Cambium Networks today launched a new multipoint broadband wireless offering that is about half the price of the company’s previous multipoint offering –albeit with less total throughput.
In an interview, Cambium CEO Atul Bhatnagar said the new product, dubbed ePMP, will be suitable for broader deployment in rural areas of North America because of the lower price point.
The company’s earlier multipoint product, known simply as PMP, was originally known as the Motorola Canopy but Cambium acquired that business from Motorola. The ePMP, which delivers up to 200 Mbps at the hub, is not a replacement for the PMP, explained Bhatnagar.
The PMP, he said, provides one gigabit of throughput at the hub location and is excellent for network operators that need to support applications such as video. But although it had highly reliable technology, it was too costly for “deep and wide” deployment in North America, Bhatnagar said.
The ePMP aims to change that. “A network provider will use ePMP to extend and scale[its] current wireline or wireless network,” Bhatnagar said.
Bhatnagar added that network operators might use the ePMP to support business or enterprise customers deploying video surveillance systems or other enterprise networks.
The ePMP operates in the 5 GHz band and includes GPS synchronization for scalability and quality of service, the company said. It also has an interesting capability Cambium calls “transmit power control.”
As Cambium Senior Director of Engineering Sakid Ahmed explained, this feature tells the device to “transmit to send and receive at a certain power level to reduce self-interference.” The product operates in the 5 GHz band.
The ePMP housing is rated to temperature extremes, Cambium said.
