Yet another wireless technology is knocking on the door of the U.S. personal communications services marketplace, with the promise of wireline quality voice service.
Actually, the low-power, microcellular PACS Edge system is making a few distinctive claims. It doesn’t claim to offer full-blown PCS or even full-blown cellular. It is an advanced cordless phone system, providing wireline-like voice with mobility.
PACS Edge is offered by the partnership trio of Hughes Network Systems Inc., Siemens Stromberg-Carlson and Bell Communications Research Inc. (Bellcore) and is scheduled for the second quarter of 1996.
PACS technology has its roots in Wide Area Access Communications Systems and Personal HandyPhone technology. PACS radio ports are installed in closer proximity than typical cellular base stations. The technology’s microcellular-like deployment provides higher capacity compared with cellular, said Kal Ganesan, Hughes assistant vice president.
Hughes will provide the PACS radio network subsystem, radio ports, radio port control units and operations and maintenance. Siemens will be the systems integrator, providing the core switching platform with intelligent network capabilities and Integrated Services Digital Network access. Bellcore will provide operations software systems and mobility management.
“Bellcore invented PACS technology and the architecture upon which the PACS Edge solution is built,” said Tsippora Dingott, assistant vice president and market manager of Bellcore’s personal and wireless communications division.
PACS technology originally restricted car mobility to 35 miles per hour, but Hughes has extended that ability to between 60 and 65 mph, Ganesan said.
PACS is compliant with North American standards, so it can co-exist with other technologies, such as Time Division Multiple Access and Code Division Multiple Access. “In fact, someone could partition their license into CDMA and PACS, using the same IS-41 interfaces. Or one could package PACS with existing cellular, maybe AMPS at 800 [MHz], PACS at 1800 MHz,” Ganesan said.
Advanced Mobile Phone Service will continue to operate in all U.S. cellular markets, with operators switching in part to digital technologies.
The system’s radio link is as private and secure as digital wireline service, the companies said. Data service is provided through the use of retransmission protocols.
“PACS has a feature in which you can aggregate time slots to improve capacity. Operators could provision two time slots to a customer to use a wireline modem to access the Internet,” Ganesan said.
The handsets, available through Siemens, use 32 kilobits-per-second configurations, which provides high voice quality equivalent to wireline. The handsets control handoffs, allowing reliability, he said.
PACS radio ports are installed on poles 20 feet to 50 feet high, with higher antenna locations increasing coverage radius per cell. Typical outdoor radius will be between one-third to one mile, the companies said.
Because the ports are low power, they are low cost as well, said Eve Aretakis, vice president of product line management at Siemens. “We think the cost position far exceeds anything else available.”
PACS Edge is a great solution for current cellular operators seeking to improve service, she said. Compared to high power macrocellular systems, PACS radio system provides higher capacity at a lower cost for the same coverage, the companies said.
“What PACS Edge provides was the original definition of PCS. We think this is the technology that meets that expectation,” Aretakis said.
Siemens, which is marketing the system, is targeting basic trading area PCS licensees and cellular carriers who want to fortify their service.
The trio is seeking operators interested in conducting alpha testing.
