business
applications. IBM WebSphere Everyplace Connection Manager manages high-speed
wireless connections as users roam between private wireless local area networks,
public wireless hotspots, and traditional wired networks. MOEJ customers who purchase the
package of 50 clients also receive consulting from IBM Global Services and product
support from Palm. MOEJ starts at US$100,000.

http://www.ibm.com

Networked portable projector

Mitsubishi XL5950 ColorView LCD projector offers 4700 ANSI lumens, horizontal
and vertical lens shift, a contrast ratio of 600:1, and 3D CineView (a proprietary
video technology that reduces flickering and artifacts). The XL5950 ColorView is
compatible with Mitsubishi's ProjectorView networking system, which connects via an external
serial-to-Ethernet translator to a TCP/IP local area network (LAN) so projectors
can be controlled and monitored with a Web browser on the LAN or the Internet. The XL5950
also contains a motion-sensitive anti-theft alarm. US$11,995.

http://www.mitsubishi-presentations.com

Palm Wi-Fi

Palm Tungsten C has built-in Wi-Fi 802.11b connectivity, 64MB of memory, a 400MHz
ARM processor, and a 320x320 TFT display for indoor and outdoor viewing. It
includes several business applications, including VersaMail 2.5 e-mail software,
Chapura PocketMirror 3.1 for synchronization with Microsoft Outlook (Windows only), and 10
productivity, communication, and entertainment applications. Tungsten C also has several security features, including a point-to-point tunneling protocol (PPTP) virtual private network (VPN) from Mergic, application-level encryption, power-on password capabilities, and password-character blocking that keeps bystanders from seeing on-screen passwords. US$499.

http://www.palm.com

High-Speed Wireless Network
Linksys Ricochet Router gives a new capability to Richochet users. Available in Denver, Colorado and San Diego, California, Richochet is a propriety high-speed wireless Internet network with throughput four times faster than dial-up. By connecting to the Linksys Ricochet Router via Ethernet cable, users can share a single Ricochet account with up to four computers in a home or small office. To save cabling hassle, users can add a Linksys Wireless Access Point (sold separately) to set up a wireless local area network for sharing the service. Linksys Ricochet Router also includes network address translation (NAT) for security. The system requires one Richochet PCMCIA card for the router and one for any laptop used away from the router site. Or the router's Richochet card can be transferred to the laptop if simultaneous use isn't required.
US$119.95 for the router; $44.95/month for Ricochet service. $99 for PCMCIA card (volume discounts available).
http://www.linksys.com; http://www.ricochet.com

VPN Client

Funk Odyssey VPN Client supports transparent installation on Microsoft systems and
automatic roaming among networks. It also gives you centralized administration for
enterprise environments.

http://mobileadvisor.com/Articles.nsf/dp/8645419E2981C18588256D35007F368B

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