Nortel develops higher waveband

Nortel is to launch a microwave radio system that it claims will overcome the shortcomings of existing campus-orientated products.

Nortel's system will be known under the RW Series M digital microwave radio name and is scheduled to be launched this October.

Operating at 23 or 38GHz, the low-to-medium capacity radio systems, which were previewed at the PCS 96 wireless comms show in San Francisco in September, are claimed to be more compact than rival products.

They provide advanced features which can be used in applications such as backhaul transport for wireless networks, broadband transport for access networks, and Lan bridging for urban and campus environments.

These RW Series products marry technology Nortel has developed for the GSM market, with conventional Lan and Wan bridging systems.

Thanks to the use of high frequencies, there is no risk of interference with other electronic devices in the vicinity, nor are there any licensing problems Nortel claims.

According to Nortel, more than 22,000 of its earlier digital microwave transmitter-receiver systems have been installed worldwide, but this is the first time the company has moved to such as high waveband.

This is also the first time these frequency bands have been used for off-the-shelf commercial applications. While 23GHz is used for inter-satellite communications - between satellites in earth orbit - 38 GHz is 8GHz higher than any currently allocated frequencies.

- More information can be found on Nortel's Web site at http://www.nortel.com.