It appears to be that Sprint will no longer be offering Blackberry maker Research in Motion’s 4G-enabled Playbook, which the duo first announced at the Consumer Electronics Show back in January of this year. The tablet was supposed to be made available on the Sprint network this summer but the decision was withdrawn for what seems to be, a mixture of several different reasons.

The device did not seem to garner much enthusiasm and Paget Alves, president of Sprint’s business markets group, told the Wall Street Journal that the tablet’s concept was “interesting” but hadn’t caught on well enough. Although the Playbook received some positive reviews, it was chastised for its lack of apps. Users will also need to have a Blackberry phone nearby in order to access certain features of the tablet.

Although the relationship between Sprint and RIM has not curdled, the decision is still a major blow to RIM since Sprint has the largest 4G network in place right now. Losing such a major supporter leaves the device’s future looking even more uncertain than before now that the Playbook 4G is left without a carrier. Sprint’s decision was most likely based on the fact they would have had to pledge their own resources to furthering the Playbook 4G’s development. Such light shed on the venture probably made it appear unworthy of making. RIM’s Co-CEO Mike Lazaridis also stated that the company’s interests are geared more towards LTE rather than Sprint’s WiMAX based service.

Blackberry and RIM’s future is not over however, and Sprint along with a handful of other retailers will continue to offer the Wi-Fi version of the Playbook. Because RIM finally ditched the antiquated Blackberry operating system and incorporated a new QNX-based platform, perhaps consumers and carriers alike can expect a new line of more confident products in the near future, including Blackberry phones. For the time being though, eyes are on the future of RIM’s first tablet and its future with 4G.

These are exciting times for the world’s first wireless mobile broadband internet technology – Mobile WiMAX is rapidly gaining world-wide adoption with corresponding commercial rollouts: In recent news, Imagine acquires Clear’s Ireland operations, Reliance Infotel ltd. changes their mind and plans for Mobile WiMAX deployments in India, Clear plans several new markets inside the U.S. by the end of the year (with current standing of 21 states (50 cities)), Best Buy Connect in conjunction with Clear announces their official wholesale relationship to sell 4G Broadband Service in the U.S., and the WiMAX Forum announces WiMAX 16e Enhanced for further network optimizations. Moreover, the ITU ratified IEEE 802.16m is set to continue to advance this open-standard 4G Mobile Broadband Internet technology growth for the next several years to come.

In order to take advantage of the current proliferation of  WiMAX – ready PCs (netbooks, notebooks) available online and in the retail channels, as well as be ready to intercept the near term launch of a variety of WiMAX-ready slate tablets and smartphones, a green field WiMAX operator needs to diligently perform early technology assessment between a whole host of these WiMAX enabled retail PCs, dongles, and CPEs within their own Mobile WiMAX network infrastructure (BS, ASN, CSN, etc.). Once the WiMAX Forum PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) requirements for the AAA (Authentication, Authorization, Accounting) server are satisfied, the green field operator can begin a first pass over-the-air network entry verification with subsequent DL/UL (downlink/uplink) speed testing. This first level assessment should bring a baseline confidence to the operator prior to a full-scale IOT (inter-operability) testing/optimization of the green field WiMAX network.

Let us do a quick review of a typical WiMAX network architecture: Essentially, the MS (member station)/SS (subscriber station) is on one side, and the BS (base station), ASN (Access Service Network) Gateway, CSN (Connectivity Service Network:  HA(home agent), AAA, etc.) is on the other side. Please remember the following common interface terminologies: the air-interface between the MS to BS is termed R1, the interface between MS to CSN is  R2,  BS to ASN is R6, ASN to CSN is R3, ASN to another ASN is R4 and CSN to another operator’s CSN is R5.  Next, we provide a simplistic summary of the network entry and initialization process: Phase a) the MS scans the DL channel and synchronizes with the BS, Phase b) transmit parameters are obtained, Phase c) ranging is performed, Phase d) basic capabilities are negotiated, Phase e) MS authorized and public keys exchanged, Phase f) MS registration performed, Phase g) IP connectivity established, Phase h) time of day established, Phase i) operational parameters transferred, and Phase j) connections setup.  Now, if you recall our aforementioned interface terminologies (R1, R3, R6, etc.), Phase a) through Phase d) can be categorized into the R1 interface, and Phase e) through Phase j) can be categorized into the R3 and R6 interfaces. Our focus for a first pass network entry assessment is mainly on the R1, R3 and R6 interfaces. From an OSI (Open System Interconnection) model perspective, our focus is on layer 1 (physical layer), layer 2 (data link layer), and layer 3 (the network layer). There are several commercially available network monitoring tools which are specifically designed for 1) functional verification (protocol monitoring along R1, R6 and R3, etc.), 2) performance verification (MAC layer of BS when connected to more than one MS, ASN-GW under loaded conditions, etc.), and 3) live network testing.  In a green field deployment, these tools can quickly and effectively identify the root-cause of problems in the initial setup of the BS/ASN/CSN (AAA, etc.).  Once basic network entry is made and an IP address is obtained by the MS, a quick speed test can be performed. To gain an accurate measurement of the DL/UL speed between MS and BS, it is advisable to build an independent performance server using a notebook PC (e.g. containing Speedtest APs) and place the PC server at the CSN.

