Proxim Wireless Announces OFDM Point-to-Point System Being Utilized For Railroad Operations

San Jose, CA -- Proxim Wireless Corporation, a provider of broadband wireless equipment and wholly-owned subsidiary of Terabeam, Inc., announced that its orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) point-to-point systems are being used to support communications for a multi-site, railroad-owned coal conveyor system in a remote, mountainous area of West Virginia. The system has delivered gains in bandwidth which have in turn allowed more advanced applications. The project was managed by Eastern Electric, LLC, a Proxim Wireless integrator that worked with Alico Systems, a value-added reseller and Proxim Wireless Platinum Partner.

Communications for the coal conveyor system had traditionally been supported by a fiber network with a number of limitations:

-- an effective throughput of 56 kbps due to the age of the infrastructure, forcing the railroad to limit traffic by choosing which alarms to connect to it;

-- inability to pull fiber to the main network operating center (NOC), thus preventing remote monitoring and requiring technicians to drive as far as 20 miles; and

-- susceptibility to fiber cuts, one of which drove the railroad to identify alternative solutions.

Eastern Electric and Alico Systems worked together to present a wireless solution based on the Proxim Wireless TeraMax point-to-point product. As with all of Proxim's WiMAX and pre-WiMAX products including TeraMax and Tsunami, this product is a system using OFDM which enables near-line-of-sight (NLOS) connections. The wireless system delivered substantially more bandwidth as well as a connection to the NOC to enable remote monitoring.

"After evaluating proposals from several companies, we determined that the Proxim Wireless solution best fit the needs of this application at a price that enabled us to meet a limited budget," said Michael Harlow, Managing Member, Eastern Electric, LLC. "Since we've installed it, the system has not only exceeded performance expectations but has also required minimal maintenance."

"We are proud to have delighted Eastern Electric," said Amit Malhotra, Vice President of Marketing, Proxim Wireless. "Proxim's pre-WiMAX and WiMAX products continue to expand our customers' horizons in terms of applications, with railways and trains being an area where we have excelled."

SOURCE: Proxim Wireless Corporation