Direct Wireless Corp., a new company based in Houston, has filed patent applications for a wireless communications system that would allow handsets to communicate directly with each other without signals first being routed through switches and cellular infrastructure.
The Direct Wireless Communication System reduces switching and call-control features of traditional wireless systems to a software program on a chip, said Frank Neukomm, president of the company. Neukomm said the additional software would not substantially change the size, weight or cost of handsets on the market today.
Handsets equipped with the Direct Wireless system would be able to communicate directly with each other in a full-duplex digital mode, or call into the wired telephone network through a repeater or another connection, said the company.
Direct Wireless plans to license the technology to handset manufacturers, said Neukomm.
Rather than competing with installed wireless networks, Neukomm said the system can supplement those systems by operating in the open channels not being used at any given time in a cellular system. Carriers, he said, could offer phones that work in both formats and use the Direct Wireless Communication System as a way to increase capacity.
Other carriers that own licenses, such as paging and SMR carriers, also could offer devices equipped with the Direct Wireless system as a way to boost profits.
The system also would be ideal in rural areas and developing countries where telephone service is not readily available, said Neukomm. “It is a very inexpensive way to cover the `under-telephonized’ world,” he said.
Other target markets include the public-safety and military communities.
Devices equipped with the Direct Wireless Communication System software would be able to communicate in a range of around five miles, said Neukomm. That range can be extended with repeaters, which cost much less than cellular base stations at between $25,000 and $50,000 per repeater.
Neukomm said a city the size of San Antonio, for example, could be covered with about three repeaters.
Because infrastructure costs would be minimal compared with traditional wireless systems, Neukomm said per-call charges would not be needed.
“The company intends to charge a monthly user access fee for its units, much like the regular telephone system used in a home or office,” said the company.
A permanent frequency allocation for Direct Wireless devices has not been assigned or requested, said the company. The system should function on radio common carrier, specialized mobile radio and paging frequencies as well as in the upper spectrum frequency ranges, said the company.
“The exact frequency of operation in any market is of little consequence in the broader picture because the company believes that the Direct Wireless system will be able to operate in any frequency band by changing a single circuit in the set,” said the company.
Neukomm said Direct Wireless expects to have Proof of Concept prototype devices available by the end of the summer. Although the company has discussed the system with manufacturers and other interested parties, it doesn’t expect to make any licensing announcements until after test data from the prototypes is gathered and evaluated by those companies.
However, Neukomm said licensing agreements could be made by the end of the year.