Some well known network monitoring tools include Wireless Logix Group’s XCAL Tool (this is installed on the MS (embedded WiMAX PCI Express Mini Card, WiMAX USB dongle, etc.) and provides the operator an accurate view of the RF performance (CINR, RSSI, etc.) from the client device point of view), Sanjole Corporation’s Wavejudge 4800/4900 (over-the- air R1 monitoring and much much more, etc.), Tektronix Communication’s NSA – network and service analyzer (R1, R3, R6 monitoring, etc. while placed onto a BS port), and open-source Wireshark network protocol analyzer (which mainly looks at the transport layer, etc.). The operator can also monitor the WiMAX conversation by observing back-end session logs at the CSN.  In any case, the fundamental handshake between client (MS/SS) and network (WiMAX BS) must be proven out, and once this is achieved, the green field operator can advance to the next level of exhaustive IOT testing. 

The Indonesian Telecommunications Regulatory Body is considering changing telecom rules to allow WiMAX license holders to upgrade to mobile WiMAX. The organization postponed its decision to reverse a ban on the technology. Operators and growth were stagnant because of the fixed WiMAX technology.

ITRB granted the licenses in 2009. Since the beginning, lobbyists have argued that the fixed WiMAX option is marred by poor coverage and interference in rural and urban areas.

“We are still [contemplating] how to accelerate 2.3GHz operators so they can be commercial,” ITRB commissioner Heru Sutadi said ,”We have got a lot of input from operators and vendors, so we will study the input to consider any policy we can issue so all BWA 2.3GHz operators can sell their product as soon as possible.”

Telkom, Indosat, Internux, First Media, Jasnita, Berca, Indonesia WiMAX Consortium and WiMAX Indonesia all own spectrum space to launch WiMAX in the country. Operators are also asking the regulator to free up spectrum space in the 2.5GHz to make it available for WiMAX or LTE. The operator is also exploring ways to expand current 3G offerings, along with figuring out which frequencies can deploy various 4G technologies.

Nokia Siemens Network recently demonstrated LTE in Jakarta and three other mobile operators are ready to deploy the technology if the spectrum space is released by 2013.

Once again, history in broadband wireless for PC communications was made in Kiev, Ukraine on the week of May 24th, 2010 with the official launching of Intel’s embedded Mobile WiMAX solution by Freshtel. Intel Corporation in conjunction with Freshtel partnered up to demonstrate several WiMAX-Ready PCs containing Intel’s silicon ingredients (Intel Core Ix Processor for Notebooks, Intel Atom N4xx Processor for Netbooks and Intel(R) Centrino(R) Advanced-N + WiMAX 6250 for Mobile Broadand). One week later, Intel showed off its latest processor technologies embedded inside a variety of standard/ultra-low – voltage notebooks, standard/sleek netbooks and standard/slate tablets (e.g. JooJoo Slate Tablet, Network Navigator NAV9, etc.) at Computex 2010 in Taipei, Taiwan.

