Evolution inside: Switching and transport vendors show Wireless '98 attendees how they can adapt their systems to respond to the carriers' evolving needs

No matter how much change occurs in technology platforms and the end services they are designed to support, wireless networks rarely are gutted and replaced. Instead, they are tweaked and altered, with pieces added at different points throughout to enhance what is already there and, in some cases, replace what is no longer necessary.

So even though the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association's Wireless '98 show may have been largely characterized by a brewing 3G revolution, the architecture that will support third generation capabilities will more likely resemble a gradual, graceful evolution.

Knowing that, vendors that build gear that forms the network's core-the switches, transport facilities, intelligent hubs and grooming devices-were on hand at last month's show to demonstrate to wireless network operators how they can help them make that graded move toward the future.

Toward the millennium As it often does, the wireless industry's largest annual event kicked off with a spate of vendor and carrier announcements related to a similar theme. This year's was 3G, a topic that prompted varying reactions from different camps. The only consensus reached so far is that it truly is about the future; the debate is over whether now is the time to begin discussions.

"Whenever you're deploying a new technology, it takes three to five years," said Bo Piekarski, vice president of business development and strategic marketing for Ericsson's wireless division. "This is just another example of that cycle."

Other industry players shared that view. Lucent used the Wireless '98 stage to unveil its Flexent architecture, a modified network architecture designed to let all types of wireless network operators leverage their existing investments as they move toward enhanced data transmission capabilities.

"We have committed to our customers that this will be backward-compatible to existing systems," said Jim Brewington, president of Lucent's Wireless Networks Group.

Flexent is based on a client-server intelligence distribution model in which the switch acts as the server where control and processing resources are consolidated. Those resources are made accessible to all network clients, or base stations, and the connections between them remain standards-based and open.

"This architecture is derived from a lot of open standards," said Bob Sellinger, director of PCS product marketing and business development at Lucent. "There's been a lot of debate over air interfaces. This architecture embraces those air interfaces."

Among the first applications for the new Lucent system are microcell deployments for dense urban cores and wireless virtual private networks (VPNs) that will allow operators to offer tiered pricing plans and customized services.

Like other 3G proponents, Lucent is confident that evolved wireless systems will be used primarily for wideband data transport and that operators will be able to achieve higher-speed data within the spectrum they now hold.

"We believe this spectrum will be first used for high-speed data," Sellinger said. "30 MHz is more than adequate for what we envision."

Ericsson also jumped on the 3G bandwagon during the CTIA show, throwing its support behind the TDMA/GSM evolution proposed by the Universal Wireless Communications Consortium.

Ericsson is a long-time supporter of both GSM and IS-136 time division multiple access technology, and the UWCC's 3G path creates a common technology base for the provisioning of wideband data services.

"It's a very smooth evolutionary transition, and the driver is data," said Bo Hedfors, president and CEO of Ericsson. "The beauty is that we can use common technologies. That's really going to drive worldwide economies of scale."

Ericsson predicted that the applications 3G systems will enable-which by most predictions will be available by early in the next century-mostly will appeal to people born after 1980 who are already familiar with hand-held, high-tech capabilities.

"My name for them is the 'Nintendo generation,'" said Ericsson's Piekarski.

Northern Telecom, one of the vendors that endorsed Sprint's 3G plans, exhibited signs of conservatism as far as actually realizing 3G network potential. Although the vendor has been at the center of standards discussions both in the U.S. and abroad, Nortel executives believe that discussions of actual architecture and implementation are premature.

"It's about who can say the most about nothing," said Matt Desch, president of the wireless networks division of Nortel.

Fixin' for fixed Last year's big news was not this year's, but fixed wireless access, or wireless local loop, continues to play a prominent part in vendors' Wireless '98 exhibits.

Again, Lucent highlighted its fixed wireless solution.

"We are going to offer a multi-platform approach, flexible within any spectrum," said Brewington of Lucent. The AirLoop platform can be configured for broadband wireless systems from 10 to 38 GHz, wireless local loop architectures or combination fixed/mobile systems, he said. It is also ideal for wireline operators looking for a cheaper way to deploy backhaul facilities where rights of way are limited or ducts are overly congested.

"AirLoop allows them to leapfrog those problems," said Don Green, Lucent's AirLoop Business Leader vice president. "We are seeing customers achieve savings of anywhere from 20% to 50%."

Other fixed wireless vendors concentrated on the broadband side, particularly given the recent spectrum auctions for local multipoint distribution service (LMDS). Nortel's recent acquisition of Broadband Networks Inc. positions Nortel to address the potentially lucrative market for broadband wireless, the vendor said at Wireless '98.

"We can supply product this year," said Desch. The vendor is demonstrating its new Reunion family of broadband wireless access network solutions, which targets competitive local exchange carriers such as Teligent and WinStar.

