Dumbing up the network

WiMAX networks have the potential to open up wireless data to a new realm of connected devices: millions of sensors, vehicles and smart content-distribution points. The keyword is “potential,” though — at least that's wireless software-maker Proximetry's stance.

The WiMAX community is still focused on bringing mobile broadband connections to people, not objects, as it should be, said Carlton O'Neal, vice president of marketing and business development for Proximetry. “WiMAX is focused on solving other types of problems right now and isn't focused on the vertical industries,” he said.

Proximetry is developing technology that will allow the WiMAX network to mesh with private, complex local networks through centralized management software that normally would reside in the base station. For example, Proximetry has developed a solution for airlines to dynamically upload content to planes — from mission-critical data, such as flight plans and passenger manifests, to entertainment — as they sit at their gates. At first glance such a network seems relatively simple: An onboard WiMAX modem simply accesses the wide-area WiMAX network and downloads the required information.

But the task of managing all of those connections and the content itself within the narrow window a plane is actually at a gate is much more complex, said Michael Boehm, vice president of product strategy for Proximetry. An airline at its hub may have 60 planes entering and leaving a concourse at any given time. The network not only needs to determine where each plane is going, it has to account for gate changes, delays and planes taken offline due to mechanical problems. That amount of data could easily overflow the network, so the network has to prioritize, sending flight-critical information before less-crucial information such as onboard entertainment.

Boehm said WiMAX has numerous quality of service (QOS) and prioritization capabilities. A base station can conserve capacity by multicasting general content to all airplanes at once, while reserving specific channels for flight-specific information, which it can reprioritize on the fly depending on which flight is leaving first.

Here's the catch, though: While these capabilities can fit any WiMAX base station, the cost is prohibitive. Operators are accustomed to macro, or “big iron,” deployments, and building a $75,000 base station at an airport to service only an airline doesn't make economic sense, Boehm said. “You have to find an alternative to filling in the gaps — something you can put in the network where you don't need a big iron base station.”

Proximetry has developed just such an alternative: a thin-client solution that shifts all of the complex QOS and management capabilities farther back in the network, resulting in $2000 base stations that can be used to target one-off vertical market needs, such as those of airlines. The access points aren't entirely dumb, but they primarily enforce policies established by the centralized management server. They become the muscle rather than the brains.