Speed, handoffs to boost Wi-Fi's mobile role

Wi-Fi looks set to play a growing role in mobile networks even as LTE (Long Term Evolution, latest standard in the mobile network technology) and other new cellular technologies with higher capacity are deployed.

Launchpad for hardware

Several networking vendors are using this week's Mobile World Congress as a launchpad for hardware and software designed to make carriers' Wi-Fi networks faster and easier to use. During an enhanced version of the IEEE 802.11n standard is being introduced to mobile operator gear, companies are as well unveiling software for carriers to shift their subscribers from cellular to Wi-Fi networks automatically.

Cellular companies have offered their clients access to Wi-Fi hotspots in cafés, restaurants and retail stores for several years. In the U.S., for instance, AT&T acquired hotspot operator Wayport in 2008 and however has about 20,000 hotspots. T-Mobile USA as well has an extensive network of hotspots, and Verizon Wireless offers many as so then. AT&T has recently started equipping larger areas, just as New York's Times Square, with outdoor Wi-Fi.

These networks can give subscribers a place to get faster Internet access during getting handsets off the cellular network. Femtocells, the small cellular base stations being deployed in homes and some outdoor areas, are another alternative. Now with the growing numbers of smartphones and cellular-equipped tablets in consumers' hands, near all of which have Wi-Fi built in, Wi-Fi infrastructure is expected to become moreover important.

The new carrier Wi-Fi technologies are hitting the market such as mobile operators start to upgrade their cellular networks to a new generation of equipment that offers more speed and capacity itself. Many carriers around the world have deployed or have committed to rolling out LTE, during some are using WiMax and others turning to HSPA+, a 3G research that can deliver a comparable boost in speed. Nevertheless the demand for Wi-Fi is expected to keep growing in spite of these gains.

The answer to all the mobile traffic that's out there

"LTE is not going to be the answer to all the mobile traffic that's out there," said analyst Daryl Schoolar of Current Analysis. "Operators are going to have to look at multiple routes to get users onto the Internet." He compared a mobile network to an interstate highway, where lanes that are added to ease congestion tend to quickly become jammed themselves. Such as a complete transportation system requires side roads and public transit, many mobile networks will require Wi-Fi, Schoolar said.

Major chip makers, including Atheros, are already supplying single-stream 1x1 chips for smartphones. During 11n boosts theoretical Wi-Fi speed to as much as 150M bps with just one data stream, 2x2 MIMO, which is as well available in the Cisco access-point line, takes the new research up to 300M bps. That's only a theoretical speed, nevertheless Atheros claims its new chip will be able to achieve 170M bps in the real world.

That's far more throughput than mobile operators are offering, even on current networks using so-called 4G technologies. Verizon, for instance, says average users can get between 5M bps and 12M bps on its LTE network. MIMO can as well extend the range of a Wi-Fi network, allowing either bigger hotspots or fewer access points to serve the same area.

Doubling the capacity of a given hotspot with 2x2 MIMO increases the chances that, for instance, a large number of people in one area could watch video on their phones via their Slingbox at home, said Farpoint Group analyst Craig Mathias. "Your ability to do what you want to, when you want to do it, goes up," Mathias said.

But the real breakthrough in getting cellular subscribers on to Wi-Fi networks wherever possible may be putting them there automatically, eliminating discovery and login processes that partly have been quite complicated. Cisco, Nokia Siemens Networks, Ruckus Wireless and other vendors used MWC to introduce products for seamlessly fusing cellular and Wi-Fi infrastructure.

Nokia Siemens designed its Smart WLAN Connectivity Solution to handle functions just as authentication, policy control and traffic management for both cellular and Wi-Fi networks. That can simplify management for service providers and allow subscribers to roam onto hotspots as easily as they go from one cell to the straightway. Cisco's new access points include the company's Straightway Generation Hotspot innovation, which is designed for carriers to automatically log subscribers on to Wi-Fi networks and set up encrypted connections.

Ruckus Wireless introduced its Ruckus Wireless Services Gateway, which can interface with existing systems used in cellular networks for client authentication and policies. The gateway can automatically configure client devices for access to Wi-Fi networks at that time of service activation, so the users don't have to sign on every time they use services at hotspots, according to the company. Ruckus as well unveiled an element management system designed to let carriers centrally manage tens of thousands of Ruckus access points and hundreds of thousands of Wi-Fi customers.

"They can as a matter of fact have an area of coverage that has both wireless LAN and the cellular network," Shalinsky said. In these environments, the key is to be able to steer phones smoothly to the most appropriate network at a given time and location, he said. The new tools should make that easier for carriers, Shalinsky said.

The operator's services

Better management of Wi-Fi networks may as well enhance the operator's services and business model, he added. In the past, users who found hotspots and logged on to them were simply going out to the open Internet, even if the hotspots were carrier-supplied, Shalinsky said.

"Your service provider didn't as a matter of fact know what you were doing with your phone anymore," he said. Lacking that insight, they couldn't tailor services to subscribers' needs at hotspots. More information could mean, for instance, better location-based services, though new forms of targeted advertising might come along with that, Shalinsky said. "They're trying to provide a service that you want."

Stephen Lawson covers mobile, storage and networking technologies for The IDG News Service. Follow Stephen on Twitter at @sdlawsonmedia. Stephen's e-mail address is stephen_lawson@idg.com