Abstract :
This paper describes recent efforts to develop a cellphone unit that unites Wi-Fi and wireless capabilities. The unit would minimize expensive cellular minutes, replacing them with free or cheap Wi-fi time. Often, too, it would yield a higher-quality call, because cellular coverage is usually weakest where Wi-Fi excels. Several companies are working on two different ways to unite the worlds of mobile telephony and wireless networking within enterprises. Yet another system, from a small Chicago company, BridgePort Networks Inc., would let individual consumers roam freely between cellular and Wi-Fi networks, enjoying the best of both wireless worlds.
