Broadcloud aims to improve speed, capacity
of wireless Internet networks.
Future applications for the wireless Internet will
depend on its ability to offer data transmission
speeds that are comparable with the wired Web. With
the potential for increased speeds, wireless Internet
users will be able to conduct transactions and connect
with services that previously have been thought
of as exclusive to the wired Web.
With this added functionality will come a greater
dependence on wireless devices that will test the
reliability of service providers' backbone services.
To help with these reliability concerns, Austin,
Texas-based Broadcloud Communications Inc. is currently
in beta trials of its Wireless Internet Protocol
service platform designed to enhance the reliability
and transmission speed of large amounts of data
over wireless networks. The company claims its service
platform delivers performance that is twice as reliable,
up to ten time faster and uses up to 75 percent
less bandwidth than current mobile Internet services.
Bolstering its claim, Broadcloud recently was granted
a U.S. patent for the technology forming the basis
of its Wireless Internet Protocol service platform.
"Broadcloud is using its patented technology
to extend the full Internet experience to the mobile
environment via wireless networks," explained
Ed Acosta, president and chief executive officer
of Broadcloud. "Wireless networks are unreliable
because most Internet protocol assumptions are based
on the physical performance characteristics of wireline
networks. As a result, the Internet protocol suite
is essentially `busted' when used on existing and
future wireless networks."
Acosta, a former researcher at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, said the performance implications
threaten the success of the wireless Internet and
demand that new protocol technology be introduced
to allow the wireless Internet to achieve its full
potential
The service platform, designed to work wherever
there is digital packet data network coverage, can
be downloaded by a software client onto a wireless-enabled
mobile device. Once installed and activated by the
user, any Internet request that is made wirelessly
is transparently directed to use Broadcloud's service
platform without any changes in device or network
configuration.
Broadcloud said it will generate revenues from
the service through channel partnerships and revenue
sharing relationships with ISPs, ASPs, wireless
carriers and enterprises who will, in turn, make
the service available to end users.
"This patent is an important step toward launching
the service platform that allows mobile users to
fully utilize the Internet on mobile computing devices
such as [personal digital assistants] and laptops,"
Acosta added.
The company said the platform service is available
for PDAs and laptop computers, with future support
expected for a broader range of wireless devices
and 2.5 generation and third-generation networks.
