GlobeTel Wireless provides the most cost effective Wireless Local Loop (WLL) solution and the only integrated products that combine the functionality of Wireless LAN, Digitally Enhanced Cordless Telephony (DECT) and Wimax.

GlobeTel Wireless Products

The Global System for Mobile communication (GSM)
Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications (DECT™)
Countries with DECT™
Global DECT™ growth
Why DECT™ ?
The innovative technology of DECT phones
Quality – the critical factor
Quality – the seamless handover challenge
Ensuring a secure network
Getting the best handset performance
Conclusion

GlobeTel Wireless HotZone Base Stations are prioritized for voice and designed to detect and identify discrete Digitally Enhanced Cordless Telephony (DECT) addresses. Once identified these DECT transmissions are then wrapped into an IP packet and brought it into the GlobeTel WiMAX processing environment in a highly proprietary fashion. As the major cost of deploying global wireless networks is the hardware cost of the CPE (Customer Premise Equipment), GlobeTel Wireless has chosen to develop a range of technologies that can offer the lowest cost and highest quality now, while also being upgradeable as the cost to benefit ratio of WiMAX and Wi-Fi Devices improve.

GlobeTel's DECT feature uniquely allows the hundreds of millions of DECT phones already in use in Europe, Asia, Latin America and other countries to instantly integrate with the GlobeTel network with absolutely no further programming or additional equipment required.
Currently DECT phones are now available for $20 or less in many parts of the world. This low cost basis and the prevalence of DECT-phones throughout most non-U.S. markets allows the rapid international deployment of GlobeTel's wireless networks to virtually every country in the world, almost regardless of any particular country's local economic realities.

ETSI, a winning team
ETSI can justifiably lay claim to the success of numerous technologies which we take for granted today.

The Global System for Mobile communication (GSM) - is an outstanding ETSI success story. The world’s most widely deployed and fastest growing digital cellular standard. There are currently more than 2 billion GSM subscribers world-wide – some 80% of the world’s digital mobile population - and this figure is increasing by one million users a month!

GSM covers every continent, and is the technology of choice for nearly 700 operators in more than 200 countries.

Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications (DECT™) - is a radio technology specified by ETSI which has become a world-wide success. The technology provides flexible digital radio access cordless communications for use in residential, corporate and public environments.
The DECT™ system has been adopted in over 110 countries across 5 continents and there are over 200 million DECT™ terminals on the market.

DECT usage is quickly growing and is fast becoming a global technology, with DECT spectrum now allocated in the following countries shown in red below.

The advantages of this large on-going market for DECT include:

• Ongoing DECT product development and product enhancements.

• DECT vendors throughout Europe and Asia will continue to develop products that comply with the same standard, ensuring a wide variety of solutions that meet specific applications.

• Continuing competition and efficiency means prices for DECT will continue to fall.

DECT products have been sold for over 12 years and there are now more than 120 million systems installed around the world. The number of DECT handsets for enterprise systems is forecast to be almost seven times the number of 802.11x handsets sold in 2004. DECT is also forecast to outsell 802.11 by almost six times in 2006.

Why DECT?

1. DECT accepted in over 110 countries
2. 300 million DECT lines & terminals in ‘06
3. Over 200 different DECT products available on the market and growing
4. DECT Data products already operating
5. Continuous double-digit GROWTH
6. DECT fulfills requirements of ITU for 3G applications
7. DECT perfectly suits DATA & MultiMedia
8. DECT belongs to IMT 2000

Wireless Local Loop (WLL) technology is a relatively inexpensive way to build fixed networks. WLL services must provide good voice and data capabilities to be effective. Hence, WLL that is simply a modification of mobile technology has, for the most part, not proved to be effective in the long run.

