Man oh WMAN
Sony invented the original Walkman cassette tape player to cater to people who wanted to take their music with them where ever they went. Over 20 years later, it is extremely common to see people jogging while listening to music on their iPods. We are a society in motion and we want our conveniences to be able to travel with us.
The same principle can be applied to mobile computing and access to the Internet. Portable handheld devices such as cell phones and PDAs serve a purpose, but their size limits their capacities. You can take your wireless laptop to Starbucks or Barnes and Noble and use their wireless hotspot, but wouldn't be great if you could connect to the web from anywhere? You can.
Take the case of Athens, Georgia. The University of Georgia is creating a wireless network spanning a 24-block area of downtown Athens that will offer free, wireless access to the Internet. The New Media Group (NMG) is working in conjunction with the Wireless Athens Group to utilize 802.11a and b technologies as well as Bluetooth to make this dream a reality.
Existing WMAN networks cover areas from the size of a city park to the size of a city. Communities that offer or are in the process of building free WMAN networks include New York City, Long Beach, California, Ashland, Oregon, Auckland, New Zealand, and Sydney, Australia.
| The City of New Orleans has offered free wireless Internet access to its citizens post Hurricane Katrina. A mesh wireless network had previously been constructed for crime surveillance and security and people are currently using this infrastructure for email and web access. This WMAN only offers throughput speeds is of 512 kbps. The future of the New Orleans WMAN is in doubt since as of this writing; the Louisiana State Legislature is debating whether or not to allow cities to offer free Internet access, even in a state of emergency. |
Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) is a popular implementation of the 802.16 WMAN standard. WiMAX technologies offer broadband wireless access over a large, geographic area. A large number of manufacturers such as Fujitsu, Intel, and Nokia belong to the WiMAX coalition and produce 802.16 compliant solutions. WiMAX is doing for wide area Internet connections what the cell phone did for voice communication. As the development of WMAN networks progresses, more and more communities will be offering their citizens access to the Internet over wireless, enabling anyone to be connected within a wide urban or suburban area.
WiMAX is implemented in both line-of-sight and non-line-of-sight modes. In a line-of-sight scenario, you receive a home Internet connection from a transmission dish aimed directly at an antenna mounted to your home. The transmitter is connected by cable to your ISP which is providing this service. Non-line-of sight requires a network of radio towers broadcasting to customers over a large area.