Nortel featured its new Integrated MicroNode, a scalable switch for GSM operators, and a Small Wireless Switch that targets carriers operating in rural or remote regions.

Ericsson and Lucent both declared their intentions to get into the LMDS scheme just before Wireless '98. Lucent announced that it would acquire Hewlett-Packard's LMDS division in Milipitas, Calif., and Ericsson unveiled an LMDS solution that will be marketed through its new Network Systems division. Alcatel also recently entered the LMDS fray.

"It was a real fit for us because of our presence in point-to-point," said Allyson Sharp, director of wireless marketing and business development for Alcatel Telecom.

Getting it home No discussion of wideband transport capabilities is complete without connecting everything back to the network core. Several Wireless '98 vendors featured new capabilities in their transport and grooming equipment that will help wireless operators connect base stations to switches more economically and faster.

Adtran demonstrated a two-channel wireless T-1 transmission unit that will enable wireless carriers to inexpensively connect cell sites and mobile switching centers. The unit also will help create high-capacity paths for wireless data and Internet traffic.

The Tracer is the first product Adtran designed for the wireless market. It operates at 2.4 GHz in an unlicensed frequency band and maintains connections for up to 30 miles, said Dan Pritchett, director of sales and marketing at Adtran.

"We saw this site-linking opportunity where wireless T-1 could be an effective replacement for copper or fiber," he said.

The Southern Company, an alliance of five Southeastern electric utilities operating an enhanced specialized mobile radio (ESMR) network, already is beta testing the product. The Southern Company has deployed Tracer radios to replace regular T-1 circuits in an 11-mile stretch of its Southern Linc ESMR network in Birmingham, Ala.

TTN, the North American-based arm of Tadiran Telecommunications, showcased new transport capabilities at the show. The vendor introduced a narrowband server for its T::DAX digital cross-connect system that incorporates narrowband, wideband and broadband transmission into an integrated and space-efficient platform.

Adding the narrowband capability gives wireless carriers and other operators more flexibility in adding new services, said Mark Vida, vice president and general manager of TTN. The T::DAX now provides grooming and filling at 64 kb/s and supports 448 wideband DS-1s or 224 narrowband DS-1s in a single bay.

In it to WIN Not all core infrastructure vendors at Wireless '98 were there to tout 3G or fixed wireless platforms. The intelligent network, still a work in progress in the wireless environment, was a primary focus for several exhibitors.

Stratus Computer featured hardware and middleware that addresses the issues of local number portability (LNP) and other wireless intelligent network functions.

Together with TeleSynthesis, the vendor has developed a service control point routing solution that helps wireless operators comply with the FCC's LNP mandate. Stratus also has teamed with Logica Aldiscon to develop a home location register that allows carriers to create new applications-including services such as mobile VPNs and prepaid platforms-that can help customize their offerings.

"There are a lot of things you can start layering on the same platform," said Roderick Randall, vice president of worldwide marketing at Stratus. "One of the effects of packaging services is reducing churn."

The continuously fault-tolerant characteristics of the equipment Stratus supplies are crucial, given all the service options that end customers have, he said.

"The new competitors are making it easier to switch," Randall said. "That causes the competition to escalate. Carriers can ill afford even a microsecond of downtime."

DSC Communications used the show to highlight its "Partners IN Vision" third-party development program. The program intends to spur the creation of new applications for DSC's INfusion line of intelligent network gear.

"The success of our intelligent network platform is not only that it's shrink-wrapped, but also that we can go to best-in-class applications," said Luis Pajares, vice president of North American sales for wireless networks at DSC.

DSC's wireless intelligent network (WIN) efforts are largely parallel to its intelligent network development on the wireline side. In wireless, however, the applications the WIN environment can support are not only those that help drive revenue such as caller ID and one-number services, but also the mandated offerings such as wireless enhanced 911 and LNP.

"You have to be competitive from a services aspect," said Stuart Rosenfield, senior director of marketing for the AIN division of DSC.

DSC announced WIN-related contracts from two U.S. wireless operators during the show. PrimeCo Personal Communications has agreed to deploy the vendor's INfusion signal transfer point equipment across its network, and BellSouth Cellular will use DSC's home location and authentication center across a five-state region.

DSC also featured the GSM and AMPS product lines it gained when it acquired Celcore last year. The systems are designed for 900 and 1800 MHz markets and are best suited to developing international markets. They are also ideal for wireless backhaul in regions where landline facilities are prohibitively expensive to lease, said Steve Chen, vice president of marketing for DSC's cellular infrastructure division.

As the transmission and switching gear on display at Wireless '98 demonstrated, wireless networks are in a state of transition at every switch, intelligent peripheral and transport pipe.

As carriers demand wider bandwidths and more flexible systems to move them toward wireless/wireline integration, infrastructure vendors are building the gear that will aid the evolutionary effort.-Supplements Editor Dan O'Shea contributed to this report.