Recently, MMC unveiled SWIFTcomm (Smart Wireless Internet for Field Teamwork), an IP-based wireless solution, for a group of potential partners, including auto manufacturers and wireless operators. MMC describes SWIFTcomm as a revolutionary technology that promises to provide users with secure high-speed Internet connections on virtually any mobile device using it @irPointer, a pocket-sized mobile routing device.

SWIFTcomm IP-based architecture consists of servers and routers, offering a significantly low deployment cost, with delivery of data per bit costing nearly zero.

The SWIFTcomm network is composed of bases stations, servers and mobile devices, which all perform IP-based routing functions. The network utilizes MMC antenna technology in both the base stations and mobile devices that are quite small, yet achieve high gain and wide band coverage (applicable from 400 MHz to 2GHz), said the company.

• SWIFTcomm Narrowband is ideal for the transmission of small quantities of data in dense urban areas when traveling at high-speeds. Available by the fourth quarter of 2001. Well suited for telematics applications such as

• Messaging services with text-to-voice conversation and voice recognition,
• Safety and emergency measure,
• Diagnostics and primary care, and
• Stolen car and cargo tracking.

• SWIFTcomm Wideband is projected to deliver data speeds of 20 mbps, enabling the transmission of all Internet content from music, video, m-commerce, and games.

Initial Trial
MMC recently deployed a trial narrowband network in New York City to demonstrate and prove the technology to potential corporate partners. As reported in The New York Times, the trial involved the sending and receiving of an e-mail message with a laptop from a van traveling through the skyscraper canyons of Manhattan. MMC declared the trial a success as the e-mail was exchanged quickly and without interruption.