wi4 WiMAX

Motorola's wi4 WiMAX collection of products and services seek to enable service providers to offer WiMAX compatible wireless connectivity to their subscribers, in the licensed 2.5, 3.5, and 2.3 GHz frequency spectrums. Based on the 802.16e standards, the gear will allow customers to access wireless services from providers--including Internet and voice--over an all-IP-based infrastructure using WiMAX compatible devices in both fixed and mobile scenarios.

Key products in the wi4 WiMAX portfolio include:

- The WAP 400, 450, 600 and 800 series access points, which feature MIMO-technology and redundancy options. The WAP 400 features an all-outdoor design with dual transmit and dual receive antenna elements; while the WAP 600 is a ground-based platform for indoor or outdoor deployments. The WAP 800 feature multi-antenna arrays (8 antenna elements) in a tower-top deployment.

- The Access Service Network (ASN) Gateway, which serves as the connection point between multiple WiMAX radios and the IP core. The vendor states that the ASN provides a centralized management point for such functions as security, enabling the WiMAX network to become "...an extension of the IP network to the mobile user."

- Both indoor and outdoor Customer Premise Equipment (CPE), including both fixed and mobile (PC cards) product entries. In the mobile category, the vendor offers the PCMw 200, a Wave 2 ready PCMCIA Cardbus 2 card for communicating with WiMAX APs (compatible with Windows XP(sp2)/Vista); and the USBw 100, a thumb-sized device that facilitates WiMAX network connectivity by way of the PC's USB port. The fixed line consists of the CPEi and CPEo (indoor and outdoor) lines, providing data or data and voice connection options. The CPEi 850, in particular, includes a built-in Wi-Fi router and is Wave 2 ready, while the CPEo 400--the only outdoor entry in the CPE line--is also Wave 2 ready and features PoE support. New to the CPEi line is the CPEi 775, which (like its predecessor, the CPEi 850) also incorporates both WiMAX and WiFi connectivity and boasts the vendor's adaptive switching technology. Motorola states that adaptive switching enables the device to be deployed without having to be manually rotated for optimal signal strength.

Contact Motorola for further information.