Device Arena

Alcatel-Lucent today announced the first group of Mobile WiMAX devices featuring MIMO technology that earned Alcatel-Lucent’s formal stamp of approval. This new approval process is designed to give operators using the company’s market-leading WiMAX infrastructure unprecedented transparency on interoperability and performance.

Six 802.16-2005 (Rev-e) standard devices from Accton, Quanta, Siemens and ZyXEL have received the new Alcatel-Lucent Seal of Interoperability Acceptance for Commercial Services (SIACS) for completing the highest level of interoperability testing. All feature the advanced combination of MIMO (multiple input multiple output) and beam forming technology, enabling them to take advantage of the cutting-edge capacity and coverage capabilities of Alcatel-Lucent’s Rev-e network equipment.

Alcatel-Lucent has long encouraged the expansion of the WiMAX Rev-e ecosystem through interoperability testing (IOT) with any and all device makers under its Open Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) Program. The group of devices qualified this week represents a milestone for the program. Under the Alcatel-Lucent SIACS, the company makes available to service providers a range of key performance indicator data, giving complete visibility into what the devices can do.

“The Open CPE Program has now reached full maturity with the inauguration of the Alcatel-Lucent SIACS. Our IOT centers in Taiwan and France are continually carrying out end-to-end testing to give operators unrivalled assurances of interoperability and quality,” said Karim El Naggar, Vice President of Alcatel-Lucent’s WiMAX activities. “As the leading provider of WiMAX Rev-e infrastructure worldwide, we are obliged to give our customers nothing less, with the maximum choice of affordable, attractive devices.”

Devices qualified for the Alcatel-Lucent SIACS include:

Accton Wireless Broadband RG230 Multi-user Indoor CPE (3.5GHz)

Quanta USB Dongle (2.3GHz, 2.5GHz and 3.5GHz)

Quanta PCMCIA card (2.5 & 3.5GHz)

Siemens SX682 Indoor CPE (3.5GHz)

ZyXEL Max206M2 Indoor CPEs (2.5GHz)

ZyXEL MAX216M1 Indoor CPEs (3.5GHz)

Additional WiMAX MIMO devices from Green Packet, as well as SAGEM Communications and J-Stream devices based on reference designs from the C-DOT Alcatel-Lucent Research Center are nearing completion within the qualification process. Others also in the Alcatel-Lucent SIACS process include customer premise equipment from Asus, D-Link, Tecom, OKI, USI and Kyocera Wireless Corp.

Under the Open CPE Program, Alcatel-Lucent is cooperating with more than 30 participants in the worldwide WiMAX device ecosystem, including not only device manufacturers but also all major WiMAX Rev-e chipset providers.

With 30 commercial contracts and more than 70 trials around the world, Alcatel-Lucent is the undisputed leader in the WiMAX infrastructure market. Alcatel-Lucent is the network integrator of choice and the communications industry’s most experienced and knowledgeable services partner.

Alcatel-Lucent