Anyone who doubts the energy and buzz -- and the global nature -- of the new market in WiMax wireless Internet communications should spend a while on the show floor at WiMax World 2008 this week in Chicago.
The more than 150 exhibitors represent a melting pot of every corner of the world (and if you don't believe me, check out the names of the people I'm quoting below). There are lots of chipmakers and antenna system builders, some software vendors and some all-around tech giants -- all showing intriguing possibilities about the future of the Web through WiMax.
My tour of the show floor began with Motorola Inc., where Tom Gruber showed off ideas of "media mobility" -- taking video content from the home to a personal media viewer anywhere.
Potential end users, he said, include Millennials, who want to connect and share video everywhere, "road warrior" employees who want to produce and perform more effectively, and "homelife enhancers," who want to simplify and broaden their entertainment choices. Gruber also said older Web users -- whom he called "Silver Surfers" -- are an important audience.
Next up: Merji Khorchidian of Nokia Siemens Networks, who showed home and video applications, along with carrier backhaul transport gear. Two consumer devices were on display -- WiMax powered phone service and a tablet computer streaming TV from a nearby set-top box over WiMax at 24 megabits per second.
At the nearby Samsung booth, Pavan Gupta, showed the big parts of WiMax -- tower mounted radio units -- and the small, chipsets for mobile video players and USB and PC cards for computers.
Aylesbury, England-based Axis Network Techology had sales directory Michel Vieuxmaire demonstrating his company's remote radio units, which broadcast in the 2.5 gigahertz band and offer a range of 20 to 25 kilometers (12 to 15 miles).
Another UK company, Bath-based PicoChip Flexible Wireless, said it was the only semiconductor company focused entirely on WiMax, with most base station manufacturers using its product. It's also been at the business of femtocells -- small-distance repeaters of WiMax -- so long that it owns the URL.
Nearby, Fernando Donoso of Montreal, Quebec-based SR Telecom & Co. touted new national-level deployments of his company's WiMax systems in Indonesia and Cameroon. Donoso also said his company is testing a WiMax system that broadcasts in the 10.5 gigahertz range.
At Alcatel-Lucent, Hyam Bolande touted his company's 30 WiMax deployments around the world, of which four are operating commercially. The company's booth demonstrated how WiMax could be used to simplify high-definition videoconferencing.
Torbjorn Ward of Sweden's Aptilo Networks showed off his company's products that manage mobile WiMax, guest Internet access, public Wi-Fi and more. What makes his company's wares different, Ward said, is that it's a complete, integrated system of access control.
Alan Sondheim, vice president of product management and business devleopment of Ottawa, Ontario-based DragonWave Inc. talked up his company's integrated, all-outdoor radio end. One such unit, he said, can provide up to 800 megabits per second of Internet access that can be shared by users.
Jonathan R. Jaeger, director of corporate strategy and business development at San Francisco-based Soma Networks, said his company's WiMax products focus on "bridging the digital divide on emerging markets in broadband wireless." He siad his company's transmitter gear has been used by a small phone operation in rural Montana to offer Voice Over Internet Protocol and broadband services to areas that currently can't get it. It's also involved in a project with a large Indian firm to offer WiMax services in the country's most affluent areas. He said Soma gear offers more capacity per radio unit than the competition.
A Waltham, Mass. company with the engaging name NetCracker was at the event offering its software and services in monitoring WiMax system quality.
Leonid Burakovski of Juniper Networks talked up his company's hardware and identity management software now used by several major WiMax providers.
Leonard Korowajczuk of Naperville, Ill.-based CelPlan, said his company has developed WiMax network design and optimization software and services to plan network delivery efficiency.
San Jose, Calif.-based GCT Semiconductor Inc. showed off its industry-leading single-chip system that integrates a mobile WiMax and Wi-Fi receiver on a single chip. Nearby, another Bath, UK company, Notronex Corp., showed off its power transistors specifically designed for WiMax applications.
Declan Burns, chief marketing officer of Boca Raton, Fla.-based Airspan Networks Inc. showed off his company's WiMax air cards and base stations.
Raj Singh, president and CEO of Dorval, Quebec-based Wavesat, showed off his company's WiMax semiconductors, now shipping to Japan, Taiwan, China and Europe. More WiMax handset chips were demonstrated by David Ben-Shushan of Herzliya, Israel-baesd Comsys Communication & Signal Processing Ltd.
Majed Sifri, CEO of WiMax pioneer Redline Communications demonstrated his company's WiMax broadcasting and receiving technolgoy, now deployed in 160 locations worldwide, 60 percent of which have grown into commercial networks.
And I was getting completely burned out on the hardware until I got to the booth of Nortel -- where a Smart Fortwo mincar was all tricked out with a 15-inch video screen on the dashboard with live streaming music, Web sites, games, weather and more.
Who knows when that kind of data transport will be available in a vehicle, but when it comes, the technology providing the bandwidth is likely to be WiMax.
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