Riding the “third wave” of the cellular industry, Memphis, Tenn.-based Cellcore is gaining ground as a wireless supplier, focusing on three key areas: cellular and personal communications services networks, microcellular networks and integrated communications offerings.
Distributed network architecture distinguishes Celcore’s cellular system design from traditional cellular systems, said Steve Chen, vice president of product development at the company, likening the comparison to networked personal computing vs. the outdated mainframe.
Celcore has “broken the traditional MTSO (mobile telephone switching office) architecture into discrete components,” explained Chen. “We’re designing inexpensive, modular components to build powerful systems*…*and providing a `protocol independent platform’.” Together these factors allow small- to medium-sized operators to implement networks cost-effectively, said Celcore.
The company’s cellular network architecture is compatible with Analog Mobile Phone Service, Total Access Communication Service, Extended-TACS, Time Division Multiple Access and Global System for Mobile communications technology standards.
A second area of Celcore’s business is providing system architecture for operators of microcellular systems, which include cellular/cordless extensions for residences, wireless private branch exchange systems used commonly in office buildings and small cellular networks for campuses and other multi-location environments.
Chen noted Celcore has patents pending that are designed to resolve technical border issues, including dropped calls and missed incoming calls that can occur when mobile users cross invisible boundaries of different wireless systems.
Central to its mobility management offering, Cellcore introduced GlobalHub, a service that provides carriers the ability to integrate communications and offer one-person, one-number service, explained Chen. GlobalHub is an Interim Standard-41 application processor that provides mobility management functions and public switched telephone network interfaces for cellular carriers. Operators equipped with GlobalHub can provide their subscribers one-number service, so they can receive calls in their car, in a building, at home or anywhere.
Celcore refers to GlobalHub’s one-number service as “effortless anywhere access,” said Chen. Competitors’ services reach cellular users by ringing each of the user’s locations-office, home, car or others-until contact is made, explained Chen. In contrast, the GlobalHub processor detects a user’s cellular phone and rings the appropriate location. Incoming callers dial the customer’s cellular number. If the customer is at the office the call will come in on a landline extension. No extensive user profiles are needed.
Altogether, the company is riding what it calls the “third wave” in cellular. Reviewing a chronology of cellular, Celcore said the industry’s initial focus was placed on the technology itself. Extending service to suburban and rural markets as “fill-in” support for portable users defined phase two. Today, having reached broad nationwide coverage, cellular evolves into a third wave where the goal is providing seamless coverage among all cellular and microcellular environments-including macrocellular, in-building wireless PBX, campus systems and home cordless/cellular extension systems.
“The key in offering a comprehensive service package lies in the operator’s ability to integrate various products with the existing cellular network,” said Celcore.
Motorola Inc. said it will incorporate GlobalHub into its Personal Phone Series products, specifically as a cordless/cellular extension application. GlobalHub uses the Home Location Register to update the location of the Motorola PPS phone handset, allowing cellular calls to follow the subscriber. The phone functions as a cordless phone when in range of the personal base, said Celcore, and as a cellular handset outside the range.
Chen noted McCaw Cellular Communications Corp., part of AT&T Wireless Services, has contracted to use GlobalHub and agreements with other operators are pending. Celcore provides mobility management for Panasonic’s BusinessLink-manufactured by Matsushita Communications Industrial Corporation of America-in which users operate on PBX system inside a building and on the cellular network outside. Celcore also is delivering cellular equipment to Saipan Cellular Partnership in the Marianna Islands, in the South Pacific.