Using Intel’s processing power, a variety of dazzling applications were demonstrated: e.g. 3D video, augmented reality, Intel Wireless Display, Intel(R) My WiFi Technology, MeeGo, etc. at several booths which comprised the impressive Intel pavilion. Taking center stage inside the Intel Pavilion was one of the Intel Mobility booths – this particular one was dedicated to demonstrating live WiMAX using a slew of PCs available in the market (Lenovo Thinkpad T410 Notebook (Intel® Core™ i5 CPU M520 @ 2.40GHz w/NVIDIA NVS 3100M), Lenovo Thinkpad T510 Notebook (Intel Core i7 CPU M620 @ 2.67GHz w/ Graphics Media Accelerator HD), Lenovo Thinkpad X201S Notebook (VMAX- Certified), Acer Aspire 5745 Notebook, MSI U135 Netbook (Intel Atom  CPU N450 @ 1.66GHz/1.67GHz), ASUS EeePC 1001PG Netbook (VMAX – Certified, Intel Atom  CPU N450 @ 1.66GHz/1.67GHz), Dell Inspiron Mini 1012 Netbook (Intel® Atom™ CPU N450 @ 1.66GHz/1.67GHz), 2Go Classmate PC E10 Netbook (technology demo, Intel® Atom™ CPU N450 @ 1.66GHz/1.67GHz), and Samsung NP-N210 Netbook (Intel® Atom™ CPU N450 @ 1.66GHz/1.67GHz)).

The WiMAX-Enabled Dell Inspiron Mini 1012 and Toshiba Satellite U505 can both be purchased @ Best Buy inside the US. All PCs contained the Intel 6250 WiMAX PCI Express Mini card – with one set of PCs (Lenovo, Samsung, MSI) connected to an in-pavilion Alvarion WiMAX Base Station @ 3.5GHz channel frequency, whereas the others (Dell, Acer, 2Go, ASUS) were connected to the extended VMAX network (in-pavilion Samsung WiMAX Base Station) @ 2.5GHz. The emphasis here was to show the global frequency support of Intel’s embedded WiMAX solution. A large high definition display showed off some killer applications requiring WiMAX‘s broadband pipe: e.g. Livecasting from Taipei’s VMAX network, Livecasting from Portland’s CLEAR network (Tri-Met trains) and Microsoft IIS Smooth Streaming of Big Buck Bunny.

In the Taipei VMAX network, two mobile travelers were each equipped with a backpack containing an Acer 1201N Netbook (Windows 7, Intel Dual Core Atom N330, Nvidia Ion GPU), a VMAX USB dongle, and a MSFT HD Web cam. Both mobile travelers traversed the streets of Taipei from the awe-inspiring Taipei 101 (near TICC) to the Nankang Convention Hall while livecasting back into the Intel Booth. Similarly, a static Lenovo Thinkpad T510 w/6250 and webcam was livecasting via the VMAX network from inside the VMAX Booth at WiMAX Expo while another static Core Ix Processor based PC was livecasting from the MSI Booth inside the WiMAX Expo. In addition to Intel, there were several other companies (VEE, VMAX, MSI, Acer, ECS ELITEGROUP, Fujitsu, Gateway, GEMTEK, SEQUANS (e.g. Sprint HTC EVO 4G, etc.), etc.) featuring WiMAX as their major theme both inside the Nankang Hall as well as the WiMAX Expo. Please check out the flip video recordings from Computex 2010 posted @ the guptawimaxchannel on You Tube.

Huawei is using Sequans latest chip set in developing the latest mobile WiMAX devices. Sequans also announced that Accton Wireless Broadband has adopted Sequan’s chips for their latest mobile WiMAX devices. AWB’s latest devices include a USB dongle and two access devices.

Sequans’ SQN 1200 series chips work on 65 nm technology and five years of field testing and  research. The Sequans’ patented dual transmit uplink technology improves coverage and throughput. The chip provides throughput of greater than 40 Mbps. The chips cover all  three of the global WiMAX bands.

The AWB USB dongle is a top-of-the-line WiMAX device that delivers powerful benefits to mobile operators. The device delivers better link budget, improving the cell coverage and greatly improved network entry performance. For the consumer, it provides a great signal indoors and better throughput for data.

“Sequans’ advanced chip technology, including their powerful dual transmit uplink technology, contributes significantly to the high performance-over-cost value proposition of our WiMAX devices,” Ray Lee, president of AWB, said,  “Sequans is one of the key strategic partners of AWB and our collaboration enriches the product line that addresses demand for Sequans support among our operator customers.”

