VeriLAN Inc., an Oregon-based wireless service provider, has turned on what is likely the first commercial 802.16a service in the United States. The NLOS (Non-Line-Of-Sight) wireless service, using IEEE 802.16a-like (Wi-Max) gear, is expected to open new opportunities for broadband Internet access throughout the region. VeriLAN hopes to make Portland a “hot city”, as the Oregonian explains.
Industry backers such as Intel believe Wi-Max will revolutionize high-speed wireless communications, providing speeds over 25Mbps up to 30 miles from a central antenna.
Unlike earlier wireless broadband systems that used a single carrier, WiMax uses as many as 256 simultaneous carriers. That enables reliable reception in non line of sight areas where multipath and signal degradation stopped other systems. Verilan’s Wi-Max antenna has a commanding view over the region. It’s installed on the 1,000 foot KGW-TV tower, itself some 1,150 feet above sea level on Portland’s Sylvan Hills. Verilan will initially provide cost/effective T-1 (1.5Mbps) backhaul for businesses using their Wi-Max service.
“The hardware was installed in December 2003, and we have been testing the coverage area and throughput of the network,” said Steven Schroedl, President of VeriLAN Inc.. “During the first week of 2004, Portland suffered from a severe snow and ice storm. Our coverage was rock-solid with up to 2″ of ice on our antennas. The harsh conditions that we tested in makes it easy to tell potential clients that we can serve them in all weather conditions.”
“Talk about bandwidth!,” exclaimed Raj Savara, Executive Vice President of VeriLAN, Inc. “The 802.16 radios offer much higher bandwidth with full duplex operation. The 256-bit encrypted channels offer customers better security than any other radio, or copper for that matter ” In addition, “Wi-Max offers Forward Error Correction, which corrects any bit errors in the transport.”
VeriLAN has the capabilities to provide up to 32 Mb with security, and QOS (Quality of service) tiered service management through CIR/MBR (Committed Information Rate / Maximum Burst Rate), with multi-layered security, making it one of the most secure networks available.
VeriLANs 802.16a gear isn’t – strictly speaking – fully 802.16a compliant, yet. It uses Wi-LAN’s, LIBRA 5800. While actual 802.16a/d chips are not yet available, Wi-LAN’s LIBRA gear uses the same W-OFDM technology, with 256 sub-carrier OFDM, that has been adopted by the WiMAX Forum for 802.16a compliance. It can be upgraded in the field when the full 802.16a spec is ready, sometime later this year. Fujitsu and Wi-LAN have been jointly developing a 802.16a chip set for the last 18 months. Unlike ordinary 802.11a/g, which uses 20 Mhz-wide channels, Wi-Lan’s WiMax gear uses 10 Mhz channels, providing at least 8 non-overlapping channels between 5.725 GHz to 5.825 GHz.
The photo above shows VeriLAN president Steven Schroedl. But what’s that white thing next to him? That’s right, it’s a Vivato. The Vivato “sees” the entire downtown core. The KGW tower can be seen between Steve and the white Vivato. A small square Wi-Lan Libra, pointed straight for the KGW tower, provides the backhaul at 24Mbps.
The Vivato phased array enables laptops and handhelds, using ordinary 802.11b cards, to connect all along Waterfront Park. Apartments and businesses that can “see” the Vivato on the roof of the B & O warehouse on the east side of the Willamette River, will likely get solid WiFi service from Verilan’s WiFi antenna. The Vivato was initially installed on the nearby Weatherly building but the location caused “overshoot” problems. The new location, says Schroedl, is a little lower and provided superior signal strength for ordinary Wi-Fi client cards.
Hooking a 1.5 Mbps backhaul to a Vivato doesn’t make sense – its throughput far exceeds any standard access point — it can support 1,000 users. Verilan feeds the Vivato with Wi-Max. Verilan’s antenna on the KGW tower is not likely to be bandwidth starved. It’s fed from the roof of the Pittock Internet Exchange where Verilan has a direct connection to NWAX – and 100Mbps internet connections. Verilan’s 802.16a-like 24Mbps backbone provides ample bandwidth for multiple Vivatos (if required).
Verilan’s LIBRA 5800, their 802.16a-like gear, arrived on the first day it was authorized for use in the United States and the company is now offering Portland businesses WiMax-like wireless service up to 24Mbps as well as guaranteed quality of service over a secure link all for less cost than existing solutions. Verilan also provides wireless broadband services to rural communities, reaching remote areas that have no broadband Internet access.
DailyWireless got a sneek peek and will have a full story next week.
