Week of April 26, 2006  

// Network Computing Mobile Observer Weekly Newsletter
\\ Your Mobile and Wireless Resource
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\\ http://www.networkcomputing.com/mobile
// Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Wireless USB, anticipated to begin to be widely deployed in the 
third quarter, will boost USB shipments from 1.4 billion in 2005 
to 2.8 billion in 2010, according to a report released Monday by 
In-Stat. Read more in, "Report: Wireless USB Should Grow to 2.8 
Billion Units in 2010." 
http://www.techweb.com/wire/mobile/186700631
PLUS:
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Look for the next Network Computing Mobile Observer newsletter on
Wednesday, May 3, 2006.
Until next time,
--The Mobile Observer Team
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In This Issue:
1) Wireless Propagator: Wi-Fi TV
2) Mobile & Wireless Commentary
3) Mobile & Wireless News, Opinion and Analysis
4) Calling All Readers
5) Product Watch
6) Resource Tools
7) Subscription Information
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1) Wireless Propagator: Wi-Fi TV
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By Frank Bulk (mailto:fbulk@nwc.com)
There's been lots of talk about bringing wireless entertainment 
to the home in the form of wireless USB and UWB (ultra-wideband), 
among others. I've even read about a few LCD or plasma 
televisions with built-in support for Wi-Fi. But truth be told, I 
was skeptical, because Wi-Fi coverage in most homes tends to be 
both poor and sporadic. So when I had the opportunity to try out 
Ruckus Wireless' home networking solution, I was eager to see how 
quickly I could make it break. Targeted at service providers, you 
cannot purchase Ruckus' products at your favorite retail 
electronic store.
A number of other products based on unlicensed spectrum are 
available. And although these products can provide a wireless 
cable extension to your VCR or DVR, Ruckus Wireless -- which as a 
company has been around for over three years -- focuses on using 
802.11 technologies to transport IP-based multimedia content 
reliably around the home. Those who have used Wi-Fi for shared 
and mobile access to their home's broadband connection know that 
even basic connectivity can be sketchy at times, so delivering 
4-Mbps MPEG-2 standard-definition streams around the home might 
seem impossible. Ruckus claims otherwise, with two key 
technologies: BeamFlex and SmartCast. 
BeamFlex encompasses Ruckus Wireless' pie-shaped six-antenna 
solution and the algorithms used to take advantage of them. Most 
access points use an omni-directional or panel antenna, but 
Ruckus' multiple antennas focus the signal in a certain 
direction, which increases gain and, therefore, link rate and 
coverage. Antenna selection occurs on a per-packet basis to 
accommodate changing conditions such as persons walking around or 
interference generated by microwaves or your neighbor's Wi-Fi 
access points. Because its technology works at the radio layer, 
it rides on top of any baseband solution, which in Ruckus' case 
are from Atheros. This beam-forming capability, similarly found 
in now-defunct Vivato, should not be confused with MIMO, which 
uses multiple radios in addition to antennas to increase 
performance and coverage. These elements are all part of the 
draft 802.11n standard. 
SmartCast forms the other half of Ruckus Wireless' technology 
differentiator. As the term suggests, the company's software 
intelligently analyzes the data flows for content, type and 
destination, and then sends them on to the appropriate queue. 
Neither the IEEE's 802.11e nor the Wi-Fi Alliance's metric of 
that standard -- WMM -- are necessarily enough to guarantee 
stable video flows to all multimedia clients. If all the packets 
are tagged as high-priority, who has first dibs? SmartCast is 
able to identify the different flows and queue them in software, 
such that all the IP-based set-top boxes receive their data flows 
consistently and reliably rather than in the microbursts that are 
possible with non-customizable hardware-based queues.
For my tests I didn't have access to any Wi-Fi-enabled 
televisions, nor did I want to emulate multicast traffic flows 
from a laptop-based MPEG-2 streamer, but I did have access to my 
local telco's IP TV system. Each MPEG-2 standard-definition 
multicast stream is approximately 3.8 Mbps (MPEG-2 over IP) and 
is delivered over an ADSL2+ modem to the home. Most IP TV 
customers run CAT5e cable between their modem and IP-based 
set-top box. Sometimes the existing coax or phone line in the 
home can be leveraged by using either proprietary products from 
Coaxys or standards-based ones that use HPNAv3 or MoCA. A 
wireless-based home networking solution eliminates the need for 
any re-wiring or wired adapters and allows subscribers the 
flexibility to move their TV set and set-top box around their 
home or apartment.
The first place I tested the Ruckus Wireless solution was at the 
home of a colleague who had already strung CAT5e around the home 
but was willing to be my weekend guinea pig. After reviewing the 
configuration of the Ruckus Wireless MF2900 access point and 
securing it with WPA-PSK, I provisioned the three MF2501 wireless 
multimedia adapters (more properly called a workgroup bridge). 
