In-building wireless systems hit a high note as long as
interference and operational issues get worked out.

The influx of wireless devices flooding enterprise and public use buildings is prompting the wireless industry and its in-building customers to seek a more efficient means of dealing with the inevitable issues of interference, capacity and coverage. Add to the mix a sometimes staggering cost to upgrade legacy in-building communications systems, along with some tricky operational concerns, and the deployment of a holistic wireless system becomes even more puzzling.

With the stakes rising based on the emergence of mobile devices now being used for mission-critical communications, the result is an intensified search for cost-efficient in-building wireless systems by the enterprise community.

And rightfully so. A recent Infonetics Research report found that by 2008, 65% of organizations will be using cellular service, and worldwide 3.6 billion mobile service subscribers will be using some type of mobile device, with 11% being 3G users by 2010.

“In many organizations, mobile phones, smartphones and other cellular devices are becoming primary communications devices, and cellular is now the most popular voice call technology,” the report added.

Yet, for most enterprises, including public use buildings such as hospitals and airports, in-building wireless systems aren’t exactly a slam dunk proposition, and require a well-defined strategy from the get-go.

Interference and coverage issues are being addressed as more devices are used in a variety of buildings, including high-rises, hospitals, airports and high-use areas.

“Each building requires a custom solution,” said Jim Erickson, director of in-building solutions for AT&T Mobility. “Layout, construction, age, location and where wireless fits into the network are variables that come into play, along with the cost of the system, which can be staggering at times. Each is a project in itself.”

Interference and prohibitive costs, he noted, are prime concerns for in-building wireless systems. “We address interference in our system design stage. There is a higher potential for interference if there’s an unlicensed system, and we experience interference with repeaters bought over the Internet. We’re currently looking at new technologies and will probably introduce them into our network,” he said.

POTENTIAL TO REALITY
IP-based technologies, femtocells and picocells, he noted “have huge potential for both enterprises and carriers.” Clear evidence of the in-building wireless potential is the system deployed at HealthAlliance Hospital, which serves parts of Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

Mohnk: Sought hospital consensus

“Two years ago, we wanted to improve our safety and physicians’ goals,” said Rick Mohnk, CIO at HealthAlliance. “We had no cell or pager coverage in the hospital, and all we were seeing were wireless formats. So, we had to find a different way to have a wireless infrastructure. We just couldn’t continue down the path of pulling cable after cable. We saw no way the old way would work.” The new way, Mohnk explained, was to get agreement among the gaggle of hospital sectors, from bio-med and engineers to the IT group, that an in-building wireless overhaul was vital.

“There was much skepticism the technology couldn’t pull it off. But we created a vision and put the design together, accounting for the need for coverage and dealing with lead-lined walls of shielding. Then, there was the training. There were daunting challenges,” he said.

The hospital now has a working, nearly flawless wireless system, Mohnk said. “It’s exceeded all of our expectations. PDAs, cell phones and all carriers are providing full coverage. Even ambulance drivers and police have full coverage back to their home bases.”

COST VS. RETURN
Yet lurking in the distance is the capacity issue. Admitted Mohnk: “The next stage is, when will we know if there is a bandwidth capacity issue. There are no tools to tell us that. It’s an unknown.”

Click: Testing indoor performance

What is known, says Chris Click, vice president of marketing for InnerWireless, the in-building wireless company that helped HealthAlliance deploy its wireless system, is that more companies are transitioning to wireless systems.

“Customers are leading us into the mobile track, not wired or tethered systems, and they are needing tests for devices in-building, especially dual-mode phones. And in new markets such as gaming and casinos, where there are unique cases for the wireless experience, there is big potential,” Click said.

The potential for lucrative returns from an efficient in-building wireless system comes with a cost, however, and some unresolved technical and business issues.

“We must look at wireless interference problems and what devices cause them, along with what channels are impacted as wireless becomes an enterprise-class tool,” said Neil Diener, chief technical officer for Cognio, a provider of spectrum analysis and management for Wi-Fi. “Wireless is now being used for mission-critical issues, so interference is not trivial.”

Interference becomes even more of an issue when a wireless system adds voice and video, Diener noted. “It’s not a big concern when it’s just casual use or data.

But when voice and video are added, it must be treated as a managed resource by the IT group. We haven’t seen a holistic wireless management solution or a view of all the wireless systems. That’s the Holy Grail of in-building wireless systems,” Diener said.

WHO’S GONNA PAY?
And the search will continue for a cost-efficient in-building wireless system, said John Spindler, vice president of marketing for LGC Wireless, a player in the in-building licensed wireless space.

“Historically, our customers have been wireless carriers. We’re now seeing a propensity for enterprises to write the checks directly to us,” Spindler said. “That’s a clear indication of the criticality of wireless in the workplace, from manufacturing plants to white collar enterprises. It’s a very pervasive thing, and the market is growing.”

As the market expands, the key challenge, he insisted, is in-building coverage. “The larger the building, the poorer the coverage. And it’s not just voice, it’s the explosion of BlackBerry use and PDA devices. And as EV-DO rolls out, coverage becomes an even more pressing issue, even in the manufacturing environment with its wide-open spaces and robotics. We think the solution is a distributed antenna system. But each building must be approached on a case-by-case basis,” he said.

And for carriers such as AT&T, which are deepening their presence in the in-building wireless system space, it’s building-by-building. Concluded Erickson: “It’s incumbent upon us to ensure the system works even better than our external network, and if it’s designed properly, there shouldn’t be any major issues with the cellular or PCS portions, which are becoming tools users rely on.”