A bridge to wireless data , Nortel, U.S. Robotics team on solution

U.S. Robotics and Northern Telecom are collaborating to help wireless carriers more easily fold data transmission capabilities into their digital networks.

The two companies are jointly developing a wireless interworking function that will provide data networking capabilities for Nortel's code division multiple access and time division multiple access systems. U.S. Robotics is developing interworking software for its Total Control Wireless Access System, which will connect with Nortel's DMS-MTX SuperNode wireless switch.

The interworking unit will make the connection between the switching core of a digital wireless network and data networks such as the Internet and corporate intranets (see diagram). U.S. Robotics is developing the software for the Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 server, said Bill Cole, product marketing manager for wireless products at U.S. Robotics.

"The engine in this platform is the edge server," Cole said. "Our objective is to provide a platform that services can be built on top of." The need for the this type of data networking capability has come primarily from personal communication services operators that are busily building digital voice networks but are not yet able to address their customers' wireless data needs, said Brad Fink, senior manager of product management for Nortel's wireless networks division.

"Initial requirements came in from [1.9 GHz] carriers that have no fallback for data," he said. "Our customers have asked us for a turnkey solution." The system will also have applications in digital cellular networks at 800 MHz, Fink added.

An interworking capability like this provides the base level transport capabilities required for providing wireless data services, Fink said. "It's a table stakes requirement to have data," he said. The initial system will support circuit-switched data but the companies are also developing a migration path to packet-switched data services.

Nortel turned to U.S. Robotics for development assistance because of U.S. Robotics' expertise in providing networking solutions for high-volume Internet service provider transport networks, Fink said.

Interworking capabilities are crucial for digital wireless network operators to be able to move beyond voice transmission and enter the largely untapped world of wireless data transmission. But Cole noted that the need for wireless data development does not stop at the network core.

"From our perspective, there is a strong focus on infrastructure and core competency in the network," Cole said. "To really make the market explode there has to be a focus on applications and devices. By no means are we strictly focused on infrastructure."