mobile WiFi accesspoint?

[Stephen Ronan]

This exchange below is from another list last September, so is not by 
any means up to date, but some of the links may still be of interest... 
- Steve


[...]
 > Let's take a look at 3.5Ghz to help make my point:

 >A small band with lots of possibilities.  Unfortunately we have a
 > situation in the US where noone will likely ever build equipment for it,
 > at least not in quantities which are cost effective.   The WISP's 
lobbied
 >for a "contention based mechanism" which is completely opposite of how
 > proven scalable systems work.  The WISP's got their way, and radios 
have to
 > be contention-based.  Unfortunately noone has ever built a 
contention-based
 > system which actually works in the outdoor market at scales which can 
work
 > in an urban enviroment.   WiMax isn't contention-based by any stretch 
of the
 >imagination.   802.11b is arguably contention based (aka CSMA/CA), but 
fails
 >miserably under load.  Noone has any idea how to make this work, but we
 >expect the manufacturers to spend lots of money to figure it out.   
Why didn't we
 >just lobby for exactly what we needed for WiMax?
[...]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: 	Re: [WISPA FCC] Chairman Martin re-nomination..
Date: 	Thu, 14 Sep 2006 12:36:50 -0400
From: 	Stephen Ronan <listsubs0506 at comcast.net>
Reply-To: 	FCC Discussion <fcc at wispa.org>
To: 	FCC Discussion <fcc at wispa.org>
References: 
<7f6f12770609121357j3736a68am1dbd59d1c4ae3290 at mail.gmail.com> 
<450843A5.8050102 at ask-wi.com> <450848CA.1070803 at mt.net> 
<45086A5E.9040802 at ask-wi.com> <450881C3.7080108 at mt.net> 
<4508D217.6060405 at ask-wi.com> <4508F8B6.1050107 at mt.net>

[...]

I share your concern about the availability of cheap radios being 
crucial to effective deployments. And in regard to the 3650-3700 band. 
those concerns are heightened by the fact that any WISP use of the band 
will be excluded from quite a few major population areas within the US 
(see map on page 66 at 
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-05-56A1.pdf ), and 
so far as I know there'd not be a similar regulatory system abroad 
encouraging international sales of devices specifically designed for 
operation within that band. On the other hand, my sense has been that 
the FCC actions so far have allowed it to retain considerable continuing 
discretion as to whether 802.11 and 802.16 devices might be allowed to 
coexist in the 3650-3700 band. And I'm encouraged by IEEE activities 
such as those reflected here:

"Update on IEEE 802 Activities relevant to 3650-3700 MHz" (August 2006)
http://www.ieee802.org/secmail/ppt00102.ppt

This earlier document I came across may also be of interest:
http://ieee802.org/16/le/contrib/C80216h-05_046.pdf#search=%22802.16h%203650%203700%22
or
http://tinyurl.com/rdxcj

It seems that industry has taken seriously the possibilities for 802.16h 
within the band:
http://www.unstrung.com/document.asp?doc_id=77324

Perhaps most encouraging of all, Cisco maintains its strong support for 
the FCC rules, emphasizing the near term possibilities for 802.11y, 
Cisco recently stated:

"Based on the most current information available to us, standards-based 
802.11 equipment that fully complies with existing FCC regulations could 
be in the market as soon as 2008."

That's from a filing by Cisco's last month in the FCC  proceeding (04-151):
http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/retrieve.cgi?native_or_pdf=pdf&id_document=6518438394
or
http://tinyurl.com/ndndv

That document also includes this: "In Cisco's view, the 802.11 standards 
development work for the 3650-3700 MHz band is very straightforward in 
that much of the standards can be borrowed from existing standards or 
the technology exists. Significantly, we see no need to change the MAC 
and broadband chipsets for devices in the 3650-3700 MHz band relative to 
existing 802.11g and 802.11n devices. This is significant because 
chipset development, if required, takes time. In this band, 
implementation of 802.11 devices will largely be about how the existing 
radios are tuned and the specific software they will contain."
[...]
Other 04-151 filings remain available via:
http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/websql/prod/ecfs/comsrch_v2.hts?ws_mode=retrieve_list&id_proceeding=04-151
or
http://tinyurl.com/mapmo

Best wishes,
Stephen Ronan