WiMAX World attendees were treated to uninterrupted connections on
the "WiMAX Love Boat" that cruised the Chicago River.The seamless
service of web browsing, VoIP)calls, video streaming and MobiTV while
moving past access point sites along the route of the cruise was
provided by Motorola and Sprint. The system also worked on the streets
and trains of Chicago.
Sprint plans on launching their Xohm mobile Internet in Chicago and D.C. markets by the end of this year.
Motorola Demonstrates World’s First WiMAX 802.16e Mobile Handoffs in Downtown Chicago
Achieves milestone demonstrating live, contiguous service between WiMAX cells; shows voice, data and multimedia applications on pre-commercial Sprint Xohm(TM) network
CHICAGO, Sept. 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — WiMAX World USA —
Motorola presented a mobile WiMAX experience last night that included
live handoffs during an exclusive cruise along the Chicago River for
media and industry analysts in town to attend WiMAX World USA.
Attendees experienced uninterrupted mobile applications including web
browsing, Voice over IP (VoIP) calls, video streaming and MobiTV while
moving past access point sites along the route of the cruise.
In addition to the cruise, Motorola has successfully demonstrated
several of these applications on streets along the Chicago River while
driving at speeds beyond 50 mph and while riding Chicago’s famed
elevated train. These demonstrations are another step in achieving an
all IP wireless mobile network that is capable of supporting VoIP, data
and video.
“Motorola has reached a significant milestone in the industry by
proving through these demonstrations that mobile WiMAX is real and
ready for commercial deployment,” said Fred Wright, Motorola senior
vice president, Home & Networks Mobility. “We tackled one of the
most challenging environments — a river lined with tall buildings, 30
feet below street level, and crossed by numerous steel bridges — to
bring this WiMAX experience to life.”
“Motorola has made tremendous progress in the deployment of our
Xohm WiMAX network in Chicago. This live demonstration provided just a
glimpse of what WiMAX technology can deliver,” said Barry West, Sprint
Nextel CTO and president, Xohm Business Unit. “We are on schedule to
begin Xohm pre-commercial service in Chicago by the end of 2007, with
commercial service planned in that and other markets beginning April
2008.”
Motorola, a market-leading provider of end-to-end WiMAX solutions
with 40 WiMAX trial deployments with customers around the world and
contracts with 12 of them for commercial WiMAX systems, showcased its
latest high mobility software on Sprint’s pre-commercial Xohm network.
The array of devices used during the outing included Motorola’s trial
WiMAX mobile handset developed for high speed video telephony and
laptops enabled with Motorola’s WiMAX PC cards. The network
infrastructure used for this demonstration was standard Motorola WAP
25400 access points with backhaul provided by Motorola’s wireless IP
backhaul equipment to its Innovation Center in Schaumburg, Ill., where
a Motorola IMS provided connection to the public switched telephone
network.
“Motorola continues to drive market acceptance of WiMAX technology
by delivering products and deploying networks that meet the diverse
needs of many types of operators worldwide,” said Phil Marshall, vice
president of Yankee Group’s Enabling Technology and Asia-Pacific
Research and Consulting practices, who was also on the cruise. “From
the nationwide 802-16e network it deployed in Pakistan to connect the
previously unconnected, to the network it is building for Sprint to
deliver a whole new mobile internet experience, Motorola has proven
itself to be a leading supplier of end-to-end WiMAX solutions.”
The Chicago market is one of six in the U.S. that Sprint has
awarded to Motorola to build WiMAX network infrastructure to support
its recently announced Xohm mobile Internet services.
With Xohm mobile Internet, customers will be able to experience a
new form of interactive communications, high-speed Internet browsing,
local and location-centric services, and multimedia services including
music, video, TV and on-demand products. Sprint also plans to bring
Xohm WiMAX mobile Internet customers search, interactive communications
and social networking tools through a new mobile portal in a deal
announced with Google.
WiMAX technology is changing the way the telecommunications
industry is looking to connect people to people, and to the information
and entertainment they want on-the-go. WiMAX technology will allow
consumers, businesses and government to experience a data network that
offers faster speeds, greater convenience and enhanced multimedia
quality. WiMAX also makes broadband accessible in all regions of the
world for fixed, portable and mobile users with the most
cost-effective, fastest and easiest-to-deploy option in the market
today, often providing an economical way to provide telecom service
where previously there was none.
The WAP 25400 is part of Motorola’s WAP 400 series which features
diversity antenna techniques and provides Non-Line-of-Sight, fixed and
mobile wireless broadband connections. These access points are based on
the IEEE 802.16e-2005 technology standard and include spectrally
efficient S-OFDMA interface, low latency performance, and IP based
architecture.
Enhanced system gain, supported by diversity MIMO antenna
capabilities, allows strong indoor penetration as well as support for
cellular-like mobility applications. Additionally, QoS capabilities,
security features, and redundancy options make the WAP 400 series
platform a true carrier-class solution. The WAP 400 series access
points, paired with a common IP core, will support seamless
inter-technology handovers.
For more information about Motorola’s portfolio of end-to-end wi4
WiMAX solutions, please visit http://www.motorola.com/motowi4 or stop
by booth #501 at WiMAX World USA. Information on Motorola’s presence at
that and other events can be found at http://www.motorola.com/wi4events
About Sprint Nextel
Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline
communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers,
businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel is widely recognized for
developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies,
including two robust wireless networks serving 54 million customers at
the end of the second quarter 2007; industry-leading mobile data
services; instant national and international walkie-talkie
capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. For more
information, visit http://www.sprint.com.
About Motorola
Motorola is known around the world for innovation and leadership in
wireless and broadband communications. Inspired by our vision of
seamless mobility, the people of Motorola are committed to helping you
connect simply and seamlessly to the people, information, and
entertainment that you want and need. We do this by designing and
delivering “must have” products, “must do” experiences and powerful
networks — along with a full complement of support services. A Fortune
100 company with global presence and impact, Motorola had sales of US
$42.8 billion in 2006. For more information about our company, our
people and our innovations, please visit http://www.motorola.com.