Clearwire 2009 Annual Report Download - page 24

r
eports to an
d
a
l
erts our system a
d
m
i
n
i
strators to a
l
arms an
df
au
l
ts, an
d
mon
i
tors system per
f
ormance
d
own to t
he
i
ndividual CPE. It supports customizable report
g
eneration to track network performance, utilization and capacit
y.
Eventuall
y
, we anticipate manufacturers to sell a number of handheld communications and consumer
el
ectron
i
c
d
ev
i
ces w
i
t
h
em
b
e
dd
e
d
mo
bil
eW
i
MAX c
hi
psets t
h
at w
ill b
e ena
bl
e
d
to commun
i
cate us
i
ng our 4
G
m
o
bil
e
b
roa
db
an
d
networ
k
, suc
h
as note
b
oo
k
computers, net
b
oo
k
s, MIDs, PDAs, gam
i
ng conso
l
es an
d
MP3
p
la
y
ers. Currentl
y
, there are a number of subscriber devices that are mobile WiMAX certified alread
y
, and man
y
m
ore are
i
nt
h
emo
bil
eW
i
MAX cert
ifi
cat
i
on process
.
Bac
kh
au
l
Networ
k
Our backhaul network is responsible for transmitting data
a
nd
v
oice traffic bet
w
een our to
w
er sites and the net
w
or
k
c
ore. Operators
h
ave prev
i
ous
ly
re
li
e
d
pr
i
mar
ily
upon w
i
re
li
ne
b
ac
kh
au
l
networ
k
sto
h
an
dl
et
hi
s tra
ffi
c. However,
i
n mos
t
of our markets, whether the networks utilize pre-4G, mobile WiMAX or some other technolo
gy
, we intend to rel
y
primarily upon microwave backhaul. Our microwave backha
ul network wirelessly transmits data traffic from one
a
a
l
ocat
i
on to anot
h
er
,
suc
h
as
f
rom our tower
l
ocat
i
ons to our networ
k
core. We
b
e
li
eve t
h
at m
i
crowave
b
ac
kh
au
l
s
i
g
nificantl
y
reduces our overall backhaul expenses and im
p
r
oves our abilit
y
to scale our backhaul network as the amoun
t
of data traffic over our network
g
rows, while at the same time maintainin
g
the same or better reliabilit
y
than wirelin
e
b
ase
db
ac
kh
au
l
net
w
or
k
s
.
Networ
kC
or
e
Th
e networ
k
core routes t
h
e
d
ata tra
ffi
c
f
rom our
b
ac
kh
au
l
networ
k
to t
h
e Internet or,
f
or our vo
i
ce serv
i
ces, t
he
p
ublic switched telephone network, which we refer to as PSTN, the primar
y
functions of the mobile WiMAX core
i
nclude:
• aut
h
ent
i
cat
i
ng an
d
aut
h
or
i
z
i
ng su
b
scr
ib
ers
;
• aggregat
i
ng an
d
rout
i
ng tra
ffi
ctoan
df
rom t
h
e Internet:
•su
b
scr
ib
er prov
i
s
i
on
i
n
g
an
d billi
n
g;
• contro
lli
n
g
IP a
dd
resses an
d
connect
i
n
g
to t
h
e Internet; an
d
• offerin
g
value-added services such as live video, location-based services, and music broadcas
t
programm
i
ng
.
Network Management and Operational Support Systems
We a
l
so use a networ
k
management system t
h
at
i
ncorporates a comp
l
ete set o
f
management too
l
s to ena
bl
et
he
c
onfi
g
uration, mana
g
ement, monitorin
g
and reportin
g
of all network status elements. This s
y
stem provides secure
,
c
entralized and remote confi
g
uration of base stations, CPE, switches and other network elements. The s
y
stem
r
eports to an
d
a
l
erts our system a
d
m
i
n
i
strators to a
l
arms an
df
au
l
ts, an
d
mon
i
tors system per
f
ormance
d
own to t
he
i
ndividual CPE. It supports customizable report
g
eneration to track network performance, utilization and capacit
y.
Sp
ectru
m
Our network operates over licensed spectrum in our domestic and international markets. Althou
g
h severa
l
b
roa
db
an
d
tec
h
no
l
og
i
es can operate
i
nun
li
cense
d
or pu
bli
c access spectrum, we
b
e
li
eve us
i
ng
li
cense
d
spectru
m
e
na
bl
es us to prov
id
e a cons
i
stent
ly high
er qua
li
t
y
o
f
serv
i
ce to our su
b
scr
ib
ers, w
i
t
h
out t
h
e
i
nter
f
erence t
h
at
i
s
ty
picall
y
associated with unlicensed frequenc
y
bands
.
U
nited
S
tates
I
n the United States, licensed spectrum is
g
overned b
y
Federal Communications Commission, which we refer
t
o as FCC, ru
l
es t
h
at prov
id
ea
li
cense
h
o
ld
er w
i
t
h
exc
l
us
i
ve use o
f
a spec
ifi
e
d
spectrum
f
requency
b
an
d
an
d
restr
i
ct
i
nterference from other licensees and spectrum users, providin
g
some protection a
g
ainst interruption and de
g
ra-
dation of service. Under FCC rules, unlicensed spectrum users do not have exclusive use of an
y
frequencies, ma
y
n
ot cause
i
nter
f
erence w
i
t
h
t
h
e operat
i
ons o
f
any
li
cense
d
operators an
d
may su
ff
er
i
nter
f
erence
f
rom ot
h
ers us
i
ng
14