Flexible Deployment of Broadband Wireless Services
by Gaby Junowicz, Business Development
Manager, RAD Data Communications

Despite the demise of data CLECs in the U.S. that considered the wireless market a niche for delivery of data services, wireless access still has a role to play as a complementary technology in helping carriers relieve the bottleneck in provisioning multiple services over the Last Mile. The carrier or service provider can add broadband wireless
access (BWA) solutions to their bank of
connectivity options, where wireline solutions
such as DSL or fiber are impractical, not feasible or too costly.

Easy Connectivity
Referred to as fixed wireless because each customer’s antenna remains in one fixed location, BWA establishes radio connections between the carrier’s or service provider’s point-of-presence (POP) and multiple customer sites in a star topology. BWA offers several advantages over wireline access, including low cost and fast deployment. (It is estimated that building out a broadband wireless network is about half the cost of building out a fiber network.) Wireless links enable quick installation and accelerated
time-to-market, improving the service provider’s competitive edge. They are very flexible, offering simple network expansion and redesign, and can easily offer extra bandwidth on demand. Easy scalability enables incremental rollout of the wireless network, and therefore, low initial costs.

Multiple Services over a Single Pipe
RAD offers a suite of access products that are engineered for the wireless access arena. These products support multiple services, bundling voice (including legacy telephony), video and any type of data services over any wireless media (WLL, MMDS, LMDS). For example, RAD’s compact, 1U high DXC cross connect grooms Fractional E1/T1 lines from several wireless base stations into one full E1/T1 line, saving the wireless operator on leased line costs while taking up minimal space at the base station. Since broadband wireless systems are Ethernet-based, a wide range of adapters or converters are needed to provide interworking with the user equipment.

RAD offers many interfaces, such as V.35, ATM, E3/T3 and IP, to terminate services between the end user’s customer premises equipment (CPE) and the Ethernet pipe. To handle voice in the wireless arena, RAD provides VoIP gateways as well as a compressed voice system, which delivers high quality voice over wireless links at a 12:1 compression ratio, saving additional bandwidth for data. RAD offers many other product solutions to help wireless operators make the most efficient use of their wireless networks.

Assuring Quality of Service (QoS)
When dealing with wireless links, which are dependent on external factors such as weather conditions, managing QoS is crucial – even more than in the wireline environment. When this factor is combined with the need to transport some of the traffic over another carrier’s lines, network management takes on a higher dimension of complexity. The end-to-end management capabilities built into RAD access products enable the operator to control and shape the traffic. This serves to maximize bandwidth while enabling the operator to monitor QoS and make sure customers receive the appropriate level of service.
  
For further information on how to access the wireless network, contact us at wireless@rad.co.il.