Wireless is virtually everywhere today. We use cell phones for voice and messaging. We use WiFi and 3G cellular to connect our laptops in airports and hotels. The coverage and speeds of these networks are constantly increasing as operators upgrade to newer technologies and add thousands of base stations in metropolitan areas every year. The challenge to wireless operators is the “middle mile” that connects their wireless base stations to a fiber or other terrestrial backbone network.

At the same time, in many countries, particularly in historical European cities where cobblestone streets and centuries-old buildings co-exist with monolithic skyscrapers and superhighways, it is difficult to obtain permission to tear up roads to install fiber optic cable. In other cases, cellular providers can no longer add microwave antennas in urban areas because the towers are full or they can’t obtain additional permits. Hughes has the answer to resolve these issues with its AIReach Broadband AB9400 point-to-multipoint microwave system. This powerful platform brings operators worldwide a field-proven wireless solution to deliver fiber-quality, scalable, and flexible connectivity, eliminating the need to tear up streets or add large microwave antennas on rooftops. Designed to operate over distances of a few kilometers at very high throughputs, the AB9400 enables operators to cost-effectively connect mobile cellular base stations as well as to serve multi-tenant offices and residential complexes in high density urban areas.

Similar to a VSAT system “on its side,” the AB9400 includes a hub/ master station which provides high capacity wireless links to multiple remote terminals, each with IP/LAN, ATM, and E1/T1 interfaces. Rather than pointing to a satellite, the hub points directly to remote terminals.

In metropolitan areas, mobile and fixed network operators typically employ a fiber backbone, which is connected to the multiple pointto- multipoint (PMP) base stations. The AB9400 remote terminals connected to the customer equipment bridge the gap between the operator’s fiber backbone and the PMP base stations in this middle mile.

Many major operators worldwide are discovering the benefits of the AB9400. In Poland, PTC/Era, a GSM and WiFi hotspot operator, has deployed the AB9400 in more than a dozen cities to connect base stations for GSM voice traffic and third-generation UMTS cellular services. Hughes is also supplying AB9400 networks to operators in Italy, the Czech Republic, Spain, Greece, Portugal, and Taiwan. In the U.S., a fixed network carrier in Herndon, Va., is employing AIReach to provide IP bandwidth to a client 200 yards away from the carrier’s fiber network. To serve the client by fiber would require the costly digging up and resurfacing of the client’s parking lot. Instead, the carrier provides a radio link and dedicated, fiber-quality IP bandwidth, avoiding the expense of tearing up the parking lot for a single customer in a building that might not commit to a 10-year service agreement.

“Because of the AB9400’s modular architecture and scalable hub, operators can minimize capital expenses and tailor subsequent investments to subscriber growth,” said Thomas S. Hsu, senior vice president and general manager of the Terrestrial Microwave Division at Hughes. “The system enables customers to mix traffic and migrate from E1 and T1 services to ATM and IP without recabling or installing additional equipment. Combined with dynamic bandwidth allocation and adaptive modulation, operators can configure their networks for very high-speed links that automatically downshift to lower speeds in case of rain outages.”