Tag Archive for Wireless

| September 16, 2010
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More Broadband for Michigan

More Broadband for MichiganWireless Internet service provider Air Advantage based in Frankenmuth, Michigan has been awarded $64 million. The award is a combination of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) grants and loans. The award will create a wireless broadband and fiber-optic Internet network in Michigan’s lower peninsula according to an article on MLive.com.

In addition to the federal grants and loans, Air Advantage will contribute more than $10 million toward the project. “A big part of the (federal) grant is about providing people with more options, more affordable Internet access,” Dawn Zimmer, director of sales and marketing for Air Advantage told MLive.  “Even in 2010, it’s shocking the number of people who have no or very few Internet options.”

Award

The $64.25 million award consists of $31.95 million in grants and $32.3 million in loans. The loans must be used to buy capital equipment such as installation and service trucks, computers, transmitters and receivers. The award cannot be used for salaries or for the hiring of new staff, according to David Simmet, vice president of operations at Air Advantage in the MLive article.

With this funding Air Advantage will add more than 200 signal transmitting towers to the company’s existing network of 65 towers. Many of the existing towers are installed on area water towers, grain silos and cell phone towers. The project will serve 13 counties — Saginaw, Sanilac, Bay, Genesee, Huron, Lapeer, Livingston, Macomb, Midland, Oakland, Shiawassee, Saint Claire, and Tuscola.

The Regional Educational Media Center 10 (REMC 10) will see direct benefits from the stimulus funds awarded. About $9 million of the award to Air Advantage is earmarked for constructing a fiber optic network. The 350-mile fiber-optic network will run throughout the Thumb. The partners will contract the construction to a company with expertise in fiber-optic installation. The high-speed network will connect 26 school districts, governmental facilities and Central Dispatch in Huron, Sanilac and Tuscola counties, according to Robert Frost, director of REMC-10. Frost said the network will allow for more collaboration. Partners will be able to get collaborative pricing for network devices and services like servers, content filters, firewalls, and more. It will also allow for distance learning through high-definition video conference units.

Connects existing networks in Michigan

The new network will connect to existing networks in Bay, Lapeer, St. Clair and Saginaw counties. It will allow for a direct, high-speed connection to other schools, colleges and universities throughout the state. “…they are going to … change the face of the eastern side of Michigan,” Sheila Stamiris, director of the Frankenmuth downtown development authority told MLive. “It really is incredible.”

The Air Advantage estimates it will hire for an additional 142 positions. The new employees will provide equipment installation, technical support, and billing. The firm expects to start hiring in the next few months. This would be a 600% increase in jobs since the firm started in 2002. Ms. Stamiris said this likely will put Air Advantage among the city’s 10 largest employers. “They will be doing a lot of things using Frankenmuth as a home base and we are extremely grateful to be in that position,” Ms. Stamiris told MLive.

 

Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him at LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.

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| June 19, 2010
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Supremes Rule on Sexting Case

Supremes Rule on Sexting CaseOn Thursday (June 17, 2010) the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on the City of Ontario, California v. Quon case. I wrote about this sexring case earlier and its implications for corporate technology acceptable use policies (AUP).  The case involved the use of text pagers issued to officers by the city police department. The city issued the pagers for City use, under a general acceptable use policy. The officer in question consistently went over the allotted limit on messages which caused his supervisors to get stored text messages from the service provider. The City discovered that many of the messages were not work-related but were “sexting” or sexually explicit personal text messages. The officer claimed that the search violated the Fourth Amendment.

The Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the police department’s actions were reasonable, and thus did not violate the constitutional rights of the police officer. Justice Kennedy’s opinion ruled narrowly, to avoid a final definition of electronic privacy.

Prudence counsels caution before the facts, in this case, are used to establish far-reaching premises that define the existence, and extent, of privacy expectations of employees using employer-provided communication devices. Rapid changes in the dynamics of communication and information transmission are evident not just in the technology itself but in what society accepts as proper behavior. At present, it is uncertain how workplace norms, and the law’s treatment of them, will evolve.

According to the Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT), the Supreme Court faced an opportunity to curtail workplace privacy (or electronic privacy generally) in this case. However, the Court applied the O’Connor v. Ortega (1987) precedent, that government employees generally retain their Fourth Amendment privacy rights, and it assumed that government employees may have a reasonable expectation of privacy even in communications they send during work hours on employer-issued devices.