The auto-provisioning consisted merely of connecting the Ethernet 
ports of the access point and adapters back-to-back with a 
regular CAT5e cable and powering them on simultaneously. Within 
30 to 45 seconds the adapters learned their settings from the 
access point. Normally, Ruckus will ship the equipment 
pre-provisioned according to the service provider's 
specifications. The Ruckus access point plugged into my 
colleague's DSL modem mounted in his basement's utility closet. 
As soon as I powered on the Ruckus adapters and moved each of the 
three set-top boxes from their in-home CAT5e to the adapter, 
things worked immediately. To test coverage, we moved one 
adapter, set-top box and smaller television into the garage. Once 
we had all the devices powered, we had video again. Remember, 
this was an aggregate traffic rate of 11.5 Mbps! We performed a 
microwave test to generate some 2.4-GHz interference, but saw no 
visible degradation in quality. 
To find out if my colleague's home Linksys could perform the same 
trick, we moved his personal Linksys WRT54g v4 off the data 
network and onto the video network, but kept the Ruckus Wireless 
adapters in place. The video immediately cut out at two of the 
set-top boxes, leaving only the closest unit to show some choppy 
video without audio. We tried tweaking the configuration on the 
Linksys, to no avail. My colleague kept the Ruckus gear over the 
weekend and had absolutely zero complaints. We would have tried a 
fourth MPEG-2 stream to push the Ruckus units to their claimed 
limits but, alas, my service provider's system is only set up for 
three. Perhaps I'll try again when they offer MPEG-4 
high-definition streams at 9 Mbps each!
The second place I tested was at my workplace in some more 
environmentally challenging scenarios, but where I also had 
access to some wireless diagnostic tools. The first television 
was immediately adjacent to an access point, but the second was 
at least two walls away and the third was a floor below through 
some very thick concrete. They all worked flawlessly. A quick 
inspection with AirMagnet's Enterprise product showed that it was 
running on channel 1, a good choice by its automatic 
channel-selection algorithm because there were other access 
points and a cordless phone on the higher channels.
I turned off wireless encryption so I could inspect the wireless 
traffic. The trace revealed that the Ruckus Wireless access point 
was taking advantage of 802.11e and assigning the video packets 
with a priority of 5. IEEE 802.11e maps its user priorities to 
the 0 to 7 scale found in IEEE 802.1D. Voice gets 6, for example, 
and Best Effort bottoms out at 0. Not surprisingly, the layer-3 
packets were tagged with a DSCP (Differentiated Services 
Codepoint) class of 5, too. 
I then set up a Linksys WRT54G v5 at my workplace and repeated 
the same test I had performed at my colleague's home. The results 
were even worse. I was only able to see a *few* blocks on one 
television but never a full picture or audio. Why? According to 
Hans Pang, technical marketing director at Ruckus Wireless, the 
802.11 standard requires access points to multicast at the access 
point's configured basic rates, which are usually the lower link 
rates of 1, 2 and 5.5 Mbps. If errors increase because of 
re-transmits, the link rate will eventually drop to the lowest 
configured value -- usually 1 Mbps. Using Network Chemistry's 
Packetyzer to wirelessly capture the Linksys video traffic 
confirmed that the link rate was 1 Mbps, not nearly fast enough 
to stream 3.8 Mbps of data. Rather than suffer from the multicast 
disadvantage, Ruckus Wireless treats the multicast traffic as 
unicast and avoids those low link rate penalties. This was also 
confirmed in the 802.11 Frame Control flags from the packet 
captures. Multicast traffic from the access point must be flagged 
as having more data buffered for the station, which was the case 
for Linksys-transmitted traffic but not for Ruckus.
To analyze traffic volumes, I used AirMagnet's Enterprise product 
to scan the airwaves while the Ruckus was transmitting. Roughly 
45 percent of the traffic was running at 54 Mbps, 20 percent at 
36 Mbps, 29 percent at 24 Mbps and the remaining percentages 
doled out among the other rates. Retry rates hovered around 5 
percent, but according to Bill Kish, Ruckus Wireless co-founder 
and CTO, video usually can be retransmitted within a millisecond 
-- in time for video playout buffers, which are approximately 10 
milliseconds.
Although the IEEE 802.11e standard has been out for over a year, 
products that actually use this standard have been slow in 
coming. Pre-802.11n products that claim to provide the necessary 
bandwidth for applications such as video are crawling out of the 
woodwork even though the final standard is still a year away. 
Ruckus seems to have mastered elements of both in creating a 
product that can reliably transmit multiple MPEG-2 standard 
definition streams.
