NEC's WiMAX System to Enable Tatung to Hold WiMAX Demonstrations at Taiwan WiMAX Forum

The WiMAX demonstration is part of the M-Taiwan Project being undertaken by the Taiwanese government to promote the construction of an advanced information society and encourage the growth of domestic industry.

The demonstration leverages the know-how cultivated through the WiMAX-based government medical service trials currently being carried out jointly by Tatung and NEC in Hualian City. At the Taiwan WiMAX Forum, the demonstration will be centered on the transportation of a patient by ambulance to the hospital. The WiMAX system enables medical information, such as the patient's heart rate and blood pressure, to be sent to the hospital on route via a WiMAX network. Similarly, the hospital can send the patient's past medical records to the ambulance to enable appropriate emergency treatment to be carried out on route. Audio and video information is already being handled by existing wireless infrastructures, however, these systems cannot handle larger capacity transmissions, which are required to send large-volume data such as X-rays. Handover among base stations is also required to send and receive large-volume data at high speeds to and from a moving vehicle.

NEC has overcome these technical challenges by leveraging its know-how in wireless broadband communications and WiMAX technologies, as well as by optimizing the installation of base stations.

Tatung plays a central role in M-Taiwan and has acquired a business license to participate in the WiMAX communication carrier business based on the results of the Hualien trials, for which NEC is providing comprehensive support. In May, NEC signed a basic agreement with the Taiwan Ministry of Economic Affairs to construct a WiMAX R&D Center in Taiwan, and is currently involved in preparations to establish the center.

NEC will continue to strengthen collaboration with Tatung to promote further development of the Taiwanese WiMAX industry, and will build on this and past successes to grow its global WiMAX business. -NEC