CLEAR 4G WiMAX Innovation Network Open for Developers in Silicon Valley

Introduction

At the September 17th Telecom Council Carrier Connections conference,
Clearwire’s Allen Flanagan provided an overview and short video on the company’s
"4G" mobile WiMAX Innovation Network – a pre-commercial network for mobile WiMAX
application development and testing in Silicon Valley.  The network went
live only two days prior -on September 15th.  The development focus was
said to be "4G" Mobile Applications.  These will be described later in this
article.

The CLEAR developer network is a precursor to commercial service planned for the
San Francisco Bay Area¹ in 2010.  It will cover more than 20
square miles in Santa Clara, Mountain View and parts of downtown Palo Alto,
California.  The current coverage footprint includes the local campuses of
Intel and Google, two founding Innovation Network supporters who have also
commenced their own internal 4G application development programs.  Cisco’s
campus will receive coverage in the coming months as the network expands. 
Clearwire will update the coverage area maps over time.  Download detailed
maps of coverage areas with suggested drive routes and test locations:

- Palo Alto

- Santa Clara

- Mountain
View, Los Altos, Sunnyvale

Clearwire plans an aggressive expansion program for CLEAR in the U.S., with a
combined coverage area that would service up to 120M people by the end of 2010.

Logistics for the Innovation Network

After reviewing terms and conditions, qualified software application developers
that live or work in Silicon Valley can register for free mobile WiMAX service,
as long as they buy or own a Clearwire approved terminal (see list below). 
Bright House, Comcast, Sprint, and Time Warner Cable will join Cisco, Intel and
Google in support of Clearwire’s mobile WiMAX application development
initiative.  All those companies except Cisco are strategic investors in
Clearwire.  The first four plan to resell the CLEAR service, so they have a
lot to gain.  All of the participants will aid in promoting the program and
have deployed their own respective development resources into the network (e.g. 
RAN equipment, IP NGN systems, devices, software, etc). 

Infrastructure providers include: Motorola, Samsung, Huawei (these three vendors
supply RAN equipment), and Cisco (Core IP NGN Network). 

Editor’s Note:  Allen could not confirm that all of these
infrastructure vendors would be involved in the Innovation Network instance.

Components, modules and applications were said to be available from: Intel,
Google, Cisco, and Beceem (chip set).  Netbooks with embedded mobile WiMAX
interfaces are available from Lenovo, Dell, Toshiba, Samsung, and Fujitsu for
use in the program.  The new Samsung Mondi MID handheld is also supported
on the Innovation Network. 

Editors Note:  only the mobile devices listed are eligible for use
on the CLEAR Innovation network.  Home modems and CLEAR VOIP products and
service are not available on the Innovation Network.

To access the network, developers can purchase a Clearwire WiMAX USB modem for
$49.99.  Developer-owned, CLEAR "network-ready" mobile WiMAX devices, such
as the Samsung Mondi and WiMAX-embedded Intel-based PC’s, are also eligible for
the program.  To qualify, developers must register for Clearwire’s
developer program and describe the mobile WiMAX applications/ development ideas
they wish to pursue.  Interested developers can sign-up at

http://developer.clear.com/innovation.

Developers can expect to realize peak download speeds of up to 10 Mbps on this
network, with average download speeds of 3 to 6 Mbps.  In contrast, some of
today’s 3G wireless networks typically deliver download speeds of between 600
kbps – 1.4 Mbps, according to Clearwire.  Unlike Wi-Fi, mobile WiMAX
provides service areas measured in miles, rather than feet.  In addition,
the IEEE 802.16e technology used supports full mobility and enables seamless
handovers from tower to tower, similar to cellular networks. 

Goals and Applications for the Innovation Network

Flanagan stated the goal of the Innovation Network was "to stimulate software
development for Internet applications, broadband media content, Internet and
integration services." Allen identified several target applications: streaming
media, LBS’s, on-line gaming, voice and communications, social media, networking
collaboration, optimization and performance tuning.

Clearwire will support developers by providing: CLEAR Platform API and network
documentation, Location and Connection APIs along with associated guidelines. 
Educational content will be available for mobility, optimization/ tuning,
network setup, operations and coverage maps. 

In a short video, Clearwire CTO John Saw articulated the applications the
company expected to be "enabled" by the Innovation Network.  These
included: mobile video, location awareness, voice, social networking and gaming.

Click here to view
Clearwire’s CTO Dr.  John Saw discussing the Innovation Network

Q&A

In answer to a question, Mr.  Flanagan echoed a 4G World comment from
Clearwire CEO Bill Morrow that both WiMAX Pico cells and femtocells would play
an important role in "4G networks" and be critical to their success.  In a
follow up email exchange, Allen stated: "In my opinion, it will take some time
before they become critical.  Just as it took a lot of years for them to
become deployed on previous generation cellular networks."

