Orthogon Systems Raises the Bar in Broadband Wireless

Business Wire, Jan 18, 2005

ASHBURTON, United Kingdom and WALTHAM, Mass. -- The arrival of OS-Spectra, a WiMAX compatible point-to-point wireless system, delivers breakthrough performance with advanced functionality

Orthogon Systems(TM), a leading provider of high performance point-to-point broadband wireless systems, today announced the availability of the OS-Spectra, its next generation broadband wireless Ethernet bridge. The OS-Spectra provides a secure point-to-point broadband link to connect separate networks for up to 125 miles with industry-leading performance of up to 300 Mbps aggregate user throughput. It satisfies the very high bandwidth networking requirements for telecommunications backhaul and large enterprise, as well as healthcare and education applications, with carrier-grade availability.

"The demand for bandwidth is increasing as fast as enterprises and service providers can add capacity to their networks," said Phil Bolt, CEO of Orthogon Systems. "OS-Spectra takes Orthogon's proven technology and introduces industry-leading new features and performance. It is the only platform that enables ISP's and large enterprises to quickly deploy a solution that brings excess capacity as well as cost-saving and revenue-generating benefits."

The OS-Spectra operates in the unlicensed 5.8GHz band and is FCC and ETSI certified. It maintains exceptional link availability, up to 99.9999%, in long-range Line-of-Sight (LoS) and Non-Line-of-Sight (NLoS) environments, as well as over large bodies of water. A truly software-defined radio, the OS-Spectra provides feature and performance upgrades via simple software downloads and is easy to install and manage.

Rapid Systems, an Internet Service Provider (ISP) serving the business community in Tampa, Florida, has deployed Orthogon Systems' OS-Gemini products and recently tested the OS-Spectra. Dustin Jurman, CEO of Rapid Systems, commented, "The performance was incredible, unlike anything I've seen in the industry. From an ISP perspective, with the OS-Spectra we can extend our infrastructure, increase our customer coverage area, and have a cost-effective, very high bandwidth service offering for our business customers," The OS-Spectra sustained an average of 260 Mbps aggregate data throughput during the Rapid Systems LoS and NLoS deployment testing. "We were pleased to see that OS-Spectra is equipped with the same ease-of-use and reliability features of the OS-Gemini. As a result, we were able to install and run tests from multiple line-of-sight and non-line-of-sight locations in a single day," Jurman added.

Leading Performance and Reliability

The OS-Spectra boasts the most spectral efficient radio on the market, delivering 300 Mbps of throughput in just 30 MHz of spectrum, an important feature in urban locations where the unlicensed band is gaining popularity. Its intelligent Dynamic Frequency Selection (iDFS) ensures interference-free operation by constantly monitoring the link for congestion and automatically switching to the most interference-free channel.

Built upon Orthogon's proven carrier-grade radio technology, the OS-Spectra delivers the same fade mitigation features as the OS-Gemini using its own Multibeam Space-Time-Coding technology to deliver exceptional signal availability even around large obstacles or at distances of up to 125 miles. It provides variable bandwidth allocation functionality for configuring asymmetric upstream and downstream traffic thresholds based on the user's application requirements.

WiMAX Compatible

Being fully WiMAX compatible, the OS-Spectra supports the WiMAX Management Information Base (MIB) for easy operation and end-to-end management within a WiMAX network. Its spectral efficiency enables the OS-Spectra to provide the most scalable WiMAX backhaul solution; it can backhaul the throughput requirements of 12 WiMAX base station sectors with the equivalent of only 3 WiMAX channels.

Security and Interfaces

The OS-Spectra has a unique advanced Air Interface that incorporates a proprietary data scrambling technique as well as AES encryption for the highest levels of security. It acts as a transparent Ethernet bridge enabling customers to superimpose complete end-to-end network security solutions such as virtual private networks (VPN).

The OS-Spectra has multiple interfaces that support both small and large IP networks, including 10/100/1000 Base-T and Fiber Optic 1000 Base-SX. Dual T1/E1 interfaces are also available to enable the bundling of legacy PBX or cellular services with IP services on a single wireless connection.

Distribution and Pricing

The OS-Spectra system is available in both an integrated and connectorized model, and is offered through Orthogon's distributor and reseller channels around the world. Visit www.orthogonsystems.com for more information.

About Orthogon Systems

Orthogon Systems provides the industry's leading carrier-grade point-to-point broadband wireless systems. Through several innovative technologies and techniques, the company has developed a point-to-point system that connects at high speeds with carrier-grade reliability around obstacles, such as terrain and buildings, over long distances, and over large bodies of water. The OS-Gemini is deployed in over 550 networks worldwide, connecting disparate networks in the corporate, government, healthcare and education marketplaces; and enabling wireless service providers to extend broadband to remote areas and backhaul wireless data traffic efficiently. Orthogon Systems is a privately funded company with headquarters in Ashburton, Devon, United Kingdom and Waltham, Massachusetts, USA. For more information, visit our Web site at www.orthogonsystems.com.