While Cisco’s Motion Architecture is a major development in the wireless space, the real value will come from the ecosystem of applications developers and other technology partners that will build the capabilities on top of the platform that Cisco is providing. Here’s a look at how two of those partners are contributing to Cisco Motion.
Agito Networks
Agito launched their RoamAnyWhere enterprise Fixed-Mobile Convergence (eFMC)/Mobile Unified Communications product in October 2007. Similar in concept to the DiVitas Networks solution, Agito’s The RoamAnyWhere Mobililty Router allows users with dual mode Wi-Fi/cellular handsets to roam between Wi-Fi and cellular networks and have their calls transparently handed off between them. The solution involves connecting a Mobility Router to the PBX system and installing special client software in the dual mode handset (Idescribed Agito’s offerings along with the other major enterprise FMC offerings in a white paper that’s available on the site).
According to Pejman Roshan, Agito’s co-founder and VP of Marketing, they will be making use of the Mobile Intelligent Roaming feature of the Cisco’s Mobile Services Engine (MSE). The key to providing an effective handoff between the WLAN and the cellular network is to have a clear view of the status of both networks along with information about the device itself. He notes that the client software they provide for the handset canmonitor the cellular network based on signal strength, but it needs a better view of what’s going on in the WLAN to determine which network would support the call best. The MSE providestheir Mobility Router with a composite metric of user location and WLAN availability so they can make an intelligent choice as to whether a call should be handed off. For example, the MSE might signal that they should handoff the call to cellular, but if the client signals that the cellular service is poor or non-existent, they might choose to leave the call on the wireless LAN.
Along with the network metrics, the Mobility Router might also consider factors such as battery state (cellular is more battery efficient than Wi-Fi), session quality, or user defined policies. In short, Agito can provide the basic advantages of an eFMC solution such as one number accessibility and single voicemail, with the ability to extend key PBX features to the handset as well. Currently those features include hold, conference, forward and transfer, though they do have plans to include presence-enabled directory access and visual voicemail in the future.
AeroScout
AeroScout is a leading provider of wireless location technologies has also partnered with Cisco to deliver its Context-Aware Mobility capability. AeroScout makes a full line of Wi-Fi based active RFID tags and AeroScout Location Engine software that will be integrated in the Cisco 3300 Series Mobility Services Engine.
According to Gabi Daniely, AeroScout’s VP of Marketing and Product Services, their capabilities center on tag-based location and their solution is adaptable to a wide range of applications. Traditional location solutions depend on received signal strength indication (RSSI), the process of measuring the received signal at three or more access points to judge the tag’s location. The AeroScout solution can also use Time Difference of Arrival, a more reliable alternative for large indoor locations like warehouses and outdoor environments.
While their technology is based primarily on active RFID using Wi-Fi, AeroScout has also incorporated a passive RFID type capability in what they call Choke Point Protection. Wi-Fi tagsgenerate a transmission periodically that allows the network to determine their location. That reporting interval is adjustable based on the requirements of the application, and the less often a device transmits, the longer its battery will last.
In AeroScout’s Choke-Point Detection capability provides a method of determining a tag’s location immediately if it enters a particular area. To do this, the tag also includes a separate low frequency receiver. Devices called Exciters are placed at key locations, and they generate the low frequency signal the tag detects causing it to generate a transmission the network can use to locate it immediately. So devices can be tracked on a scheduled basis and when they come within range of an Exciter. In health care environments, Alzheimer’s patients could have tags that report immediately when they approach a building exit.
Conclusion
These are two specific examples of capabilities driven by the Cisco Mobility Services Engine. There are countless other functions that could be envisioned should other unified communications vendors choose to link to the Cisco architecture.