The CDT says the message to government employers is that the courts will continue to scrutinize employers’ actions for reasonableness, so supervisors have to be careful. Unless a “no privacy” policy is clear and consistently applied, an employer should assume that employees have a reasonable expectation of privacy and should proceed carefully, with a good reason and a narrow search, before examining employee emails, texts, or Internet usage.

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As we always try to tell our clients, make sure that there is a clear statement of no privacy in all policies and policy enforcement actions and as part of their policies, companies should discourage employees from using personal accounts to conduct company business.

 

Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.

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| June 5, 2010
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Aussies Strike Wi-Fi Again

Aussies Strike Wi-Fi AgainAustralia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) has filed suit in the U.S. District Court in Texas again according to an article on :Rethink Wireless. The Aussies have slapped AT&T, (T) T-Mobile, and Verizon (VZ), with patent lawsuits. The Australian science agency, emboldened by its settlements over Wi-Fi patents with Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft is now going after U.S. retailers.

CSIROAccording to the article, patent trolling is a lucrative business, for CSIRO. In 2009 CSIRO brought in about $205m in royalties largely because of a massive out-of-court settlement. CSIRO made a deal with 14 vendors including Microsoft, Intel, Dell, Toshiba, and HP (which I wrote about here). According to CSIRO’s annual report, this settlement helped turn its budgeted deficit of $34.2M into a profit of $122M. The CSIRO now claims 161 active patent licensees. Many licensees are connected to the patent issued in 1996, which CSIRO says includes all 802.11 Wi-Fi products.

Wi-Fi patent trolling plan

ATT logoIn the article, Nigel Poole, executive director in charge of commercialization at CSIRO says this is a deliberate plan. “There’s a legal strategy here that has been thought through very carefully and to a layperson, it looks like a pincer movement. You’ve got court action CSIRO says its proceeds from royalties are invested in new research, and presumably, that could lead to new patents and licensing claims.”

Broadcom and Atheros have counter-sued CSIRO on the behalf of the Wi-Fi industry to have the patent declared invalid.

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Seems the Australians have gotten pretty good at patent trolling. Maybe they can build their entire broadband infrastructure on the backs of U.S. consumers. Too bad the U.S. government didn’t think of this first.

This should be a big test for AT&T. AT&T is testing Wi-Fi data offload for smartphone users by creating a giant pilot Wi-Fi hot zone in New York City’s Times Square. The pilot will offer its mobile broadband customers free access.  It is widely believed that after the pilot AT&T may deploy more hot zones in other areas across the country.

Many of AT&T’s smartphones support auto-authentication at AT&T Wi-Fi Hot Spots. The automation makes it seamless for subscribers to connect to its 21,000 hot spots. AT&T’s Ralph de la Vega has indicated in the past that offloading data traffic onto Wi-Fi would play a large role in curbing its overwhelming data growth.

 

Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.

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| February 17, 2010
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Wireless Gigabit

WiGig AllianceThe Wireless Gigabit Alliance has completed specs for a technology designed to deliver as much as 7 Gbps of wireless bandwidth in the 60 GHz band. The new technology, WiGig has the support of technology giants such as Intel, Broadcom, and Atheros. The technology is expected to have enough capacity to deliver high-def video streams up to 10 meters. WiGig’s anticipated road map includes system certifications in 2010 and WiGig based products to market in 2011.

Supplement other wireless technologies

According to the WGA, WiGig is not designed to replace 802.11 or Bluetooth but rather to supplement it. WiGig is a device-to-device (p2p) network and does not need a central hub or router that could easily turn into a congestion point. WiGig uses beamforming to extend its range beyond the 10-meter range and will automatically switch to 802.11n Wi-Fi.  “Our technology is backward compatible with existing Wi-Fi, and we fall back to 802.11n and 802.11g when we can’t connect at [7 Gbps] speeds,” Ali Sadri, told TechNewsWorld. “We’re based on 802.11, so our spec is not replacing Wi-Fi but extending it to 10 to 20 times faster than Wi-Fi.”

“By complementing Wi-Fi and enabling multi-gigabit speeds, the versatile specification is a very significant achievement on the road to the next generation of wireless LAN products,” says Craig Mathias, a Principal with the wireless and mobile advisory firm Farpoint Group.

