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Okay, you Trekkies out there, does Capt. Jean-Luc Picard rely solely on his com badge for communications? The answer is yes, if we're talking voice communications. When he wants to see data, he turns to a hand-held computer-like device.
That's actually how the future will work: separate broadband networks will deliver the best respective performance for voice or data, according to Nitin Shah, vice president and general manager of Internet products for smart antenna developer ArrayComm Inc.
Through its i-Burst technology, ArrayComm--which is headed by cellular phone tech pioneer Martin Cooper--hopes to provide a platform that enables wireless data transmission rates that are promised, but may not be delivered by, existing third generation technology.
The i-Burst technology uses smart antenna signal processing to deliver wireless broadband Internet access to portable consumer products at what the company claims will be an affordable price, enabling such functions as Internet access and--with the help of such investors as Sony Corp. of America--broadband content and gaming, among other things.
The telecom industry has learned that as data transmission rates increase, people seek out richer Web sites. That's why Shah is skeptical about whether 3G wireless can deliver its promised Internet experience on a cell phone.
"In order to deliver content to wireless users, I have to go in the reverse direction and squash it down to low data rates or adulterate it to accommodate the kind of cell phone devices people carry," says Shah, who worked on 3G previously at Lucent Technologies.
For voice, 3G "will be great. For a low data rate, fully mobile data system, it will be reasonably good, but the backend architecture of 3G is not very Internet friendly," Shah says. He concedes that 3G's radio access speed isn't as high performance as researchers, including himself, initially expected.
ArrayComm, founded in 1992, has developed highly efficient spectral technologies for wireless communications using existing radio systems. By using complex signal processing in the network equipment, ArrayComm can let more users use the same bit of spectrum at the same time.
ArrayComm believes i-Burst can make the Internet as personal an experience on other devices that are as portable as the cell phone. "The laptop is the initial end user device we're talking about, but we're also talking about pads, digital cameras, MP3 players--a whole range of consumer devices you can buy in a store," Shah says. An always-on, packet-oriented service with extremely high data rates, "is very addictive and exactly the way people recognize the Internet today."
ArrayComm plans a market test of its technology later this year in San Diego on experimental frequencies assigned by the Federal Communications Commission. That technology has its origins in acoustics systems used for noise cancellation in military radar systems. Unlike cellular or 3G phone technology that depends on paired spectrum frequencies, i-Burst sends data two ways on a single frequency in bursts.
"We can get extremely high spectral efficiency and that means we can do higher data rates per user than any of the 3G systems would do," Shah says. More efficient networks can lower cost structure, a major consideration for 3G.
"With i-Burst, I'm targeting a large consumer market with good chunky data rates and the only way I can do this without blowing up all the laws of physics is by using adaptive antenna technology that ArrayComm has developed to increase the spectral efficiency on the radio link," Shah says.
Shah believes cell phones will be around for decades as a device for voice-oriented and simple data communications. But like it or not, when it comes to high-speed Internet access, the traditional laptop is the more familiar device.
"We're a strong believer in multiple devices for multiple applications," Shah says. "Use cell phones to talk. Use laptops to compute and get e-mail. Use an MP3 player for downloading music over the air using i-Burst. Or you use a camera to take a snapshot and send it over the air to a favorite Web site."
The San Diego trial will let device vendors test how well their appliances work on the system, and decide whether users are willing to pay to have certain applications on their portable devices. Shah believes commercial deployment of i-Burst networks could begin as early as mid-2002. Companies that would deploy i-Burst are those that have built largely data-oriented fiber networks, but lack broadband access to end users.
Shah says ArrayComm is a fan of Metricom's Ricochet system, because it has the same vision of portable access to data systems. However, the decision to pursue unlicensed spectrum and high-end business oriented services has created problems for Ricochet, Shah says. Metricom this month scaled back its Ricochet deployment to conserve capital, because customers haven't signed on as fast as that company has hoped. (See related story, page 42.)
ArrayComm has had talks with investment bankers about becoming a publicly traded company, but will remain privately funded for now, given the poor market for initial equity offerings.
Investors include Sony and the wireless unit of Britain's Marconi Plc, which last week invested an undisclosed amount to acquire a less than 10 percent stake in ArrayComm. The two will develop 3G wireless equipment, based on ArrayComm's adaptive antenna technology for improving the performance of wideband CDMA.
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