 Welcome to RCR Wireless News’ weekly look at the heterogeneous networks (hetnet) landscape. RCR Wireless News technology reporter Kelly Hill will be keeping you up on the latest announcements, trends and developments in Wi-Fi, distributed antenna systems and small cells as mobile evolves toward hetnet deployments.
Small cells are driving collaboration as companies try to provide carriers with the solutions they need for more widespread deployments.
SpiderCloud Wireless and Tango Networks are working together on enterprise small cell systems. SpiderCloud provides enterprise radio access network (E-RAN) systems for mobile operators, and Tango provides unified communications systems for mobile devices. The two companies announced that they are collaborating to help mobile operators deliver mobile unified communications and advanced PBX features over enterprise-class small cell networks.
“A managed small cell network that provides reliable mobile voice and data access, integrated with the enterprise PBX and IP telephony network, will help enterprise customers save time, money and resources as mobile operators become a trusted partner for mobile services beyond minutes and devices,” said Michael Gallgher, CEO of SpiderCloud Wireless.
SpiderCloud also recently announced that according to a report by Exact Ventures, managed mobility services for enterprise offer a $100 billion market opportunity in the United States and Western Europe – and that increasing leverage of small cell deployments for coverage and services for enterprise customers also is expected to save businesses as much as $264 per user annually.
We also saw multi-mode LTE/HSPA/Wi-Fi small cell provider Ubiquisys and software developer Jin-Magic announce a collaboration to improve the performance and quality of experience on small cells. Jin-Magic specializes in optimizing Internet traffic, and the company’s software runs on Ubiquisys’ small cells to balance and stabilize TCP traffic in order to maximize bandwidth and provide a consistent user experience.
Meanwhile, small cell company Ip.access is working with InterDigital to demonstrate in-call switching between LTE small cells and Wi-Fi, for both voice and data sessions, at Mobile World Congress.
Ip.access founder and CEO Nick Johnson said the two companies will highlight the possibilities of dynamically switching calls and data traffic from LTE to carrier Wi-Fi and back again. Johnson said they will “demonstrate Wi-Fi and LTE within a single small cell with operator controlled dynamic switching between the two signals – even potentially mid-data or video stream.
“Put simply, if a customer with an LTE-capable handset was using a Wi-Fi network that became congested, the network could be configured to dynamically switch that customer to LTE to maintain the required quality of the service to that user, and the performance of the network for all users,” Johnson said.
Ip.access also said this week that it has hit a big milestone: one million residential 3G small cell units shipped.
I also spoke with Tarana Wireless, which claims to have solved one of the biggest challenge in the small cell space: backhaul. Look for more on that later this week.
WeFi released the latest version of its paid Android application for Wi-Fi connectivity. The WeFi Pro app automatically connects to Wi-Fi networks and includes an interactive map of nearby Wi-Fi hotspots, based on WeFi’s database of more than 150 million hotspots worldwide. The app also manages battery life by switching a device’s Wi-Fi radio on when chances are high for a quality Wi-Fi connection and turning it off when the possibility decreases.
There were a couple of announcements this week that play into figuring out non-cellular wireless network support for tactical mobile video for verticals such as the military and public safety.
Satellite provider Hughes Network Systems demonstrated LTE over satellite capabilities last week at Camp Roberts, Calif., showcasing download speeds up to 15 megabits per second and upload speeds up to 2 Mbps for military field applications, including video calls.
“Today’s warfighters and emergency responders are taking advantage of new data capabilities to advance the mission, but the ability to deliver real-time video communications on-the-move with small, interoperable devices has been elusive,” said Rick Lober, VP and GM of Hughes defense and intelligence systems division.
Meanwhile, General Dynamics Canada introduced a new mobile router for military and public safety use. The company said its TMR200 tactical mobile router is “ideally suited for tactical environments where network and vehicle electronic architectures are becoming more complex with high-definition cameras and sophisticated sensors, streaming gigabits of information.”
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