Unlike primary mobile technologies, DECT evolved as a landline cordless communication system. DECT is a generic radio access system that interfaces with local and/or public networks (POTS, ISDN, GSM or LAN). Mobile telephony systems such as GSM, on the other hand, are complete public network telephony systems providing specific services. The DECT interface unit translates signals between the systems, thus allowing the DECT terminal to work in the same way as the host system - a GSM phone, for example, if the DECT base station is linked to a GSM network. When the base station instead is connected to an ordinary fixed telephone system (POTS), the terminal will act as a conventional, wired, phone; DECT provides perfect access to any sort of system.

DECT, at the systems level, offers versatile WLL solutions. By design, it requires minimal radio planning. This is due to the Multi-Carrier Multi-TDMA radio access method, combined with Dynamic Channel Selection (DCS) enabling high capacity and robust operations in difficult radio environments. This method also enables DECT to support a wide range of users. The DACES capability ensures that DECT can coexist with other DECT applications and systems in the same frequency band, whilst still maintaining high-quality, robust, and secure communications for end-users.

DECT is able to offer a range of bandwidths by combining multiple channels into a single carrier. For data transmission, channels can be combined to provide up to 552 kbps with full security. DECT also offers asymmetric connections, often used for home Internet access, so that large amount of data can be downloaded at high speed and a slower channel used in the other direction. Standardized or proprietary ‘profiles’ permit DECT systems to cater to a wide variety of applications

Other Advantages

1. Exceptional voice quality and handset durability
2. High security based on the DECT standard
3. Easy installation with DECT Base Stations and Repeaters
4. High reliability and seamless handoff throughout the workplace
5. Simple administration and maintenance
6. Improve productivity through text messaging application support

The abbreviation DECT stands for Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications. The technology of DECT phones has become the main standard for cordless phone systems. First DECT phones were used in and around the house, but their new functions have made them suitable for small businesses as well.

The innovative technology of DECT phones

DECT phones are digital and cordless and give the user much freedom. The base station of DECT phones is the communication centre for one or more handsets. Internal calls between handsets are free because they can work as an intercom system. The base station of DECT phones often has a built-in answer phone with downloadable or customized outgoing messages.

Being digital, DECT phones are compatible with mobile phones. SMS messaging and different answer phone features make DECT phones into versatile communication systems. Callers can be identified by name and number display and can be awarded specific outgoing messages. Some DECT phones are provided with teleconferencing, meaning that two handsets can share a call with one external correspondent.

The advantages of DECT phones when compared to fixed phones are evident. If you are looking for a cordless phone system for your home or office, just browse this website to find the DECT phones with the features you want.

The FCC has emphasized the public interest of its decision in favor of the DECT technology. The frequency band for the usage of DECT telephony has been redefined within the scope of a general reorganization of frequency bands in the USA. The proven and reliable DECT technology provides all the advantages for private consumers and small and medium sized companies: brilliant quality of voice and sound, high protection against wiretapping, better range than 2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz phone systems, simultaneous usage of multiple cordless phones, which can be operated in basic stations of different vendors (GAP standard), toll free internal calls, handover, and various additional features such as VoIP, and push-to-talk (walkie-talkie). The new logo for the US "DECT 6.0 - Interference Free Communication" indicates that DECT 6.0 performance is superior to 2,4GHz and 5,8GHz systems.

The DECT technology can easily be integrated into WLAN systems without negative impact because DECT 6.0 resides in the UPCS band. The "listen before transmit"-standard avoids interference even when the spectrum usage increases. The rapid growth of WLAN and WiFi products supports the adoption of the DECT 6.0 technology in the US since the increasing proliferation of broadband services increases the interference in the ISM bands and affects therefore the demand for solutions like DECT 6.0. The DECT Forum expects that DECT 6.0 will start in 2006 with a relatively low market share of 634k sets since DECT products will lie in a premium price segment in the beginning. Most vendors and retailers will also wait with a broad roll-out of DECT products until they have received positive market response. Therefore the DECT Forum expects a continuous boost of sales in 2007 (2.4 million sets), 2008 (5.2 million sets) and 2009 (6.9 million sets).

