S Swarn, Bombay
India Develops DECT-Based Wireless Technology
A digital enhanced cordless telecommunications-based (DECT) Wireless Local Loop (WLL) system called corDECT has been developed in India.
The system has been designed and manufactured jointly by a major US semiconductor manufacturer called Analog Device Inc, the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (ITT-D) and Madras-based Midas Communication Technologies Pvt Ltd.
The technology team that has developed corDECT designed a customised set of integrated circuits (ICs) which will be manufactured by Analog Devices. The software system and design was carried out at IIT-M and Midas Communications.
DECT Interface Unit
The system is currently installed for field trials with Madras Telephones and expected to be commercialised soon. The know-how will be transferred to four licensees: Crompton Greaves Ltd, Electronics Corporation of India Ltd, Shyam Telecom Ltd and Westel wireless Ltd. These licensees will manufacture, sell and support the corDECT system in India.
Alternative Wireless Access Points
Announcing this development in Madras in August, Analog Devices Chairman and CEO Ray Stata said the corDECT WLL system provides an alternative to the cable from the street junction box to the subscriber with wireless access points over a neighbourhood.
Compact, remotely powered base stations are installed in a neighbourhood without the need for frequency planning and subscribers are "attached" to these base stations via radio link.
Ray Strata said: "The Department of Telecom has specified the use of WLL technology in the bids for basic telecom services in India and we expect it to be employed by a majority of service providers.
"We also see an enormous potential for corDECT in many countries that plan to rapidly expand the number of telephone subscribers."
The local loop remains the major bottleneck to expanding telephone services in India due to high cost of installation and maintenance of conventional wired line solution in use, said Ashok Jhunjhunwala, a professor at Telematics and Optical Communications Lab at IIT in Madras. Dr Jhunjhunwala had been working on this project for the last three years.
The corDECT WLL system aims to free the telecom service providers from difficulties encountered in laying cables, wiring and installing the telephone at subscriber's premises, Jhunjhunwala explained.
The system needs a total band width allocation of just 20MHz in the 1,880-1,900 MHz band to provide telephone connections for tens of thousands of subscribers per square kilometre, said Mike Haider, general manager of Analog's software and systems technology division.
Haider said the corDECT WLL system can also be used for data and fax communications. It even protects users from eavesdropping by encrypting the digital streams that go through the air. The system will also save the telecom system from disruption during monsoons and the cumbersome process of digging for telephone wiring installation which often turn into a public hazard.
CorDECT architecture utilizes four basic components: corDECT DECT Interface Unit (DIU); corDECT Compact Base station (CBC): corDECT Wallset; and corDECT handset.
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