Future systems and technologies for broadband wireless access services

Various types of wireless systems can be classified as follows: fixed wireless access (FWA) systems, in which wireless terminals are in a fixed location; wireless LAN systems serving offices or homes; nomadic wireless access (NWA) systems, enabling seamless access from hot spots as well as from homes and offices; mobile wireless access (MWA) systems that can be accessed from moving vehicles. The paper discusses the current status of wireless access and how far wireless technology is geared to broadband access services, mainly in terms of NWA, FWA, and wireless LAN systems. Increasing the speed of FWA systems to 100 Mbps for compatibility with optical fiber services is one development goal. For NWA, commercial services based on 36 Mbps systems in the 5 GHz band are expected to begin competing in the market shortly. We anticipate that for home and office wireless LAN systems products based on 5 GHz, 36 Mbps system, high-speed LAN technology and with a variety of value-added functions will become available.