NEW ORLEANS--At CTIA Wireless this week, switching vendor Tekelec introduced a new unlicensed mobile access (UMA) upgrade to its Tekelec 8000 multimedia gateway line.

While the UMA standard is designed to allow offloading of calls from the circuit-switched cellular network to IP wireless networks such as Wi-Fi hot spots, Tekelec officials touted the new gateway as more than just a network bridge. The vendor has built quality of service into the platform that identifies the characteristics of signals originating from any Wi-Fi access point, and uses that information to regulate hand-off between the cellular and IP network. "When the packet loss becomes too high or the call becomes otherwise unsustainable, the gateway forces hand-off to the cellular network," said Payam Maveddat, regional vice president of marketing and development for Tekelec.

Maveddat said several Tier I operators in North America, Europe and Asia that have deployed the Tekelec 8000 are now using the upgrades in trials. The upgrade consists of a new interface card and software upgrade. Those carriers are using the gateway in slightly different configurations, however, since many of those deployments were intended to support UMTS launches. Carriers are using the Wi-Fi capabilities in areas where they have only GSM and GPRS networks, since most carriers want to keep traffic on their UMTS networks. But in high-traffic GSM areas, the solution provides definite advantages, allowing carriers to reduce congestion over their voice networks and overcome both spectrum and access infrastructure limitations, Maveddat said.