September 15, 2000

Attractive rates
Technology claims to boost wireless-data speeds

Despite the hype recently surrounding 3G (third generation) cellular technology, insufficient data rates and a limited amount of bandwidth keep the wealth of possibilities at arm's reach, and not much closer. True 3G apps, says Marty Cooper, chairman and CEO of ArrayComm (see "Waste not"), "demand always-on connections, broadband data rates, and the freedom to move."

That's just what new proponents of OFDM technology are promising—but not at the cost you'd expect. Lucent spinoff Flarion recently announced a mobile data-access technology called Flash-OFDM (orthogonal frequency division multiplexing) that threatens to take the wireless communications market by storm, offering wireless devices, such as cell phones, Internet appliances, and laptops, access to the Internet at speeds otherwise possible only over broadband connections.

Though OFDM has been considered optimal for home-networking applications, Flash-OFDM incorporates improvements that make OFDM more suitable for outdoor mobile data access, the company asserts. The result is wireless connectivity with broadband wireline characteristics. Flarion's Flash-OFDM-based RadioRouter networking solution aims to offer significant advantages over 3G wireless networks for applications including VoIP and video streaming—the principal one being cost.

OFDM, though difficult to implement until recently, is gaining speed, so to speak, now that advanced DSPs have paved the way for more cost-effective construction of systems. OFDM splits a signal into multiple high-speed signals and transmits bursts of data simultaneously on different frequencies within a band. The "always-on" wireless Internet connection allows real-time applications on the go, and uses spectrum much more efficiently than spread-spectrum techniques. Flash-OFDM enables what the company calls "fast-hopping"—basically allowing each user on the network to hop from tone to tone at approximately 10,000 hops per second. Flash-OFDM will most likely make optimal use of the recently freed-up 700-MHz frequency, says Lars Johnsson, Flarion's director of business development.

"700-MHz is prime spectrum for mobility," Johnsson explains. "Most 3G companies come from voice-centric backgrounds, and they are trying to transmit data over voice-optimized systems." Ultimately, there is a cost advantage in starting data transmissions from the ground up, Johnsson continues. Flarion expects that its RadioRouter networking solution will be adopted by several carriers, and expects to license Flash-OFDM to others, who can then build their own similar systems based on the technology.

Flarion is not the only one riding the OFDM bandwagon. OFDM has already had a head-turning effect in the home-networking arena, where many of late had feared to tread, due mainly to the expense of bringing broadband Internet service into the home. Radiata announced plans in early 2000 to begin shipping its 802.11a wireless LAN product in 2001. It's expected that 802.11a will be a logical successor to the spread-spectrum 802.11b products now promulgating in the market. 802.11a, based on OFDM, operates in the 5-GHz spectrum and can deliver data at speeds up to 54 Mbits/sec at about the same cost of many current 3G products. Of course, data transfer in this spectrum faces distance limitations. However, the 802.11a standard will be a welcome newcomer in the wireless LAN market, as it breaks the stronghold that Wi-Lan's patented W-OFDM product has had on OFDM technology for the last few years. Others agree; Cisco and Broadcom helped fund Radiata in late 1999.

—Leah Jiorle