DragonWave ramps up production on lower cost LMCS radios, ships to five clients

An Ottawa area company has developed a process for designing and manufacturing LMCS radios faster and for a fraction of the price of previously designed equipment. That process will now be put into practice as DragonWave Inc has signed a manufacturing agreement with Ottawa-based BreconRidge Manufacturing Solutions Corp, which is now ramping up production of DragonWave’s radios. Designing LMCS radios is considered a "black art" in engineering circles because of the length of time and level of complexity required before the product even makes it to the production floor. Terry Dyche, director of manufacturing at DragonWave, says it currently takes about 18 months to turn around new products. And companies looking to increase marketshare couldn’t wait a year and a half for another variation of an existing product. Standardization, it seems, has provided much relief. The company’s process integrates some of the manufacturing techniques right into the design, shaving months off the production schedule. "Not only do we have a product that we can bring to market quickly, we can turn around (other) products within two to three months." RF components using the older manufacturing process could run as high as $20,000, while components produced by DragonWave range from the $500 to $3,500. The new process also doesn’t appear to sacrifice data throughput rates, with the company claiming that speeds up to 155 Mbs can be attained. The developments at DragonWave haven’t gone unnoticed by some original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). Dave Farrar, head of business development and operations, tells Report on Wireless that the company is currently shipping radios to five major OEMs and is working with another 15 to 20 at the RFP and testing phases. However, he can’t reveal the identities of the companies because of non-disclosure agreements. "If you’re in the industry, you’d recognize the names," he says. The biggest demand for the radios is coming from Europe and Asia, with only limited interest from a couple of North American players. Companies looking to deploy LMCS radio networks aren’t pure plays, says Farrar. Rather, they are using the technology as an adjunct to existing communications infrastructure. Better manufacturing process leads to cheaper gear Newbridge Networks Corp began working on ways to lower the cost of LMCS gear when it was in a heated battle a couple of years ago with Cisco Systems Inc, Nortel Networks Corp and others to land much sought-after LMCS contracts. DragonWave, which was formed in 2000 following the sale of Newbridge to France-based Alcatel SA, eventually came up with a solution (RoW, Aug. 21/00). Instead of designing the radios for a particular frequency from the outset, the new design and manufacturing approach facilitates a certain level of standardization by allowing minor adjustments to the radio in the later stages of the process, says Farrar. "You still have all the different spectrum frequencies, but what we’ve done is made sure that we can (address) the overall spectrum with two or three radio platforms," he explains. "And then the specialization doesn’t occur until we’re on the shop floor." Market for LMCS exists, but new markets being exploredDespite the failure and restructuring of some of the industry’s most well known LMCS companies, like Teligent, Winstar, Maxlink and Norigen Communications, DragonWave executives maintain there is still a market for this type of equipment. Farrar says there are some integrators that are still deploying, although he can’t reveal too much for fear of breaking the NDAs. (See story in this issue for more information on the sale of Norigen’s assets.) At the urging of some of its customers, DragonWave is also looking at other bands that could benefit from its new design and manufacturing process, including 3.5 GHz. "We actually came up with a (3.5 GHz) product and had a memorandum of understanding with a large integrator that was looking for something (in that range)," says Farrar. "(But) I’ve always been nervous about going there because there are so many competitors (in that space)." While Farrar is still unsure about the potential of the 3.5 GHz range, he expects there may be some opportunities in that band in the future. "(There’s) certainly a possibility that the techniques for manufacturing (radios) we’ve come up with to move down into the MMDS range," he says. One of the key factors in attacking that space is the need for even lower costs by having an integrated indoor/outdoor unit, he adds. "(While) we have an approach for that, we’re waiting for that market to improve to go after it."

DragonWave ramps up production on lower cost LMCS radios, ships to five clients

News | 09/18/2001 4:00 am EDT

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