HSxPA Solutions

The high-speed wireless data cards on the market today allow the users to get fast, reliable, wireless connectivity to email, the Internet and corporate applications. These cards are designed to fit into the PCMCIA slot on a laptop or handheld device and offer mobile users access to the existing cellular high-speed networks (HSPDA, WCDMA, CDMA-2000, 1xEVDO, 1xRTT, EDGE, GPRS, etc.). The high-speed wireless data card product offering will also include an Installation CD-ROM that should allow the user to easily install the components necessary to "get connected". The high-speed wireless data cards are easy to install and require no connection cables. The cards are also designed to use less battery power while achieving maximum product performance. The high-speed wireless data card is an ideal product for road warriors requiring seamless connectivity.

What are the Issues?

High-speed data cards on the market today that are based on USB technology present new installation, power management and application integration issues for manufacturers and consumers. The MCCI High-Speed Wireless Data Card Solution starts with our industry leading drivers for USB cell phones.

Issue #1: Installation
The high-speed wireless data cards are normally implemented using CardBus compatible USB OHCI controllers connected to a USB-enabled wireless modem chipset. This configuration results in new installation problems for the end user. A number of cost-effective chips on the market today have multiple OHCI host ports. This means that there is extra work to be done to disable the ports (in software), so the extra ports will not confuse the end user.

Solution:
The MCCI® High-Speed Wireless Data Card Solution uses MCCI InstallRight™ technology to simplify the installation and automatically install the necessary drivers. As part of the installation, the un-needed ports on the USB host controller are automatically disabled.

Issue #2: Power Management
High-speed wireless data cards that are implemented using CardBus compatible USB OHCI controllers connected to a USB-enabled wireless modem chipset often need explicit power management to allow the radio and wireless modem to be powered down. When using Windows based operating systems, there is no system provided mechanism available that allows an application to control the power state on a host controller. The end result is there is no application available for the end user to conserve power and extend the PC's battery life.

Solution:
The MCCI solution gives third party developers the ability to develop power management applications for the high-speed wireless data cards. If desired by the OEM, an MCCI filter driver can be installed on the OHCI controller, which allows applications to directly control power on the CardBus card. The MCCI MCCIW32 library provides a .DLL file, which can be called by third party applications to control the power levels and get other information about the card (COM port names, etc).

Issue #3: Application Integration
High-speed wireless data cards are often distributed with a variety of applications. The application chosen depends on the carrier.

Solution:
MCCI offers versions that are preintegrated with popular management applications. In addition, we offer libraries and integration assistance to data card OEMs and their application providers. Our unrivalled experience in USB-based telecommunications means that the integration will be rapid, effective, standards-compliant, and acceptable to network operators and end users.

Issue #4: Microsoft Installer
As an installer option, Enterprise customers often require Microsoft Installer (".msi").

Solution:
MCCI offers an optional MSI-based install kit that meets Enterprise installation needs. For enterprise applications MCCI can provide an .msi file, which encapsulates the installation procedure using Microsoft Installer. The MCCI High-Speed Wireless Data Card Solution will pass the Window Hardware Quality Labs (WHQL) certification testing and will install on Windows 2000, XP, and Vista. In addition, MCCI's patent-pending installation technology means that you don't have to have separate install folders for the different operating systems.

Simply put...

Incorporating the MCCI High-Speed Wireless Data Card Solution into your product offering will result in an improved enduser experience by eliminating annoying installation issues and improving the PC's battery life.