The transportable 4G solution of the French start-up Air-Lynx brings IP applications to private networks of companies.
Created in 2013, Air-Lynx was born from a simple observation: the one that professional mobile services were far from providing the equivalent of the all-IP applications that benefited the mainstream users with 4G. Philippe Saenz, an expert in professional radiocommunications, particularly in the Tetra standard, and Didier Raffenoux, who has more than 30 years of experience in the telecom industry, founded Air-Lynx with the desire to fill this gap. "There was a gap, recalls Didier Raffenoux, the first mission we gave ourselves was to provide 4G solutions to the professional world for private
networks. "
After two years of development, essentially software, the project is concretized by the development of a 4G all-in-one portable and easy to deploy. An offer that, in a large suitcase weighing less than 30 kg ("much of it due to shock-resistant coating", points out Didier Raffenoux), includes a core network (EPC) and an e-NodeB base station, Including the radio head (which generates the signals) directly connected to the antenna. "It's a real 4G network with 2 x 20 Watts MIMO, a power comparable to a mainstream network," says Air-Lynx co-leader. What to cover between 10 and 20 km of radius around the antenna with a rate of 100-150 Mbit / s in reception according to the bandwidth. The module is powered by 220 V. on the traditional power grid or another source of energy (battery, generator ...). A network interconnected with those of national operators but also with standard professional PMR infrastructures like Tetra, P25, etc. "The company retains its historical professional network to gradually switch to the LTE," justifies Didier Raffenoux.
A 4G network in two minutes
The simplicity of the implementation of the solution, "which starts in two minutes", is added the application offer. In addition to classical telephony, Air-Lynx has developed Push-to-talk (IP walkie talkie), video with shared functions - "it's the killer application," explains the manager. Connect smartphones, IP cameras, drones ... "- and a geolocation service which allows to display on the terminals a map with the position of the other users of the network.
If Air-Lynx is a 4G network manufacturer, it does not provide the terminals. But "the solution works with any smartphone," says Didier Raffenoux. We have developed an Android application shipped with the integrated network that allows the customer to use the communication service immediately on its smartphones. "A good way to feed the supply of Android hardened terminals that is expanding on the market to meet the field uses.
The IoT also
The start-up company located in the south of Paris and currently run by 26 people (including about 15 engineers and developers) is aimed at operators, most of the time companies that need to control their network in the (And must be licensed to operate the wireless network). In particular, the SNCF, which has used Air-Lynx's 4G for railway safety in the context of the Euro football, is now operating it for a system of drones dedicated to the monitoring of sites. Another example is the DCNS, which uses the solution to retrieve data from radiated (submarine) sound measurement systems.
The Internet object market (IoT) is indeed a big potential market for Air-Lynx. "The 4G solutions complement the low-bandwidth networks of Sigfox and Lora for higher throughput requirements", says our interlocutor. The company is also in discussions with integrators to provide solutions within the framework of deployments with uses of robotics, sensors, audiovisual, etc., on the same network. Air-Lynx is also expected to benefit from the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona at the end of February to announce a NB-IoT solution, one of the 3GPP protocols for objects connected to mobile networks .
4G serving communities
Air-Lynx's 4G offering can also be used as a fixed network extension. In French Guiana, operators Caribsat and Veldissimo Telecom rely on the French start-up solution to cover an area of 6 km2 in LTE and bring high-speed Internet to the inhabitants of the villages of Maripasoula and Papaïchton. The solution therefore has the profile to address the white areas. The aggregation of several station-cases (then proposed in rack format) indeed allows to extend the scope of the 4G network and to ensure its resilience. If we are the only ones to have a broadband radio head (690-960 MHz) for the professional markets, configurable in a software way, we know how to work in the other bands, "says Didier Raffenoux. Namely bands 1, 3, 4, 5, 10 and 20. Flexibility that can be of interest to local authorities deploying their very high-speed (THD) networks. "Discussions are ongoing with them," confirms the manager who will say no more for the moment.
Technological developments will continue. To meet the needs of IoT especially but also in view of the arrival of the 5G. Its mainly software offering opens the way easily to the virtualization of its technology as part of a transposition in the Cloud. Again, Air-Lynx could create surprise in Barcelona. In the meantime, the French start-up will continue its development, notably internationally. To do so, he is back in search of funding and hopes to announce a second fundraiser next summer. The first was € 1.5 million from Innovacom and support from BPI France. "The market is starting and we have to structure ourselves to sell everywhere," said Didier Raffenoux, who wants to take advantage of his technological lead. Internationally, Air-Lynx is present in Norway, Italy, Malaysia and Peru thanks to an indirect sales model based on integrating agreements that serve about twenty customers worldwide. For 2017, the company hopes to double its turnover on which it does not wish to communicate at the moment. But at a time when mobility is becoming more and more unavoidable for companies, the potential is buoyant.
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