"We are convinced that the advantages of DECT 6.0 are obvious for end customers. The DECT technology means brilliant voice quality, easy integration into WLAN systems, solid security standards, better range, and a rich built-in feature set", says Erich Kamperschroer, Chairman and President of the DECT Forum. "Retailers, Operators, Distributors and Resellers will highly benefit from a better customer satisfaction, lower return rate, and at last higher revenue with DECT 6.0."

Quality – the critical factor

Because the 802.11 networks were designed to carry data, not voice, 802.11b and 802.11g have no built-in mechanisms that tell the network to prioritize voice packets over data, a surge in network traffic may therefore disrupt voice calls, which in many cases, is not only an inconvenience, but a serious threat to customer service and business operations.

In industries such as hospitality and retail, lost or interrupted calls can mean lost revenue. Typically, 99% availability is considered acceptable by LAN designers for data packets. Voice network engineers work on the basis of 99.999% availability. The difference may not seem significant, but while a half second network dropout every minute will go largely un-noticed by PC users – such a delay will be obvious on the phone.3 The highly anticipated 802.11e standard, due to be ratified by mid 2005 aims to address the QoS issue by setting priority levels for data and voice users. With 802.11e, an access point will be able to give voice calls priority lessening the chances of dropouts, which has proved a major problem with VoWLAN systems.

However, there are WLAN vendors that are not yet convinced that the improvements in 802.11e standard will make a substantial difference to large organizations. The CEO of WLAN producer, Meru Networks stated “Meru notes that the IEEE is currently working on channel access mechanisms that can only prioritize traffic across four ‘access channels’, making the specification more suitable for small business and home applications than corporate networks”.5

One of the major reasons the 802.11b and 802.11g standards are unable to offer consistent QoS is due to the band these standards operate on. The 2.4GHz band is a completely open frequency shared with other wireless networks, Bluetooth devices, cordless phones, fixed wireless broadband Internet access, amateur radio and even microwave ovens. It is for this reason that it has commonly been referred to as the “junk band” for several years. The wide range of devices sharing this narrow bandwidth leads to serious degradation of WLAN performance for both voice and data in terms of radio coverage, as well as QoS, as more devices come into operation.

While these external interference and system load issues will continue to be addressed and improved in subsequent 802.11 standards, they are irrelevant for users of DECT technology. Because DECT operates within its own protected frequency band (1880-1900 MHz), it is completely unaffected by any competing technologies operating in the same band. Multiple DECT systems can operate in parallel and independently in the same area, free of interference or any degradation of service.

Quality – the seamless handover challenge

Another key quality challenge facing WLANs is the ability to roam between access points. While DECT telephony networks support seamless handover for voice calls being made on the move, the 802.11 standard currently only supports break-before-make handover.9 Again, when we consider that the 802.11 standard was originally designed for data, this does not prove a problem as data is transmitted in discrete packets, but for voice, handover between the access points needs to be very fast in order to have a voice call free of interruptions.1 Rather than addressing this critical issue, the 802.11i security standard, which is yet to be released, will actually make the situation worse by extending handover to over 70 milliseconds (ms), a break considered by many to be “impossible for voice calls”.10 When a user moves from one access point to another while making a voice call, an encrypted tunnel must be broken down through one access point and reformed
through the new one. If this process takes more than 50 ms, the user will hear a break in the conversation.

An article published in Techworld last year, stated that: “WLAN vendors have reported hand-over times of more than 70ms.”11 In most cases, VoWLAN suppliers have typically addressed this issue via proprietary means. Acknowledging the problems caused by lack of standards in this area, a number of vendors have recently requested permission
from the IEEE to set up a study group for a future voice over Wi-Fi standard under the
banner of The Fast Roaming Study Group10. Should the IEEE grant permission for this special new standard (likely to be called 802.11r), it is not yet known how long it will take to develop and ratify.