This author asked if Clearwire might have trouble motivating garage shops and
small software developers to participate in the Innovation network program,
considering the absence of any smart phones or hand held devices (except the
brand new Samsung Mondi).  Allen said that Clearwire was very aware of that
issue and together with its investors would be able to recruit a critical mass
of developers for the network.

Clearwire will participate as a platinum sponsor of the Sprint Open Developer
Conference scheduled for October 26-28 in Santa Clara, CA (this author is
registered to attend).  Developers can register to attend the conference
at: 

http://developer.sprint.com/devcon2009.

Flanagan suggested that developers interested in working on applications for
mobile WiMAX might want to attend the conference to learn about the Innovation
Network directly from Clearwire executives. 

Editor’s Note:  This author expects important new announcements from
Sprint regarding handsets and perhaps other devices that will operate on CLEAR.

What the Big Boys Have to Say

"We see tremendous potential for true, mobile broadband to act as the catalyst
for new and compelling Internet applications that leverage our 4G bandwidth,
free of the confines associated with wired connections," said John Saw, Chief
Technology Officer of Clearwire.  "Our goal is to harness the concentration
of developer talent in Silicon Valley and accelerate the pace at which these
disruptive services are being developed."

"Our long history of innovation with WiMAX, including our development efforts in
Portland, OR, allowed Intel to be among the first in the U.S.  to have
access to this exciting, next-generation 4G environment," said Sriram
Viswanathan, vice president of Intel Capital and general manager of WiMAX
Program Office at Intel.  "Along with the WiMAX ecosystem, we look forward
to expanding these mobile broadband resources and efforts in an area home to the
one of most technology-savvy groups of individuals in the world."

"Mobile broadband is fundamentally changing the way people use the Internet, and
4G networks like Clearwire’s have incredible potential," said Larry Alder,
mobile product manager at Google.  "We are excited to see how developers
will take advantage of this unique asset as Internet users increasingly expect
connectivity regardless of their device or location."

"Cisco’s Internet Protocol Next-Generation Network infrastructure is playing a
key role in the Silicon Valley Innovation Network," said David Goeckeler,
general manager of Services and Mobility business unit, Cisco.  "An IP
network is the right platform to deliver on the promise of mobility and put 4G
services in the hands of some of the most talented and creative developers in
the world."
"At Bright House, we’re always searching for new and innovative capabilities to
bring to our customers," said Leo Cloutier senior vice president, strategy &
business development, Bright House Networks.  "We’re strongly supportive of
this initiative and its ability to leverage the creative talent of developers in
the region for the creation of new mobile broadband applications."

"Combining the speeds of broadband with the mobility of wireless communications
gives the development community in Silicon Valley a unique opportunity to create
differentiated applications," said Tom Nagel, Comcast’s senior vice president
and general manager for Wireless.  "Comcast is pleased to support this
development program to spur further innovation with 4G capabilities.  The
initiative is consistent with our own commitment and efforts to encourage
developers to leverage open standards such as Tru2way."

"Sprint continues to demonstrate its leadership in the growth and deployment of
4G networks and technology and in the developer community," said Len Barlik,
vice president of wireless and wireline services for Sprint.  "Sprint is
the first carrier to offer an open community that gives developers the platforms
and network to create innovative applications and the ability to introduce new
services to the market.  The availability of 4G in the Silicon Valley is a
great opportunity for developers to immediately begin the development of the
next generation of wireless applications."

"Time Warner Cable looks to provide services that are simple, easy to use and
give customers more control and convenience," said Michael Roudi, group vice
president of wireless services for Time Warner Cable.  "We are proud to
support the efforts of developers in the Silicon Valley to experiment and create
new applications which will take advantage of the mobile broadband network and
enhance our customer’s wireless experience."

Conclusions

The Silicon Valley community is very pleased to have Clearwire’s Innovation
Network up and running.  In particular, IEEE ComSoc SCV members have
expressed a strong interest in mobile broadband applications for netbooks and
notebooks as well as for hand held devices.  We hope to report results of
these application developments in forthcoming articles.  IEEE ComSoc SCV is
also looking forward to hosting a panel session in early 2010 where Innovation
Network participants will describe the tangible take-aways and lessons learned
from this very important endeavor.

_________

Footnotes:

http://www.wimax.com/commentary/blog/blog-2009/april-2009/Commercial-WiMAX-Network-Planned-for-Silicon-Valley-0410

Web References

http://newsroom.clearwire.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=214419&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1331811&highlight=

http://www.wimax360.com/profiles/blogs/silicon-valley-becoming-the-4g