WinLink

The WinLink product line provides point-to-point wireless connectivity, aggregating both T1/E1 and Ethernet services and delivering them over distances of up to 50 miles to the recipient radio. The vendor notes example uses of the radios including multi-site connectivity for enterprise campuses, backhaul delivery for carriers, and broadband service delivery for providers to small or home businesses without requiring wired T1/E1 lines to the location. To establish the point-to-point communications, a WinLink platform is deployed at both ends of the connection.

The key entry in the WinLink portfolio is the WinLink 1000, which consists of an indoor unit (IDU) which connects via CAT-5e cabling (100 meters max) to an outdoor unit, which is offered with an integrated antenna or with the ability to connect to an external antenna. The IDUs include the necessary connection ports for the T1/E1 and Ethernet lines; while the ODUs are offered in multiple models depending on the needed frequency band for delivery of the data.

As of this writing, three different IDU devices are offered by the vendor: The IDU-E, a half-rackmount plastic device with a single Ethernet (10/100) port and from 0 to 2 T1/E1 interfaces; the IDU-C, with dual Ethernet ports (10/100) and 4 T1/E1 interfaces; and the IDU-R, which includes a single T1/E1 port, dual 10/100 ports, and an external alarms interface. The IDU-R is specifically targeted for back-up deployments: It connects to the remote IDU-R via a physical T1/E1 line, which it constantly monitors. If that physical line should fail, it automatically switches to the radio link, instead.

For outdoor units, multiple frequency bandwidths are supported; including 2.3-2.4, 2.4-2.4835, 4.940-4.990, 5.140-5.350, 5.490-5.730, and 5.725-5.950. The new BRS version of the WinLink 1000 supports operation in the licensed 2.5-2690 frequency band.

The WinLinks are managed either locally or remotely via the Windows-based WinLink 1000 Manager, which leverages SNMP communications to manage a link via a single IP address. Features of this management application include planning tools, an installation wizard, online monitoring, local and remote loopback testing, etc.

A key feature of the WinLink platform is its support for multi point-to-point (MPtP) deployments, in which multiple WinLink devices can be deployed at the same site, enabling it (the site) to serve multiple remote connections. Facilitating this type of deployment is the vendor's Hub Site Synchronization (HSS) technology, which the vendor states synchronizes the transmissions of the multiple WinLink radios, removing the mutual interference that would otherwise occur from a multi-radio collocation. With MPtP up to 16 WinLink 1000s can be deployed at a single site.

An additional WinLink model, the WinLink 1000 Access, is targeted specifically to Ethernet point-to-point connections (no T1/E1 connectivity). The WinLink 1000 Access IDU includes a single 10/100 port that can deliver power (via PoE) to the ODU, with overall link throughput listed at up to 2 Mb/sec (full duplex). The WinLink 1000 Access platform operates in the 2.300 – 2.4835, 2.400 - 2.4835, or 5.725 – 5.850 GHz frequency bands.

The WinLink products are available now. Contact RADWIN for further information.