Kyocera Wireless Demonstrates Emerging Wireless Technologies at CTIA WIRELESS 2008

(Business News & Technology News, 2 Apr 2008)

Kyocera Wireless Corp. is holding live demonstrations at the CTIA WIRELESS 2008 trade show in Las Vegas. Included in the demonstrations are Near-field Communication (NFC), WiMAX, femtocell and a proprietary software architecture for device-based management of dynamic content handoffs between 3G and 4G networks.

"These demonstrations illustrate the strength of KWC's technology portfolio while giving visitors to the show a glimpse into the future of wireless communications," says Cheri de Lacy, KWC's Divisional Vice President of Strategic Planning. "From our demonstration of the world's first MIMO-enabled WiMAX device to our role as the exclusive handset provider for the first-of-its-kind North American NFC trial on a CDMA network, KWC has the experience and the vision to assert a leadership position in these key emerging technologies."

Near Field Communication
KWC features a retail environment in its booth—complete with inventory and a cash register—to demonstrate the power of NFC-enabled devices as convenient mobile payment platforms. Visitors to the booth can make purchases using a version of Kyocera's Tempo E2000 handset, which has been modified with an NFC chipset from NXP Semiconductors and includes a BREW-based NFC payment wallet software from ViVOtech. It is Kyocera's latest commercial-grade NFC-enabled handset and it includes biometric authentication technology, providing additional security to transactions.

WiMAX
In early 2007, KWC built a WiMAX-enabled PC card that was the world's first to employ leading-edge MIMO (Multiple Input/Multiple Output) technology. At present, through strong working relationships with WiMAX infrastructure providers like Alcatel-Lucent and Nortel, KWC remains a key player in this emerging industry segment. At its CTIA Wireless 2008 booth, KWC is demonstrating a new USB WiMAX dongle, which it expects to commercialize later in 2008.

Femtocell
A femtocell is a small cellular base station, typically designed for use in residential or small-business environments. KWC worked closely with femtocell leader Airvana Inc. to ensure interoperability between KWC's KPC680 EV-DO Rev. A ExpressCard, KR2 Mobile Router and Airvana's HubBub CDMA2000 1xEV-DO Rev. A femtocell. HubBub is Airvana's line of stand-alone femtocells that support both voice and 3G services to enable a consistent mobile experience whether subscribers are connected through their femtocell or the macro network. A demonstration of the interoperability is available at Airvana's CTIA booth.

Multi-technology Handoff Control Software
As the number of commercial 3G and 4G wireless broadband protocols continues to grow—WiMAX, EV-DO, WCDMA, Wi-Fi, LTE and more—so does the opportunity for multi-platform devices leveraging multiple wireless delivery technologies. For true mobility, however, those devices require the ability to monitor, select and seamlessly change the optimum delivery channel in real time. At its booth, KWC is demonstrating proprietary multi-technology controller software that allows a multi-platform device to do just this. By comparing network conditions against pre-assigned prioritization instructions, the software allows the device to communicate with its service provider on-the-fly, controlling which protocol is used to deliver multimedia content. When network conditions change, the software dictates and coordinates seamless handoffs between the various technologies. KWC is demonstrating the multi-technology controller software in its booth by doing handoffs among CDMA2000 1xEV-DO, WiMAX and Wi-Fi networks, but the software is platform-agnostic and works with virtually any 3G or 4G technology.

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