Cal-IT 2 and UC San Diego Select Entree Wireless to Supply Mobile Gateways for High-Speed Connectivity on Homeland Security Communications Project.Business Editors/High-Tech Writers SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 19, 2004 Entree Wireless, a leading developer of Mobile Wireless Gateways, and the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Cal-(IT)2) will deploy Entree's technology solution to provide high-speed wireless connectivity in the field for first responders in disaster situations. "Entree has taken a concept first implemented as part of Cal-(IT)2's CyberShuttle project, and turned it into the first commercial product of its kind," said Ramesh Rao, director of the institute's San Diego San Diego (săn dēā`gō), city (1990 pop. 1,110,549), seat of San Diego co., S Calif., on San Diego Bay; inc. 1850. San Diego includes the unincorporated communities of La Jolla and Spring Valley. Coronado is across the bay. division and a professor of electrical and computer engineering in the University of California, San Diego UCSD is consistently ranked among the top ten public universities for undergraduate education in the United States by U.S. News & World Report.[3] It is a Public Ivy. [1] For graduate studies, most of UCSD's Ph.D. (UCSD UCSD University of California, San Diego (La Jolla, California) UCSD User Centered System Design UCSD Urbana-Champaign Sanitary District (Illinois) UCSD Ultra Cool Sexy Dudes ) Jacobs School of Engineering. "These mobile gateways will be a cornerstone of the communications networks we are developing for homeland security Noun 1. Homeland Security - the federal department that administers all matters relating to homeland security Department of Homeland Security executive department - a federal department in the executive branch of the government of the United States and other purposes." Entree's Mobile Area Network solution -- dubbed the MANPack -- is a battery-powered, briefcase-size device that integrates a high-speed wireless Wi-Fi access point with access to a third-generation (3G) cellular network. It can be easily transported to any location within the coverage of a 3G network, and instantly extends the reach of the 3G system to Wi-Fi-enabled devices nearby. "Using a standard Wi-Fi-enabled laptop or PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) A handheld computer for managing contacts, appointments and tasks. It typically includes a name and address database, calendar, to-do list and note taker, which are the functions in a personal information manager (see PIM). , users can access the Internet at broadband speeds thanks to the seamless convergence of Wi-Fi and 3G networks," said David Ahlgren, president of Entree Wireless. "In crisis response situations, the MANPack will enable communication with, and tracking of, first responders, resources and casualties at locations where permanent Wi-Fi access is not available." The first commercial shipments of Entree hardware and software will be deployed as part of the Wireless Internet Information System for Medical Response in Disasters (WIISARD), a project based at UCSD and funded by the National Library of Medicine, part of the National Institutes of Health. Led by UCSD School of Medicine Professor Leslie Lenert, M.D., the $4.1 million project will explore and test the use of sophisticated wireless technology to coordinate and enhance care of mass casualties in a terrorist attack or natural disaster. San Diego's Metropolitan Medical Strike Team, a partner in WIISARD, will incorporate the mobile "hotspots" in an emergency test on May 12, when it will enable police, fire and other emergency service personnel to connect to the Internet at high speeds. The MANPack is a three-in-one device, combining: -- an 802.11b/g Wi-Fi access point; -- a connection to Verizon Wireless's nationwide "Broadband Access" data-optimized 3G network which is based on QUALCOMM's CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) A method for transmitting simultaneous signals over a shared portion of the spectrum. The foremost application of CDMA is the digital cellular phone technology from QUALCOMM that operates in the 800 MHz band and 1.9 GHz PCS band. 1xEVDO/RTT standard and was recently deployed on Nortel Networks' CDMA infrastructure in San Diego; and -- access-control gateway software that provides captive portal A default Web page that is downloaded to everyone who logs onto the Internet. Typically used for Wi-Fi hotspots, a captive portal can be used for authorization purposes or as a community bulletin board. See Neighbornode. advertising and manages security, bandwidth utilization, user authentication, remote management and other services. The system is noted for its proprietary Bandwidth Limiting Technology (BLT 1. BLT - /B-L-T/, /bl*t/ or (rarely) /belt/ Synonym for blit. This is the original form of blit and the ancestor of bitblt. It refers to any large bit-field copy or move operation (one resource-intensive memory-shuffling operation done on pre-paged versions of ITS, WAITS and ) that protects the cellular network, and its provision for Incremental Revenue Generation (IRG (1) (InterRecord Gap) See interrecord gap. (2) (Internet Research Group, Los Altos, CA, www.irgintl.com) A research and consulting firm founded in 1993 that specializes in developing business strategies for Internet-related companies. ). While the MANPack is the first such product on the commercial market, Cal-(IT)2 introduced the first experimental version of the technology in April 2002 with the launch of the CyberShuttle. The bus service between the UCSD campus and a nearby commuter train station permitted students and faculty with laptops to use their regular UCSD Wi-Fi cards to access the Web through a link to QUALCOMM's experimental high-data-rate system--a precursor of today's 1xEVDO technology. "This Cal-(IT)2 project allowed the campus to live in the future, experimenting with broadband access See broadband and wireless broadband. that is only now becoming a commercial reality," said Cal-(IT)2 Division Director Rao. "Our work was in the public domain and Entree should be congratulated for the speed and focus with which it has taken our initial work and turned it into a product for the marketplace." Although first-responder applications will be the focus of WIISARD, Entree Wireless sees homeland security as the tip of the iceberg tip of the iceberg n. pl. tips of the iceberg A small evident part or aspect of something largely hidden: afraid that these few reported cases of the disease might only be the tip of the iceberg. when it comes to future demand for gateways that link local Wi-Fi hotspots via 3G wireless to the broadband Internet See broadband. . "We foresee corporate applications for professionals and consumers in mobile venues such as rental cars, trains, limos and buses, as well as temporary or re-locatable office venues for auditing, sales events/demo, trade shows or emergency repair teams," noted Entree President Ahlgren. "These systems enable 3G wireless carriers to address new customers, increase revenue, and harness the Wi-Fi gold rush by monetizing the large and growing installed base of Wi-Fi-equipped laptops and PDAs." According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Ahlgren, Entree will also work closely with Cal-(IT)2 to develop future enhancements to the first generation of gateways, including the integration of position-location technology. About Entree Wireless San Diego-based Entree Wireless is an early stage, technology-driven company specializing in the development and marketing of Gateways that create Mobile Area Networks (MAN) and extend the reach of 3G Wide Area Networks. The first product is a Mobile Wi-Fi Gateway that bridges the gap between 3G CDMA Broadband Access and today's pervasive Wi-Fi-enabled laptops and PDAs. The products feature mobile and instant installation and provide Internet access See how to access the Internet. for consumers and mobile professionals. The Gateways are designed to be carrier friendly, and feature Incremental Revenue Generation (IRG), Bandwidth Limiting Technology (BLT), SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) A widely used network monitoring and control protocol. Data are passed from SNMP agents, which are hardware and/or software processes reporting activity in each network device (hub, router, bridge, etc. based monitoring and management and standards-based RADIUS authentication, billing and class of service management. www.EntreeWireless.com/. About Cal-(IT)2 The California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology is one of four institutes created by the State in late 2000 to ensure that California maintain its leadership in cutting-edge technologies. Cal-(IT)(2)'s mission: to extend the reach of the current information infrastructure throughout the physical world, enabling anywhere/anytime access to the Internet. More than 220 professors and senior researchers from UC Irvine and UC San Diego are collaborating on interdisciplinary projects. www.calit2.net. Related Links WIISARD www.wiisard.org NIH/National Library of Medicine www.nlm.nih.gov/ UCSD School of Medicine http://medicine.ucsd.edu/ Jacobs School of Engineering www.jacobsschool.ucsd.edu Metropolitan Medical Strike Team http://mmst.ucsd.edu/ Verizon Wireless Cellco Partnership, doing business as Verizon Wireless, owns and operates the second largest wireless telecommunications network in the United States, based on total wireless customers. www.verizonwireless.com QUALCOMM Incorporated www.qualcomm.com |
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