Integrate WiGig into Wi-Fi chipsets

It is reported that Intel, Broadcom, and Atheros all have plans to integrate WiGig into Wi-Fi chipsets. “Ultimately, the question is how many different kinds of radios do you really need?” says Farpoint’s Mathias, “There’s not just competition from Wi-Fi and wireless HD but also cellular technologies such as 3G, LTE or WiMax … A lot of people anticipate 60 GHz products that will include 2.4 and 5 GHz Wi-Fi as well,” said Bill McFarland, chief technology officer of Atheros, and a WiGig member. “I definitely think we can support tri-band at 65 nm,” he added.

WiGig will include protocol adaptation layers to support specific system interfaces including data buses for PC peripherals and display interfaces for HDTVs, monitors, and projectors. WiGig will include advanced security and power management for WiGig devices. “We’re rapidly paving the way for the introduction of the next generation of high-performance wireless products – PCs, mobile handsets, TVs and displays, Blu-ray disc players, digital cameras, and many more,” said Doctor Ali Sadri of Intel and president and chairman of the Wireless Gigabit Alliance

The need for fast wireless data transfer plays into two big trends: the proliferation of multimedia and the increasing cable clutter that users have to deal with. “NVIDIA recognizes the general market trend toward wire-free interfaces. Today, display interfaces are at an inflection point where the next generation solutions will feature wireless display connections for PCs, game consoles, notebooks, and mobile devices with PC monitors and TVs,” said Devang Sachdev, Technology Marketing Manager at NVIDIA and WiGig Board Member.

60 GHz loses strength quickly

The biggest knock against WiGig is that signals at 60 GHz get absorbed by oxygen, meaning they lose strength quickly. Steel or concrete walls and even people in the room can be degraded or stop the 60 GHz signal. However, Intel’s Sadri says there is a solution. A 60 GHz antenna is just 2.5 millimeters long,  small enough that a lot of them can be packed into even a thin TV set or a mobile handset. Put 32 antennas on the transmitting and receiving ends, and you can send enough steered beams to compensate for the losses the signal experiences over distance.

In the 60 GHz spectrum, WiGig is likely to run into some competition. The IEEE is introducing a follow-up to 802.11n Wi-Fi standards called 802.11ad.  The IEEE 802.11ad standard will also be based on the 60 GHz spectrum but is not expected before 2012.  Mathias says, “The WiGig Alliance hopes to get a head start now and they might submit their standard to the 802.11ad group to be included in the specification.” The Wireless HD consortium also supports a third 60-gigahertz wireless networking plan for uncompressed HD video. Sony and Samsung are backers of all three 60 GHz plans.

It is likely that IEEE 802,11ad and Wireless HD will find it hard to compete against a general-purpose WiGig standard that can do uncompressed wireless HD video and more.

Members of the WGA include:·

Related articles

 

Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.

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| February 8, 2010
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Wi-Fi Harvester

Wi-Fi Harvester Computerworld reports that RCA demonstrated a prototype device that converts Wi-Fi radio signals into DC power to charge wireless devices. The W-iFi Hotspot Power Harvester, also known as Airnergy, was shown at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show. RCA’s device was able to charge a BlackBerry Bold with about 30 percent power in 90 minutes using Wi-Fi access points located nearby, according to an RCA official recorded on video by Geeky-Gadgets.com. The amount of charging time depends on a user’s proximity to the Wi-Fi hot spot.

The Airnergy unit stores the charge in an internal lithium battery, so you don’t necessarily have to be in a Wi-Fi hot spot to recharge your device. The device is about 2 in. by 3 in. in size and will sell for $39 to $49 this summer. RCA said it is developing a smaller version that would replace a battery inside a hand-held device and sell for about $60. That smaller version could ship in 2011.

Other wireless chargers

Demonstrations of wireless chargers have been a staple of CES for several years, and some products promised in 2008 have not materialized. Some products, such as the Dell Latitude Z laptop, allow charging by placing the laptop directly on a wireless charging stand. Fulton Innovation LLC, (I wrote about here) showed products and prototypes at CES. One Fulton technology concept powers a 12-watt light bulb from a transmitter placed 35 inches away. Powermat USA showed new wireless charging mats for handheld computers at prices ranging from $39 to $149, and the company’s CEO said Powermat has sold 750,000 devices since the company launched two months ago.

There is much skepticism over this product. The inverse-square law roughly says in this case that the signal would decrease in intensity inversely proportional to the square of the distance. Double the distance and signal strength drops by a fourth and so on. Thus at the distance at which most people find themselves from access points, the amount of energy available is minute.

Here is an article from SensorMag.com that describes how RF energy harvesting works.

 

Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.

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