Hotspots Are Getting Hotter

We had spoken about this significant technology
trend in the previous column. Here are a few more interesting things about
Hotspots and the technologies and hardware that make them work.

"Orange wishes you a pleasant stay! The customer-care number of Idea
Maharashtra/Goa is 9822012345." You get this message as soon as you leave
the Mumbai zone of Orange cellular services and enter the Idea zone on your way
to Goa for a vacation. Idea guessed you are going on a vacation and flashed a
parting message from Orange and a welcome message from Idea giving you their
customer-care number.

How did this happen? Answer is: The roaming services of cellular operators
simply used advanced Hotspots for mobile phone users. We take it for granted
because the service has been seamlessly integrated and we don´t have to change
any of our phone settings when we cross the zones between two different service
providers.

A similar service can soon be expected from the wireless ISPs who are setting
up Hotspots for mobile computer users. When you are in a Hotspot, you can
connect your laptop to the Internet without having to change any hardware or
software settings on the machine.

You don’t even have to enter an unique service set identifier (SSID) for
each Hotspot that you enter. Instead you can get the usage charges added to your
service provider´s bill automatically.

IT’S TIME TO UNWIRE!

Hotel chains like the Taj and Oberoi are already taking steps to make
Hotspots popular. The coffee bar and Café Coffee Day in Bangalore, are offering
this service to customers. Reliance Infocomm is also planning to soon offer
these services all over the country at its Webstores.

ISPs
of today are gearing up to make a transition to become wireless ISPs. The latest
slogan of Internet technology companies is ‘Unwire!’ and their promise is
‘Anytime, Anywhere’ Internet.

At the heart of this revolution is the wireless technology standard IEEE
802.11. That’s Wi-Fi for the non-technical end-users. Wi-Fi is the acronym for
wireless fidelity and is meant to be used generically for all types of
802.11-based networks.

Any product tested and approved as ‘Wi-Fi certified’ by the Wi-Fi
Alliance is certified as inter-operable, even if they come from different
manufacturers. A user with a Wi-Fi certified product can use any brand of access
point with any other brand of client hardware that also is Wi-Fi certified.

FUTURE’S WI-FI

Wi-Fi compatible PC cards are available for peer-to-peer wireless networks,
but it usually requires access points. Most access points have an integrated
ethernet controller to connect to an existing wired-ethernet network. They also
have an omni-directional antenna to send and receive the data.

Even though it is possible to have data-over-cellular, with standards such as
GSM, general packet radio service (GPRS) and code division multiple access (CDMA),
wireless LANs based on IEEE 802.11 protocols can’t talk with wireless WANs
that use the cellular technologies.

A new technology is emerging to fulfill the merged WAN/LAN vision. Nokia has
announced a PC card that incorporates GSM/GPRS and 802.11b. In addition, you can
create a dual-mode platform by adding a GPRS card to a laptop with built-in
802.11b protocol.

802.11-based wireless LANs are less expensive than WANs, because they run on
the free frequency spectrum. So, Hotspot operators can charge much less for data
transmission than wireless carriers.

Even for carriers that get into the Hotspot business, there’s a limit to
how much data travel they can allow on their networks.

Because too much data could reduce their ability to carry voice traffic that
is their bread and butter.

UPCOMING TECHNOLOGIES

Other new technologies to watch out for are mobile IP and software defined
radio (SDR). The mobile IP protocol is designed to handle handoffs at the
network layer (Layer 3), while leaving the transport layer (Layer 4) and above
unaffected. So the existing routing infrastructure, non-mobile hosts and
applications don’t have to change.

SDR system is designed to combine multiple cellphone networks with 802.11
networks. It operates at the data link layer (Layer 2), which is responsible for
link establishment and maintenance.

For the mobile computer users, Intel has announced its Centrino mobile
technology with new notebook capabilities, that allow you to choose from a whole
new generation of thin, light notebooks designed to enable extended battery
life.

The user-friendly Centrino mobile technology is developed working with
hardware and software developers and wireless service providers. This will
enable you to connect to Wi-Fi certified wireless LANs and Hotspots all over the
world.

PLUG-AND-PLAY BROADBAND ACCESS

On the service providers side, universal subscriber gateway (USG) is an
important piece of hardware that acts as a gateway between the public-access
network and the Internet.

This allows clients to move between Hotspots without requiring any
client-side software reconfiguration. At the same time, they can retain a single
billing relationship with their service provider.

The USG is used to create intelligent networks that instantly deliver ‘plug-and-play’
broadband access to any customer, regardless of how their computer or device is
configured. It will merely pass the necessary parameters for billing and
authentication to the service provider.

A USG-enabled network allows customers to create accounts in real-time and
access content and services. This enables true mobility by creating high-speed
Internet access at large scale public Hotspots such as airports, convention
centers and large hotel properties.

The USG is a stand-alone, high-performance dedicated network appliance placed
at the edge of the network. It provides transparent connectivity, advanced
security and billing enablement. Integration of the USG into the network enables
the rapid roll-out of ubiquitous broadband Internet services.

Providing broadband access to an increasingly mobile population represents a
high-growth market. The demand for broadband Internet connectivity will only
become more pervasive.

As the technologies mature and become popular, they will become cheaper and
easier to use. Like you see people with mobile phones everywhere, there will be
soon many ‘unwired’ mobile computer users, free to work from any hotspot.

ASHOK DONGRE is a technical consultant