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Wireless Broadband Networks
What
is a Wireless Broadband Network?
Wireless
broadband terminology should not be confused with the generic term
“broadband networking” or BISDN (Broadband Integrated Services Digital
Network), which refers to various network technologies (fiber or optical)
implemented by ISPs and NSPs to achieve transmission speeds higher than 155
Mbps for the Internet backbone. In
a lay-person’s terms, BISDN is the wire and cable that run through walls,
under floors, from pole to telephone pole, and beneath feet on a city
street. BISDN is a concept and a set of services and developing
standards for integrating digital transmission services in a broadband
network of fiber optic and radio media.
BISDN encompasses frame relay service for high-speed data that can be
sent in large bursts, the Fiber Distributed-Data Interface (FDDI), and the
Synchronous Optical Network (SONET). BISDN
supports transmission from 2 Mbps to much higher transfer rates.
Wireless broadband, on the
other hand, refers to the wireless network technology that addresses the
“last mile” problem whereby we can connect isolated customer premises to
an ISP or carrier’s backbone network without leasing traditional T-1 and
higher speed copper or fiber channels from your local telecommunication
service provider. Wireless broadband refers to fixed wireless connectivity
that can be utilized by enterprises, businesses, households and
telecommuters who travel from one fixed location to another fixed location.
In its current implementation, it does not address the needs of “mobile
users” on the road.
Technologically, wireless
broadband is an extension of the point-to-point, wireless-LAN bridging
concept to deliver high-speed and high capacity pipe that can be used for
voice, multi-media and Internet access services. While in simple
implementations, primary use of wireless broadband is for connecting LANs to
the Internet, in more sophisticated implementations, you may connect
multiple services (data, voice, video) over the same pipe. The latter
requires multiplexing equipment at customer premises or in a central hub.
From
an implementation perspective Wireless Broadband circumvents physical
telecommunications networks; it is as feasible in rural as it is in urban
areas. For topographies that
haven’t yet technically evolved to cable and copper wire infrastructures,
vendor solutions circumventing costly installation, maintenance and
upgrades, means skipping 120 years of telecommunications evolution.
In other areas, deregulation is making the licensing process for
Wireless Service Providers (WSPs) hassle free.
Wireless
broadband is faster to market, and subscribers are added incrementally,
bypassing those installations that are required before wired subscribers can
connect.
What Wireless Broadband
is Not?
Wireless broadband is for fixed wireless connection - it does not address
the mobility needs which at present only 2.5 G and 3G networks intend to
provide. In future, there is a technical possibility that broadband wireless
radios can be miniaturized and installed in handheld devices. Then they
might be able to augment 3G in mobile applications However, it is only
a possibility of the physics and electronics - none of the vendors have any
prototype products in this area. Of course, wireless broadband is
expected to meet the needs of residential connections to the Internet
bypassing local telcos.
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