The AWB IADs come with Ethernet and VoIP connects in a one package. The indoor model is simple to install for users. The IADs supports both line-of-sight and non-line-of-sight, 2X2 MIMO. It’s dual-image software upgrade recovery mechanism, network discovery and selection makes the device

All of the devices, from both Huawei and AWB will be on display at Computex Taipei from June 1-5. It’s a great opportunity to see the latest and greatest for mobile WiMAX. WiMAX devices will drive the international market. Huawei leads the way in WiMAX deployments. They’ve help deploy over 60 WiMAX networks worldwide.

Gemtek’s latest mobile WiMAX customer premise equipment for mobile is based on Sequans WiMAX chip. The solution will be deployed on BSNL’s WiMAX network in India.

“Gemtek’s new CPE is a powerful solution that will eventually serve millions in India with Mobile WiMAX service,” Sequans CEO Georges Karam said, .  “Our technology contributes to the high performance of the device and the efficiency of the entire BSNL network, and we are pleased to collaborate with Gemtek on this important project.”

The WiMAX network deployed by BSNL will be the biggest network worldwide. It will cover several states and consist of 7000 base stations. The WIXS-181 outdoor device works on the 2.5GHz frequency. The equipment will be displayed during WiMAX Taipei 2010 from June 1-5 at the Taipei World Trade Center.

It’s great to see BSNL sticking with WiMAX. The Indian national telecom wants to deploy WiMAX because they are first to deploy WiMAX. The auction for other operators starts on May 26. Sequans chips are very powerful and do a great job with backhaul and creating WiMAX devices that people want to see. It’s also important to see the development of WiMAX in India. They are an important market for the future of the technology.

Kyocera Corporation has recently completed interoperability testing of its WiMAX pico base station. It has used the Access Services Network Gate on the ASR5000 from Cisco.

Kyocera can now provide end-to-end WiMAX solution for mobile WiMAX operators. Enhanced indoor coverage is an important part in maintaining existing customers.

The company is now producing two types of MIMO-based WiMAX regenerative repeaters. Public Repeaters are used for large and medium-sized office buildings and home/SME repeaters for resident-use and small and medium enterprises. Kyocera is also developing a indoor base station named the “Super Picocell Base Station” for high data traffic consumption.

Since 1995, Kyocera has manufactured and shipped more than 634,000 base stations for CDMA, PHS and other cellular technologies. Kyocera has been working with UQ Communications in developing indoor solutions for mobile WiMAX.

Kyocera’s infrastructure business began in 1995, and the company has since manufactured and shipped more than 634,000 base stations installed globally using PHS, CDMA and iBurst technologies. In the WiMAX field, Kyocera has been closely working with UQ Communications Inc. — the first mobile WiMAX operator in Japan — to develop optimal indoor solutions for mobile WiMAX.

Kyocera is entering the  WiMAX base station market a little late. Motorola seems to be ahead of Kyocera in developing base station technology. Kyocera’s base stations will find a niche market, but like the cell phone market, Kyocera seems to be far behind its top competition.

Alem Communications and Samsung Electronics struck a deal to have Samsung supply Alem with a complete mobile WiMAX network. Digital TV, an Alem subsidiary launched its first commercial mobile WiMAX in Almaty, Kazakhstan on May 1.

Samsung provided its field-proven 2.5 GHz mobile WiMAX solution. They’ve installed base stations, service network gateways and other service-related equipment.

“”We’re very pleased to partner with Samsung, an industry-leading mobile WiMAX provider, to bring true mobile broadband services to our customers in Kazakhstan,” Grigory Grigorov, CEO of Alem Communications, said, “We are confident that mobile WiMAX will enrich the Kazakhstani people’s access to information and communications and provide a more efficient environment for Kazakhstan’s business community.”

Alem Communications will deploy mobile WiMAX in several other Kazakhstan cities, including the capital of Astana. Mobile WiMAX provides mobility options that aren’t available in fixed WiMAX applications. USB dongles, along with WiMAX-enabled laptops will be available to the Kazakhstani people. Grigorov is right about the e-learning possibilities, and it will give users the opportunity to grow through wireless internet technology. There are also opportunities for smart grids and other technology that enables municipalities to monitor water meters, the electrical grid and live cameras at busy intersections.

