MELBOURNE, Australia-Melbourne wireless telecom developer Advanced Communications Technologies (ACT) is on track to be the first company in the world to commercially launch a multiprotocol mobile base station, including third-generation (3G) wireless capabilities, as early as the end of the year.
Called SpectruCell, the multiple protocol wireless networking technology is designed to handle, within a single network, a variety of communications protocols. According to ACT Chief Executive Roger May, SpectruCell, which has been in development for more than three years, can accommodate a wide range of protocols, including AMPS, CDMA, TDMA, GSM, W-CDMA, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), mobile Internet Protocol (IP), voice IP and 3G.
It works simply by providing a radio link between the network infrastructure and a mobile-phone user’s handset.
“We’re getting feedback from a number of electronics and computer companies that what we’re doing is 18 to 24 months ahead of anyone else in the world,” said May. “We’ve filed patents that bypass all of Qualcomm’s patents, including its CDMA patent on software radio.
“And the indications are right now that we will have the first commercially viable 3G switching base station equipment in the marketplace at the end of this year, beginning of next year.”
May said that in talking to Qualcomm, the company realized that Qualcomm’s patents do not cover ACT’s technology development. ACT has filed one patent for its technology and plans to file several more. The first two will directly compete against Qualcomm’s CDMA patents. “Essentially, we are set up as the next Qualcomm. Software radio is where everything is going,” said May.
SpectruCell’s advantage, May said, is that a carrier does not need to plow billions of dollars into rolling out a new network when new radio technologies come along. Rather, it only needs to upgrade its network by installing SpectruCell, essentially a software-configured radio, at each cell site.
In July 2000, ACT received a federal government research and development grant of A$12 million (US$6.3 million), one of the largest ever given, to assist in the final-stage development of SpectruCell. In February, the company signed a A$9 million (US$4.7 million), two-year contract with Melbourne’s RMIT University to conduct further development on SpectruCell. In particular, research will center on building smart antennas that aim to direct radio signals directly to their target rather than broadcast signals across an entire cell area.
The company has also strongly lobbied for a A$130 million (US$68.3 million) wireless center of excellence to be built in Melbourne because, May said, “Wireless is the way of the future.”