Ensuring a secure network

The security schemes commonly used for Wi-Fi handsets, Wireless Equivalent Privacy (WEP) and Media Access Control (MAC) are widely regarded as insufficient.1 WEP encrypts data, but does not prevent unauthorized computers from accessing a wireless network. MAC filtering is responsible for controlling access to the wireless network. Every piece of network hardware is assigned a unique and un-alterable MAC address by the manufacturer.

MAC filtering works by granting access only to those computers using a network card with a “permitted” address. Aruba’s vice-president of product marketing has stated: “There’s a huge security hole for voice. Static WEP is weak and can be broken. Using a MAC address means that once that address is admitted, it can go anywhere (on the network).13

The enhanced 802.11i security standard, yet to be ratified by the IEEE, aims to address these and other security issues, but in the interim, vendors have been left to come up with their own solutions. These include using virtual LANs to isolate voice onto a completely separate network or using a Virtual Private Network (VPN) which uses encryption to provide a secure connection through an otherwise insecure network, typically the Internet. Not only are these options costly (eroding the savings made by adopting VoWLAN), but a VPN can introduce additional latency, which can negatively impact voice quality.1

While the 802.11i standard addresses the security issue, as mentioned previously, it is
likely to have a negative impact on call handover delays – forcing Wi-Fi users to choose between enhanced security and better voice quality – two factors that most businesses regard as equally critical.

In comparison, the DECT standard incorporates built-in security protocols that eliminate eavesdropping, impersonation and other security breaches:

• 128-bit authentication and identification access security.
• Encryption system based on derived or static 64-bit cipher keys transmission security.

Getting the best handset performance

Wi-Fi is notoriously power hungry and WLAN vendors acknowledge that Wi-Fi handsets need to produce a battery lifespan that is at least equivalent to cell phones for them to be successful.1 New low power Wi-Fi chipsets are claiming up to four hours of talk time and 60 hours of standby1 but this is still well short of the 12 hours of talk and 100+ hours standby commonly found in DECT handsets today.

The variety of handset choice is another area where DECT has an advantage, due to the large number of manufacturers. The range of handsets meet a variety of needs including water, dust and shock resistance, duress alarm integration, location integration and intrinsic safety features for specific industry applications. A growing number of VoWLAN handsets are available, most of which are designed for office use, limiting the appeal of a VoWLAN system to primarily office-based businesses. While DECT phones generally deliver most PABX functionality (either as PABX-integrated or PABX adjunct systems), “that’s not always the case with wireless VoIP.”3 DECT products have been sold for over 12 years and there are now more than 120 million systems.

Conclusion

For the customer, simply adding Wi-Fi capable handsets to an existing WLAN to provide a wireless voice system has a lot of financial and technical appeal on the surface. However, VoWLAN is not yet ready to completely replace DECT. For smaller office-based businesses, VoWLAN could be a real option if specific quality and security requirements can be met, but if these factors are critical to the success of the business, VoWLAN has yet to meet the necessary standards. For organizations that require large areas of coverage, such as the retail sector, hospitals and factories, the costs of ensuring uninterrupted coverage, along with satisfactory quality and security, may negate the cost savings that make VoWLAN attractive in the first place.

There is no doubt that VoWLAN technology will improve and the 802.11 standard will continue to evolve – addressing many of the outstanding issues raised by this White Paper. However, the pace of progress is slower than anticipated and until these
challenges can be overcome, DECT is still the proven, cost-effective and flexible wireless answer for the majority of businesses.

By keeping pace with the latest VoWLAN developments, and continuing its role as a leading provider of unrivalled wireless DECT technology, KIRK telecom remains firmly committed to providing the best possible wireless solutions. An approach that allows customers to use the technology that best suits them, when it suits them.

DECT uses a low power form of cellular telephony in which each base station creates a small “pico” cell with a range of 30-70metres indoors and up to 300 metres outdoors. These small cells have the high capacity needed for office systems that have high call densities.

