Wireless Waters

RF Connect Celebrates Vice Presidents' Day

Yesterday, in an emerging tradition, and despite the danger of random gunfire associated with vice presidents in recent days, RF Connect observed Vice Presidents' day February 17th, the  Friday before Presidents' Day. 

VP Day stems from the coincidence that both Mike McKay, VP and CTO, and Jeff Hipchen, VP Business Development, share the same birthday, February 18th.  Both men arrived fashionably late (like 8:45 AM) and left before 6:30 PM, as close to serious slacking as is possible in a startup company.  The ages of the Vice presidents was not revealed; both are considerably younger and healthier then "Duck!" Cheney.

General Motors Wireless Initiatives, part 1

In a September 2005 InformationWeek article on wireless and RFID in vehicle manufacturing Eric Chabrow had this to say about General Motors' wireless initiatives,

Sep 19, 2005 12:00 General Motors Corp. has begun mounting wireless terminals on its material-delivery fork trucks. Truck operators get real-time updates for material requests to deliver vehicle parts to the production line in a just-in-time manner. GM contends that using a wireless fork truck makes its operators more responsive, so the company requires fewer overall employees to deliver materials to the production-line side.

Two other factory-floor wireless initiatives drive efficiencies at GM plants. The automated guided-vehicles system employs wireless connections to route a specific car to the next logical point in the assembly process. And a new application for PDAs gives team leaders up-to-the-second information on problems that need immediate attention. The carmaker uses the 802.11b/g standard for general-purpose wireless coverage and 802.11a for bandwidth-hungry apps. GM employs firewalls at each plant to secure wirelessly transmitted data.

This article is very good in general, but omits discussion of the numerous initiatives under way at GM with regard to cellular coverage, sensor-based wireless networks, two-way radio, physical layer security, and other RF-based efforts.

Wireless Voice in Hospitals -- Some Design Considerations: Part 1

Voice communications in hospitals can be delivered face to face or by overhead paging, desk phones, desk phones with wireless extensions (or Bluetooth headsets), cell phones,  Voice over IP (VoIP), wireless VoIP, wireless voice paging (one-way) nurse call systems, intercoms, and two-way radio.  Increasingly, wireless voice is preferred, reducing our practical choices to desk phones with wireless extension or Bluetooth headsets, wireless voice paging, cell phones, and wireless VoIP. 

At RF Connect, we expect to see cell phones and wireless VoIP predominate in the 3 year timeframe because of

the ubiquity of cellular solutions,and their convenience for referring physicians, patients, visitors, and outsourced staff workers

the cost and network advantages of VoIP,

the increased availability of the Treo-like integrated voice/PDA handsets

the forthcoming availability of larger form-factor handheld tablets with Bluetooth headsets for hands-free voice communications

Are these systems ready for prime time?  What are the communications infrastructure implications of these trends?  We'll explore these in future posts.

Mike McKay (mpmckay@rfconnect.com) is the co-founder and CTO of RF Connect LLC, a Michigan-based wireless services and integration firm.  He was formerly the program manager for communications systems at University of Michigan Hospitals, responsible for the voice, data, video, nurse call, radio, etc. for the complete re-build of the University of Michigan Hospitals campus.  He has since consulted on designs and provided systems solutions for a variety of hospitals in the US

What Have I Learned About Municipal Wireless Networks?: Part 1

I 'm Mike McKay, co-founder and CTO of RF Connect, program managers for the largest municipal WiFi network initiative in the United States, and part-time MBA student at The University of Michigan's Ross School of Business Administration.  I took some time recently to list a few of the key lessons we've learned (so far) about municipal networks.  Here are the first three.

They are, if not inevitable, very popular with municipalities.  There are hundred of initiatives under way and dozens of implementations, ranging from a few city blocks to Oakland County Michigan's 910 square miles (2350 square kilometers).
They combine economics, politics and technology in unequal parts.  Many of these initiatives are billed as public-private partnerships.  In a currently popular model, the municipalities provide access to their assets, such as buildings and light poles, in exchange for services, such as low-cost or non-cost basic access to residents and visitor. While this may well be a fair trade, it is important for both the public partner and the private partner to understand the quantity and locations and value of the available assets, as well as the value and cost of the services provided by the wireless operator.
Pole attachment rights and joint use agreements with the utility need to be negotiated.  In some cases, as 90% or more of the access points may be mounted, not on municipal assess, but on utility poles, subject to joint use provisions, and in many jurisdictions, to joint use tariffs.  Understand these provisions thoroughly.

San Francisco Wireless Network RFP Response Available

One of my favorite websites for municipal wireless is Muniwireless.  They do an outstanding job of covering the field of municpal wireless networks.  Among the many gems hidden on their website are Requests for Proosal, and sometimes, RFP responses for muni wireless networks.  I found the Cisco-SeaKay response to the San Francisco wireless RFP to be quite informative.