Huawei Technologies Co. has been selected by Singapore's Mobile One (M1) to deploy its ALL IP GSM, 3G, HSPA and LTE systems over the next five years.

WiMAX could deliver the last mile of wireless broadband service as an alternative to cable and DSL, beginning with network deployment in 2009, according to executives during the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association (CTIA) Wireless Conference in Las Vegas in April.

NextWave Wireless Inc. came to CTIA to demonstrate MXtv, a broadcast TV capability that can be added to conventional cellular-type WiMAX networks.

NextWave also showed WiMAX reference-design prototypes, including a pocket digital video recorder and announced sampling of a higher-per- WiMAX delivers TV to cellphones formance, lower-power WiMAX/Wi-Fi chipset for OEMs.

Shift in usage patterns
At the event, the WiMAX Forum said 260 service providers would deploy WiMAX services in 110 countries by 2010.

NextWave said such a large market would shift usage patterns toward broadcast services. MXtv, based on PacketVideo embedded multimedia software, is installed in more than 200 million 3G handsets and is used on T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless and other wireless networks.

"MXtv does not require network operators to install any new radio access network infrastructure; they use the same base stations, the same radio and the same spectrum as before," said Craig Miller, NextWave's VP of marketing. "WiMAX network operators can also deliver multichannel TV broadcasts. We estimate 20 or even 40 TV channels will be broadcast to WiMAX subscribers."

MXtv uses a packet-data structure on video streaming, managing the synchronization issues involved in re-creating a continuous serial stream of video images from batches of separately transmitted data packets. Up to 45 TV channels can be broadcast in 10MHz of bandwidth, with channel-switching times of under 2s and 30fps full motion at resolutions of 320 x 240 pixels (QVGA) and 480 x 272 pixels (WQVGA).

Network operators using MXtv can dynamically allocate spectrum based on content availability, time of day and user demand; and generate user-specific content.

NextWave's NW2000 chipset includes mobile subscriber baseband SoCs and mixed-signal, integrated multiband RF ICs.

The NW2100 baseband chip is an IEEE 802.16e (WiMAX) mobile subscriber SoC. The baseband WiMAX chip also integrates an IEEE 802.11b/g media access controller (Wi-Fi), a SIM controller, multiple host interfaces and an embedded authentication engine. The baseband chip licenses an ARM9 processor.

The chipset also integrates support for MXtv, which is already delivering TV to mobile users of 3G devices in Europe. The new chipset is intended to extend MXtv support to mobile multimedia devices using 4G WiMAX networks.

The multiband RF transceiver chip was optimized to support major WiMAX bands and profiles.

- R. Colin Johnson
EE Times