Each base station is connected to the existing telephone cabling. These small cells allow much better connections to the base station than public cellular systems because the handsets automatically search for the highest quality available channel and switch to
it seamlessly, ensuring a clear connection. Handsets provide enough power for a day’s talking and a week’s standby, but should normally be recharged overnight. Docking stations are available to provide access to the computer network and headphones are available for use in noisy environments.

Dual-mode handsets have recently become available that use DECT in the office and automatically switch to a digital public network using Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) away from the office. This normally involves the use of two numbers for receipt of calls, but network operators are increasingly able to provide a
single number (see box).

DECT can also be used as a means of accessing other networks, such as public cellular systems and ISDN. It can also support voice, fax, modem, email, Internet access, X.25 and many other data services. This will allow organizations to use their existing infrastructure with bar code readers, instrument readings, personal digital assistants, forklift truck terminals, portable computers, pagers etc. For public use, directional antennae can be used to increase the range to five kilometers (three miles), allowing
DECT to be installed as a wireless connection to homes and small offices.

This allows traditional network operators to extend more cheaply into areas with low density of users. Users have a DECT radio transceiver as a terminal, into which any telephone, fax or modem can be plugged. If a DECT cordless handset is used, it will also have reception outside the building within the cell.

The consumer version of DECT offers an alternative to a site-wide system for a small office or to provide mobility close to an existing extension. It consists of a base station with integrated charger and cradle for the handset. Additional handsets, each with their own charger, can be purchased that will link to the base station to share the number, like additional extensions. They also provide an intercom facility between extensions. Additional handsets can come from any manufacturer and must register with the base station.

“DECT can also be used as a means of accessing other networks, such as public cellular systems and ISDN. It can also support voice, fax, modem, email, Internet access, X.25 and many other data services.”

Used throughout the world, it is a multi-carrier system that operates in the frequency band 1880-1900 MHz and uses time division multiple access (TDMA). It has 10 carrier frequencies within the assigned band, each divided into 24 repeating time slots, 12 for reception and 12 for transmission. Each speech channel takes one pair of time slots, making 120 channels available. Speech is digitally encoded using 32 Kbits/sec adaptive differential pulse code modulation (ADPCM), which gives it wireline quality speech. It can handle up to 100,000 users per square kilometer.

An important part of the standard is Dynamic Channel Selection and Allocation. This gets terminals to continuously monitor the quality of all the unused channels and automatically switch to a higher quality channel.

This ensures freedom from interference and also handles transfers between base stations as the user moves between cells. Access profiles are another important part of the standard. Every terminal must comply with the Generic Access Profile (GAP) to ensure that terminals from one manufacturer will work with base stations from another.

It also enables the same terminal to be used for residential, business and public access, each being a different type of network, irrespective of the equipment vendor. Other optional profiles provided by the standard allow systems to be developed for different applications, enabling both competitive differentiation and interoperability between different networks.

The GSM profile allows connection to the GSM public network through a DECT base station attached to the GSM network. The Radio In The Local Loop profile gives public access to neighborhood and tele-point applications. There is also an ISDN profile and
a set of data profiles. Handsets have to subscribe to the network through a base station to the mobility server attached to the PABX. This ensures security through a secret subscription key that is broadcast scrambled and combined with a random number. In fact, all calls are encrypted to prevent calls being intercepted.

In Use
The DECT system is particularly popular for offices, as well as environments where workers are highly mobile, such as manufacturing complexes, warehouses, retail stores,
airports, conference centers and exhibition halls. DECT is also useful for bringing visitors into the network, such as employees visiting from other offices, consultants, contractors etc. There are a number of different ways that people work and DECT provides the answer to all four situations:

From a desk: Companies are increasingly moving away from the idea of employees having an exclusive personal space with a desk. They are creating flexible offices with a common pool of desks, so employees use whatever is available when they need it, communicating through their DECT terminal.

