Japan Telecom and Flarion, today announced a technology trial for seamless roaming and handoff between Wi-Fi and Flarion’s wide area network in Sendai, Japan.
“The technology trial objectives are to verify high-speed Internet access and seamless roaming, as well as mobile-to-fixed handoff between 802.11b/g/a access points and FLASH-OFDM,” said Professor Kazuo Tsubouchi of Tohoku University’s IT-21 center, which is developing the technology. “Our goal is to help prove the ability of IP-based technologies to work in harmony to help create a seamless broadband experience.”
IT-21 is exploring feasibility of mobile and fixed wireless technologies for disaster protection and administration networks, as well as high-speed communications for trains and automobiles.
“Japan Telecom has already deployed public wireless LAN service “MOBILE POINT” in train stations and hotels,” said Tetsuya Yuge, Executive Vice President, CTO, Director of Laboratories of Japan Telecom. The trial is taking place at Tohoku University using the 2 Gigahertz band, recently given to Japan Telecom by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. The average speed of a FLASH-OFDM network is 1 to 1.5 Mbps in the downlink, with peak rates of 3.2Mbps, and 300-500 Kbps in the uplink.
Earlier this year, Flarion announced its second-generation system called Flexband. With Flexband, a single 1.25MHz Flexband carrier sector will be able to deliver peak downlink data rates of 5.3Mbps, 1.8Mbps uplink, 2.5Mbps sustainable sector throughput and consistent high-speed data performance of up to 800Kbps at the cell edge. FLASH-OFDM Flexband works in licensed frequencies between 400MHz and 3.6GHz.
In a fully supported 5MHz multi-carrier system, voice calls increase to 186 per sector and data rates increase to 15.9Mbps peak and 6Mbps sustainable. Flexband claims to deliver the industry’s highest data capacity, supporting over 600 subscribers consuming 1GByte of data per month.
| 802.16e | 802.20 | 3G |
| IP 802.16a mobility (more than 1Mbps) | IP roaming & handoff (more than 1Mbps) | Circuit-switched cell data (less than 1Mbps) |
| Extentions to MAC and PHY from 802.16a | New MAC and PHY with IP and adaptive antennas | W-CDMA & CDMA-2000 |
| Backward compatible with 802.16a | Optimized for full mobility | Evolving GSM or IS-41 |
| Between 2-6 GHz | Licensed Bands below 3.5 GHz | Licensed Bands below 2.7 GHz |
| Packet Architecture | Packet Architecture | Circuit Architecture |
| Low latency | Low latency | High latency |
Flarion’s proprietary mobile broadband system is affiliated with the (slowly) evolving IEEE 802.20 standard for mobile broadband. Progress on that standard appears to have slowed recently as mobile carriers focus on EV-DO and HSPDA.
Meanwhile, progress on the “mobilized” WiBro/802.16e standard has shifted into high gear. The IEEE expects to publish the 802.16e standard by the end of the year. IEEE 802.16e can use both licensed and unlicensed bands as well as simplex or duplex configurations.
Related DailyWireless stories include; Flarion Announces 700Mhz commercial trial in Virginia, Finland using Flarion in nationwide 450 MHz Network, Arraycomm + Intel Beam WiMax, Navini Jumps to WiMax, Korea Planning Nationwide mobilized WiMax Service, Toyko Getting WiMaxed, CDMA vs OFDM, The 700 Mhz Club, Aussie Cellco & 4G Partners, Navini Joins WiMax, Navini and Arraycomm Face Off in Sydney, WiMax World Wrap, Korea Gets WiBro, Unwired Countries, WiBro Does China, WiMax: HPi - Not, WiMax Procession, WiMax 16d+ Dilemma, WiMax: Will It Stay or Will It Go?, Toyko Gets WiMaxed, China WiMax, 802.16 Chips Partner Up, Alvarion Promotes Mobile WiMax, Will 802.20 Challenge WiMax?, National 802.16 from McCaw, Spectrum Cowboys, NextNet Deploys. Toyko Gets WiMaxed, The 700 Mhz Club, WiMax Switcharoo, and IEEE Scores 802.16d.
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