Newsgroups: comp.robotics
Path: brunix!uunet!psinntp!daneel!seldon.foundation.tricon.com!nathan
From: nathan@seldon.foundation.tricon.com (Nathan D. Lane)
Subject: Re: Wireless Modem
Message-ID: <1993Jun1.064308.8613@daneel.foundation.tricon.com>
MessageID: <1993May31.232532@seldon.foundation.tricon.com>
Organization: Triicon Systems, Inc.
References: <1993May25.051408.12637@worak.kaist.ac.kr> <C7Los6.pC7@austin.ibm.com>
Date: Tue, 01 Jun 1993 06:43:07 GMT
Lines: 63

Okay, I think I've seen the request for radio modems enough now to justify
a post.  I have responded to a couple of people on other groups in a desire
to see/get one of these creatures.

I work with a company here in Santa Barbara, CA that is trying to manufacture
and market a radio modem (in the near future) for far less than current
product offerings.  They use a spreadspectrum radio technology which goes
up to 35 miles line of sight and has little chance of being interfered with
(kind of works like cellular  picking the best frequency for transmission
under various conditions).  I have played with their units in a data
transmission application (using PPP and SLIP + dumb terminal emulation).
They work well and transmit (in the current model) up to 19.2Kbps.  They
do require a protocol (or algorithm) for transmission that goes somewhat
like this:

1. When do I transmit?
	a. When I receive a delimiter character
	b. When I haven't received a character in X# of milliseconds
	c. When my buffer (0 to 576 bytes) has filled up

So, it's not great for typing over or "general purpose" computing, but it
would work great if you designed your own protocol and programmed the unit
to respond to your delimiters.

The company is called "Utilicom"  they are currently pushing the units onto
Utility Companies (hence the name "Utilicom") to hook up to their electric/
water/gas meters.  In that eventuality, a truck could drive through your
neighborhood and never have to see your gas/water/electric meter.

My company has convinced them that they have a data application for their
product in smaller cities (e.g., Santa Barbara, CA) for my company's product.

I think they may be worth a look  they plan to market the units for less than
$200.00 each  about 20% of what competitive products cost (I have seen radio
modems for about $900 to $1500 EACH).  I know they plan to offer the units
at $200.00 each if they can manufacture them for less than $40.00 each.
(Which I know they can  the units are so simple it is *disgusting*).

So please send email for more details.  I would really like to collect the
email and present it to the company showing that they do indeed have a 
data/hobbyist market for the units.  It won't take much to convince them!

Technology note:  They use spreadspectrum, as already mentioned, and with
a range of up to 35 miles.  The unit always changes frequencies, keeping in
sync with a companion unit.  There is little chance of eavesdropping on the
transmissions.  I hear that they switch every 100 ms. or so.  Also, they
assure me that several *thousand* of these things can be in any given 
area without interfering with each other.  Also, they require no FCC license,
even though they transmit at several *watts* (when they *do* transmit).  Also,
in the utility application, they expect (and have designed) a six month 
battery lifespan with AA batteries and a 1 year lifespan with "C" batteries.
Of course, don't expect that kind of life if you are transmitting from your
robot 24 hours a day! :)

Hope this helps, and I look forward to hearing from you all.

 

Nathan D. Lane, MIS Analyst and VP of Triicon Systems, Inc.
Santa Barbara, CA  (805) 9636555; email: nathan@seldon.foundation.tricon.com
Making the Title Insurance World an Easier Place!