Whilst moving around the building: Employees who are on the move in the office can still be reached wherever they are. Even when employees have a desk, most move as a result of transfer, promotion, reorganization etc.. so a cordless telephone saves the cost of making continuous changes to extension numbers.

Whilst traveling outside the office: Staff who travel outside the office can have a dual-mode handset that includes GSM cellular telephone functionality.

From home: When they are at home they can use the handset with their own base station.

Data
The various data access profiles work with a current data transfer rate of 64 Kbits/sec, the same as ISDN and greater than wired modems, although this is being increased to 2 Mbits/sec. It is also possible to increase speed by merging up to 12 channels. It is important to remember that as well as a telephone handset, a DECT terminal can also be built into a mobile or fixed PC. This provides a wireless network connection, high-speed data transmission, wireless Internet access and so on. However, there is a degree of overlap with the Bluetooth initiative (see box), which provides similar functionality
within a maximum range of 30 meters.

Short messages can also be sent to any handset from a PC, so DECT is positioned to replace in-building paging, or wide area paging in conjunction with a dual-mode terminal. Short email messages can be read on the handset and longer ones printed out at the nearest printer or fax machine. Alerts can be sent automatically to the handset, such as network problems or security or fire alarms, and responses sent back. Similarly, an automatic alert can be sent to a supervisor if call centre waiting times exceed the acceptable target.

Some quite innovative applications have been created using DECT as a data terminal. Employees anywhere in the building can have instant access to customer data. In a warehouse it is being used to allow staff to find the location of an inventory item by entering its part number, with the aisle and bin location being displayed. Voice is leading deployment of DECT, so the use of data is still in the early pioneering stage. One of the
plans is to use DECT as a wireless network in small offices and homes.

Benefits
The main benefit of DECT is providing high-quality communications with employees whose job entails being away from a fixed location for large parts of the working day or who have no fixed location. More calls get through first time, productivity increases,
information flows more freely and quicker decisions are made.

By supporting new working practices, DECT brings considerable cost savings. For instance, Ericsson has used its own cordless technology to allow 325 people to share 270 desks in one of its offices, helping to reduce the average office space per employee
from 40 square metres to 14.

Because it utilizes the same basic technology, from residential cordless telephones up to complex multi-cell systems, DECT benefits from the cost advantages of economies of scale. Once the infrastructure is in place, additional base stations and cordless terminals
can be easily and quickly added at a very low cost. DECT eliminates the cost of moving
numbers between handsets as employees move desks. Ericsson has eliminated relocation costs for each office move of US$1,500 per person. Alcatel estimates the cost of moving an internal extension as US$130 and cabling a new socket at US$215. Technically, DECT provides high speech quality and security against unauthorized radio eavesdropping by third parties, through encryption techniques and authentication and identification procedures. There is full interoperability between cordless terminals from different manufacturers and it works with different networks, such as GSM and ISDN.

Arthur D Little (through the Cambridge Consultants technology centre) has recently announced a range of DECT devices which can both make calls and access the corporate intranet. The range will include palm-sized touch screen devices capable of accessing
intranet information, email, corporate diary and contact information.

Conclusion
As mobility in the workforce increases and employees continue to need greater flexibility in when and where they perform their work, the office as we know it today is disappearing. DECT combined with GSM allows users to work efficiently in the office, on the move, around town and at home. This enables organizations to create flexible working environments for the new-generation worker, allowing them to invest in the tools people need to do their work, not in the building in which they do it.

Information above gathered from
The DECT Forum, founded by Alcatel, Ericsson, Nokia, Philips and Siemens and can be found at www.dect.ch.
.
The Special Interest Group for Bluetooth Technology:
www.bluetooth.com.

Alcatel: www.alcatel.com.
Ericsson: www.ericsson.com.
Lucent: www.lucent.com.