Frank Bulk is a contributing editor to Network Computing Magazine
covering wireless and mobile technologies and works for a
telecommunications company based in the Midwest.
For more analysis and opinion from Frank Bulk.
http://www.networkcomputing.com/channels/wireless/
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2) Mobile & Wireless Commentary
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a) You Say 'MIMO,' I Say 'Cook Book'
By Tim Scannell, Shoreline Research, Special to Unstrung
But who gets served in the 802.11n race?
http://www.unstrung.com/blog.asp?blog_sectionid=292&WT.svl=unblog
ger1_1
b) Securing the Burbs
By Dan Jones, Unstrung
Is N.Y. county on the cutting edge of Wi-Fi legislation or 
holding back the tide?
http://www.unstrung.com/blog.asp?blog_sectionid=244&WT.svl=unblog
ger1_2
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3) Mobile & Wireless News, Opinion and Analysis
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a) N+I Preview: Vendors Keen on Wi-Fi, Mesh Networks
By Luc Hatlestad, VARBusiness
With the N+I tradeshow set to open next week, several vendors are 
jumping the gun with announcements in one of the show's key areas 
-- wireless networks.
http://www.varbusiness.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=186700923
b) Wireless Developments Mean New Markets for Solution Providers 
By Luc Hatlestad, VARBusiness
Two opposing groups led by Intel and Nortel have settled on a 
draft standard for 802.11s, to be used in Wi-Fi urban mesh 
networks in cities like San Francisco and Portland, Oregon. The 
802.11n standard also will be available soon, enabling the 
additional wireless throughput necessary to add more robust 
wireless applications to the network.
http://www.varbusiness.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=186700527
c) Linksys Enters 802.11n Fray, Skirts Chipset Questions
By Loring Wirbel, EE Times 
Cisco Systems subsidiary Linksys announced four 802.11n product 
lines today (April 24) and confirmed that the products would use 
chips from the three vendors currently supporting the nascent 
standard. But company executives would not comment on the 
reportedly questionable performance of early, predraft chipsets 
from Broadcom and Marvell Semiconductor.
http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=186700418
More mobile and wireless news.
http://www.unstrung.com
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4) Calling All Readers
---------------------------------------------------------------
a) Ventana Research Survey
Our trusted research partner, Ventana Research, is conducting a 
short survey on how effectively companies spend their IT budgets. 
Get a Starbucks Card loaded with $5 and qualify to win an iPod 
nano when you participate in the survey!
http://websurveyor.net/wsb.dll/17194/UVIT.htm?id=ie
b) TechCareers
Looking for a new position? Are you unhappy with your current 
job? Do you want to know how to move into a new tech specialty or 
which certification is paying the most? Send your career 
questions to CMP Media's new career site, TechCareers, and get an 
answer from our experts.
mailto:judymottl@optonline.net
c) Time for The News Show
Ready for an irreverent inside look at the technology industry? 
Tune in to The News Show. Our special media presentation features 
breaking news, technical reviews and trend analysis, along with 
gossip, opinions and an overheated rant or two. The News Show is 
available at 12:00 p.m. ET every weekday.
http://www.networkcomputing.com/
http://www.TheNewsShow.TV
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5) Product Watch
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a) New MacBook Pro to Ship Next Week
By Reuters, Compliments of TechWeb News 
Apple Computer on Monday said a new 17-inch version of its 
MacBook Pro laptop computer would begin shipping to stores next 
week.
http://www.techweb.com/wire/mobile/186700287
b) SecureWave's Security Key 
By Dan Jones, Unstrung
Mobile security startup SecureWave is working with mobile storage 
firm Lexar Media to bring its Sanctuary software agent to devices 
like USB dongles and other mobile devices.
http://www.unstrung.com/document.asp?doc_id=93182&f_src=techweb
c) GoodLink 4.8 Tweaks Security, Compliance
By W. David Gardner, TechWeb News 
Good Technology has released an upgrade of its GoodLink wireless 
messaging solution. The company said its GoodLink 4.8 release, 
available Monday, would support up to 1,500 users on a singe 
server while offering several new features such as improved 
security and reliability additions.
http://www.techweb.com/wire/mobile/186700270
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6) Resource Tools
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a) Mobile and Wireless Channel
Find mobile and wireless news and commentary by industry experts 
Dave Molta,
Peter Rysavy and Frank Bulk on our Mobile and Wireless Channel.
http://www.networkcomputing.com/channels/wireless
b) Read More Mobile and Wireless Stories on TechWeb
http://www.techweb.com/tech/mobile
c) Missed an Issue of NWC's Mobile Observer Newsletter?
Have no fear. We've created an archive of back issues for your 
reading
pleasure.
http://www.networkcomputing.com/mobile/index.jhtml
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