As the standards bodies for two metropolitan area network protocols prepare for separate meetings in May, both 802.16 and 802.20 are spoiling for a battle for survival.
Neither .16e nor .20 have reached standards specifications yet, but supporters of each are pushing the strengths of their preferred technology. Some analysts see .16e as having the current advantage because its precursor, .16a, also called WiMax, has the support of several industry heavyweights.
“There is no room for the two,” standards, said Lindsay Schroth, senior analyst for broadband access technologies at Yankee Group.
“The market is only going to support a certain number of networks,” said Monica Paolini, president of Senza Sili Consulting.
Flarion Technologies Inc., which patents the Flash-OFDM technology, is pushing for .20 on the frequency division duplex level. ArrayComm Inc. supports the technology with its iBurst product on the time division duplex level. However, ArrayComm also has been working with .16e players to adapt its antennas to the WiMax technology.
The .16e solution will benefit from the support of industry giants like Intel Corp. and Fujitsu Corp., which likely will use their silicon strengths to advance the WiMax solution. Indeed, Navini Networks, which has been critical of .16 in the past, signed on as a member of the WiMax Forum, dedicated to supporting the .16 technology. Intel is an investor in Navini.
Yankee’s Schroth believes that because .16 has received ratification on revision a, it has the advantage of time to market and momentum. She also noted that a suite of players from silicon makers to service providers have thrown their weight around WiMax. Further, once .16e is ratified, .20 will not be necessary because there will be no significant difference between both technologies, Schroth commented.
Paolini shares the same view, explaining that the support from a wide variety of players gives .16e the advantage of interoperability and, therefore, traction in the industry.
“Service providers often like this,” commented Paolini, adding that such interoperability provides flexibility.
Flarion disagrees. WiMax technology works in a fixed-wireless environment and is committed to the media access layer, contends Mark Klerer, executive director of standards at Flarion. He explained that .20 works with new specifications.
Klerer also said that while .16e will work on the frequency band between 2 GHz and 6 GHz, .20 works below 3.5 GHz. He explained that .16e will have lots of bandwidth, but will provide great battery challenges to mobile devices.
In defense of both Flarion and ArrayComm, Paolini said the .20 players have products already supported in the market.
“Both Flarion and ArrayComm have commercial products, unlike .16e,” she said.
Navini, which likely created traction for its solution through an agreement with Alcatel Corp., said it supports both .16e and .20. Sai Subramanian, vice president of product management and strategic marketing, denied media reports that his company is jumping the .20 ship, noting the company is focused more on WiMax at the moment.
Subramanian said Navini is looking to roll out plug-and-play products that will not require technical installations.
“All you need to do is get the end user modem and plug it in,” he said.
Schroth said WiMax will be deployed in 2005, which will give .16e a competitive advantage in the area of cost and economies of scale.
In the .20 arena, there are two groups contending for standards. The first wants a standard as soon as possible so products can be produced and taken to the market, according to Klerer. The other group wants a more definitive standard, but that is likely to take time.
Flarion, which is pushing its Flash-OFDM protocol, wants its standard arrived at quickly so it can push its product more aggressively in the market. Flarion’s protocol has generated some buzz in the market especially with trials going on with Nextel Communications Inc. in North Carolina and the carrier’s recent announcement to offer the service commercially in that market. The company also worked with Motorola Inc. to edge out CDMA2000 1x EV-DO players for public-safety contracts in the Washington, D.C., area.
Paolini insists that disagreements within the IEEE over .20 standards will delay any consensus on specifications.
