5G Wireless begins testing cellular Wi-Fi

5G Wireless Solutions Inc. has begun testing a cellular approach to Wi-Fi the company believes could reduce the cost of deploying large-scale broadband wireless networks.

5G, a portfolio company of 5G Wireless Communications Inc., developed the cellular approach through a new antenna array that resembles a wireless base station. Acting like a base station, the array divides a large geographic area into 120-degree sectors and optimizes each sector's range to maximize coverage.

The initial range of the 802.11g/b base station to most wireless portable devices can be up to 4 km in b mode and up to 1.5 km in g mode.

By offering increased range, broadband wireless service providers can lower both network capital and operating expenditures for campuses and municipalities, said the company. 5G is now testing the antenna array and plans to begin shipping it during the third quarter of 2005.

The individual sector antennas can be mounted alongside cellular mountings without interference, either on the side of buildings or as 360-degree mono-pole installations.

According to 5G, the 360-degree, three-panel antenna arrays will have the ability to simultaneously handle backhaul in the 5.3 and 5.8 gigabtye range and handle local Wi-Fi distribution in the 802.11b and g modes.

EE Times