PROVING GROUND

At the core of interoperable MMS

Comverse has introduced its MMS Exchange, a central hub that allows multiple wireless network operators to interconnect their multimedia messaging services without separate routing connections and interoperability agreements. Comverse MMS Exchange acts as a hub that supports both standard and non-standard MMS implementations, GSM-to-CDMA interconnection and MMS to i-mode interoperability. It can be customized to meet service providers' billing, monitoring and reporting requirements and allows participating carriers to avoid complications of protocol interoperability, message size limitation, content adaptation and financial settlements.
www.comverse.com

Toward more efficient WiMAX

Orthogon Systems has released a new wireless Ethernet bridge that it claims will increase throughput to 300 Mb/s over 30 MHz of spectrum. The OS-Spectra achieves significant gains over Orthogon's OS-Gemini in capacity and spectral efficiency. Both operate in the 5.8 GHz unlicensed band, but while OS-Gemini is handling roughly 3 bits per hertz, OS-Spectra pumps 10 bits per hertz — a level Orthogon CEO Phil Bolt said is 300% to 400% better than other top-end radios. OS-Spectra's benefits will come in its scalability, providing backhaul for as many as 12 WiMAX base station sectors over the equivalent of only three 10 MHz WiMAX channels, Bolt said.
www.orthogonsystems.com

New insight into the WLAN

Trapeze Networks has announced several enhancements to its RingMaster wireless LAN lifecycle management suite. In addition to RF planning capabilities, RingMaster now has wizard-based configuration tools to help administrators speed the configuration process and automatically verify device configuration in real time with an embedded rules engine. RingMaster also now includes real-time change management features that automatically detect and alert users to any configuration changes that are made in the network. A new monitoring window provides simple navigation through a wireless network to obtain detailed performance and fault information. RingMaster was also migrated to a client-server architecture, and a mobile device management feature allows tracking of performance and signal strength as users roam from access point to access point.
www.trapezenetworks.com

Watching video in 3G

Samsung Telecommunications America and Verizon Wireless have announced the availability of the SCH-a890, Samsung's first handset for the carrier's Vcast multimedia service. The device's video-on-demand capability provides access to Vcast's 300+ video clips from content providers that are updated daily at the Verizon Wireless Get it Now virtual store. The SCH-a890 also features 64-tone polyphonic ringers, picture caller ID and a rotating 1.3-megapixel digital camera with zoom, color tone, self-timer and flash.
www.samsungusa.com
www.verizonwireless.com

Stronger testing in the field

Tektronix has added electromagnetic field emissions and RF field strength testing capabilities to its hand-held NetTek Base Analyzer. The unit is now capable of testing radio wave propagation characteristics of a W-CDMA base station, allowing wireless network operators to measure conformance with EMF requirements for deployed UMTS networks. The NetTek is also now equipped to test tower-mounted amplifiers (TMAs) and to perform antenna-to-antenna isolation measurements, which Tektronix said is important as more antennas are located on one tower. An insertion gain/loss measurement verifies if a TMA is working properly and meeting supplier specifications.
www.tektronix.com

A singular view of innovation

Texas Instruments and Nokia have announced that Nokia will incorporate a single-chip solution based on TI's Digital RF Processor (DRP) technology into its future mobile handsets. Nokia believes the adoption of TI's technology will help it realize cost, size, power and performance optimization, particularly in its high-volume, entry-level handsets for high-growth regions such as India and China. TI's single-chip solution applies digital technology to simplify RF processing, reducing board space requirements and extending battery life. The BRF6100 Bluetooth single chip, announced in June 2002, was the first implementation of TI's DRP technology, followed by the BRF6150 and the BRF6300.
www.ti.com
www.nokia.com