MUNCIE (WiMAX Day). WiMAX technology got a big boost in heartland America thanks to research  at Ball State University in Indiana. Last week, after six months of testing a WiMAX platform, the Office of Wireless Research and Mapping (OWRM) at the University released a report of its findings.

“We hope that this information will provide companies with a real world experience that might help them in the planning, deployment, marketing and usage for WiMAX technology,” said Bizhan Nasseh, assistant vice president for information technology and the director of OWRM. Nasseh believes this work will be an important asset to those developing broadband services in rural America.

The tests used a temporary 3.5 GHz spectrum license granted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). This radio frequency normally is used by the military in America but in Muncie, Indiana the signal was clear for use.

The team at BSU examined the performance of a WiMAX platform during a typical Midwest deployment.  They measured signal propagation in neighborhoods and homes, comparing actual signal measurements to predictive computer models. Field tests were performed using indoor and outdoor self-installable customer premise equipment (CPE). Signal tests were also conducted to determine the capabilities of the equipment and determine usable signals, while accounting for variables like distance, elevation, trees and weather.

The results showed that WiMAX equipment was much better at obtaining a consistent and usable signal from obstructed and non-line-of-sight locations than more traditional point-to-multipoint technology.  “Some of the most important aspects of our findings were the distance abilities of the indoor CPE, the ability of WiMAX to use multipath in non-line-of-sight situations,” said Nasseh. He also noted that “diverse weather conditions (snow, fog, rain) did not affect the performance of WiMAX technology.”

The project was a team effort made up of leaders in the WiMAX technology sector. Alvarion, the Isreal-based WiMAX equipment vendor, provided various equipment for the tests, while WiMAX network operator Digital Bridge Communications assisted with testing and deployment, and Afterimage GIS, a company specializing in radio frequency modeling, design and market analysis, provided the GIS map-making software.

Afterimage GIS created its software from a combination of technology including an important tool called Cellular Expert, created by Ball State University partner HNIT-BALTIC GEOINFOSERVISAS, UAB (HB-GIS). This item performs field strength coverage predictions, allowing users to plan and build network sites. “We were the first to bridge the connection with HB-GIS’s software,” said Paul Shanayda GIS Coordinator at BSU and the CEO of Afterimage GIS, LLC. The combination of technologies resulted in a 94% accuracy rate for the Afterimage systems used in the trial.

OWRM began its pre-WiMAX technology testing in 2004, thanks to a grant from the US Department of Education. OWRM has already deployed technology such as Alvarion’s BreezeAccess platform and the Tsunami equipment from Proxim to nearby neighborhoods, including three local schools in Muncie, Indiana (less than 10 miles from the Ball State campus). The results have been highly successful, buoying the team’s reputation in the field.

OWRM’s partners are pleased with the current report. “It was a great opportunity to perform field testing of WiMAX CPE and base stations prior to field deployments,” says Digital Bridge CEO Kelley Dunne. “Working with BSU, we are proving out that WiMAX economics create new broadband wireless deployments in markets that previously have had little to no broadband services.”

Dunne says that his company hopes OWRM will be able to test CPE and other Alvarion products that are on the WiMAX roadmap for 2008 and 2009.  In addition, Digital Bridge wants to explore education-specific applications that can be developed and tested with BSU and then rolled out to the company’s existing markets located in states such as Idaho and Montana.

“We are also really excited about the findings,” said Alvarion’s Senior Director of Business Development, Ashish Sharma. “We see it as a major development that adds credibility to using WiMAX technology in the rural United States. This market will certainly benefit from this research.” A leading provider of WiMAX and wireless broadband equipment, Alvarion has deployed more than 3 million units in 150 countries, including the United Sates.

“We shared the results with our partners and some other companies such as Cisco, NextWave, and NSF. Now, we are sharing with other interested parties,” said Nasseh.