23-Aug-2012
WiMAX Forum Showcases Interoperability among Field Area Networking WiMAX Products
San Diego, CA – August 23, 2012 – Today the WiMAX Forum announced its inaugural WiGRID™ PlugFest Event, to be held in Vancouver, BC from September 10 - 14, 2012. The WiGRID PlugFest, hosted by Powertech Labs Inc. and scheduled to coincide with UTC Canada 2012, will bring a mix global utility company experts and equipment vendors to engage in hands-on testing of equipment. The event will specifically provide an opportunity for WiMAX equipment manufacturers serving the utility space to test the interoperability of their products against use case scenarios specifically drafted by the Utility Industry. This event marks the WiMAX Forum’s first phase of interoperability testing for WiGRID technology, and will showcase the capabilities of WiMAX Field Area Networking and Smart Grid equipment.
WiGRID is a new IEEE 802.16 system profile being developed by the WiMAX Forum against the requirements of the Utility companies. WiGRID contains important new features that optimize IEEE 802.16 standard’s based WiMAX equipment for a range of Field Area Networking applications and use cases.
The WiGRID PlugFest will allow multiple WiMAX equipment suppliers to conduct an extensive series of interoperability tests to showcase their capabilities to the Utility Ecosystem. Participants will test equipment in multiple frequency bands, allowing vendors to conduct testing at higher layers demonstrating interoperability across a number of different applications.
“Wireless technologies are an important part of Smart Grid infrastructure,” stated Eugene Crozier, Chair of the WiMAX Forum’s Smart Grid Working Group. “The WiGRID Plugfest event represents a positive step towards WiMAX equipment vendors demonstrating both the interoperability and applicability of their equipment to support utility applications in the 1.8, 2.3 and 3.65 GHz frequency bands”.
“This event is an important milestone for both the WIMAX Forum and the Utility Industry,” said Paul Senior, Vice-Chair of the WiMAX Forum’s Smart Grid Working Group, and CTO of Airspan Networks. “It demonstrates the successful collaboration over the last 18 months between WiMAX equipment vendors and Utility company communications experts which has created a new networking technology based on IEEE 802.16 for Utility Field Area Networks. We look forward to a successful WiGRID PlugFest.”
The WiMAX Forum's mission is to facilitate the adoption of WiMAX technology across the world and ensure that industry products are interoperable. The WiMAX Forum continues to make significant progress in delivering products that help network operators build out WiMAX networks. The WiGRID PlugFest signals the endorsement of manufacturers to make cost-effective, standardized and interoperable WiMAX equipment in support of Utilities.
There is no registration fee to WiGRID PlugFest; participation in this event is free to utilities and vendors, and membership in the WiMAX Forum is not a requirement for participation at this time. For additional details and to register for this event please visit: WiGRID PlugFest 2012.
For more information on WiMAX technology or to become a member of the WiMAX Forum, please send a message to Membership@wimaxforum.org.
About the WiMAX Forum®
The WiMAX Forum® is an industry-led, not-for-profit organization that certifies and promotes the compatibility and interoperability of broadband wireless products based upon IEEE Standard 802.16. The WiMAX Forum’s primary goal is to accelerate the adoption, deployment and expansion of WiMAX technologies across the globe while facilitating roaming agreements, sharing best practices within our membership and certifying products. WiMAX Forum Certified® products are interoperable and support broadband fixed, nomadic, portable and mobile services. The WiMAX Forum works closely with service providers and regulators to ensure that WiMAX Forum Certified systems meet customer and government requirements. For more information, visit www.wimaxforum.org.