Since the first historical mobile WiMAX network deployment by Clear over a year ago, there have been more than 600 WiMAX networks worldwide which have either commercially launched or have entered into a planning/pre-deployment stage. For new devices (WiMAX Forum Certified or other devices) entering a Greenfield network, or for new devices entering an existing live mobile WiMAX network, the network operator, the device manufacturer or both need to comply with the WiMAX Forum defined Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) requirements. The same mandate applies to existing fixed WiMAX (IEEE802.16-2004 or 802.16d) network deployments worldwide that plan on upgrading to a mobile WiMAX (IEEE802.16e-2005 or 802.16e) network infrastructure. PKI utilizes X.509 digital certificates and their respective keys to correctly identify the devices and servers [AAA (Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting)], as well as to mutually authenticate within the mobile WiMAX network. The proper format and use of the X.509 certificates are described in the IETF RFC3280 document with the cryptographic algorithms located in the PKCS#1-PKCS#13 specifications (http://grouper.ieee.org/groups/1363/) devised and published at RSA Security. Verisign is the leading source for the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) Certificate Authority (CA) as well as the sole entity for the processing of WiMAX Forum PKI certificate orders made by WiMAX operators.

Essentially, the operator and the device manufacturer are each tasked with configuring their respective AAA servers or devices with the proper WiMAX Forum® server certificates and device certificates, respectively – to ensure a successful EAP-TLS mutual certificate exchange between the server and the device. The certificate requirements summarized below are specific for the case of client devices (netbooks, notebooks, etc.) containing the Intel® Centrino® Advanced-N + WiMAX 6250 PCI Express Mini Card that will be conversing with the server. The AAA server should contain six added files: the AAA Server Certificate bundled together with the WiMAX Forum Server Subordinate CA Certificate, the AAA specific Private Key, and the WiMAX Forum Device Root (CA) Certificates inside the “Trusted Store” (WiMAX Device Root (for Intel IT Flex), the WiMAX Device Root CA1 (for Verisign), and the WiMAX Device Root CA2 (for Motorola). The operator has to generate the AAA Private Key as part of the Certificate Signing Request Form (CSR), and the CSR (containing the AAA Private Key) has to be submitted to VeriSign. Upon processing the submission, VeriSign will provide the Scuba and the AAA Server Certificate to the operator. On the client side, the device has seven files added (burned into the Non-Volatile Memory (NVM) contained on Intel’s WiMAX PCI Express Mini Card solution): the Server Root Certificates (WiMAX Server Root (for Intel IT Flex), WiMAX Server Root CA1 (for VeriSign), WiMAX Server Root CA2 (for VeriSign), and the WiMAX Server Root CA3 (for VeriSign)), the Device specific Certificate bundled together with the WiMAX Forum Device Subordinate CA certificate, and the Device specific Private Key. Please keep in mind that the four distinct Server Root Certificates are used to accommodate most of the commonly used AAA servers used today.

What is free and what needs to be purchased? The WiMAX Forum Server Root (CA) Certificate and the WiMAX Forum Device Root (CA) Certificate are free, whereas, the WiMAX Forum Server Subordinate CA Certificate, the Server Certificate, the Device Subordinate CA Certificate, and the Device Certificate all need to be purchased. Finally, with the PKI house-keeping completed, a mobile WiMAX device can now be deployed inside a mobile WiMAX network and begin the certificate exchange process with the AAA server. To put it simply, the process begins with the client device sending the Device Certificate and Device Subordinate CA Certificate (certificate chain) to the AAA server. The server then validates the Device Certificate using the Device Subordinate CA Certificate and the Device Root CA Certificate. Next, the AAA server sends the Server Certificate and Server Subordinate CA Certificate (Certificate chain) to the client device. It is now the client’s turn to validate the Server Certificate by using the Server Subordinate CA Certificate and the Server Root CA Certificate.

Ecoweb will start WiMAX services in Zimbabwe. 100 base stations will be deployed in Zimbabwe that will target the main business centers. The deployment will start in April 2010.

WiMAX would enable Zimbabwe to get on par with first world countries with the high speed wireless connection it would provide. Users would be able to access the internet using laptops, netbooks, gaming devices, cameras, camcorders and other equipment that supports mobile WiMAX. USB dongles can be plugged into a computer or laptop that aren’t WiMAX-enabled.

Providing Internet in places where hard line connections couldn’t reach before means that an entire generation of children and people will learn through high speed Internet. WiMAX will enable a type of learning, previously unavailable, that will change the way the country thinks through increased knowledge and awareness of world affairs and access to resources.

Photo Courtesy of Aluka Digital Library via Flickr