Startup Pioneers Wireless Peer-To-Peer Technology

Greenpacket

Greenpacket CEO C.C. Puan said the Fremont-based company by November plans to ship software, called SONBuddy (SON stands for self organizing network), that can be used with any of the 802.11 standards to form ad-hoc networks without the need for additional wireless infrastructure.

The software identifies mobile users in the area with compatible 802.11 capabilities and allows those users to form a network, sync files, collaborate and communicate via voice over IP. Greenpacket will rely on the IP Security Protocol (IPsec) to help protect data, Puan said.

"Our sole mission is to keep people connected wireless without or without wireless infrastructure," he said.

For more consumer-related applications, the software also maintains a Web page with the mobile user's profile and interests, allowing the user to hook up wirelessly with other like-minded people.

SONBuddy is available for the Pocket PC platform but won't support the current version of the Palm OS or version 5.0. Palm's operating system, expected in handhelds this fall, can't support the routing technology available in SONBuddy, he said.

Greenpacket is in the process of developing a strategy to offer the software through solution providers, Puan said. Company executives are developing a channel program that will offer training and a free software developer's kit (SDK) that can be used to build vertical applications on top of the technology, he said. Media, advertising and insurance are among the vertical markets Puan said would be likely candidates for immediate use of such technology.

But Aberdeen Group analyst Isaac Ro warned that in a tight economic climate, such technology might be a hard sell to frugal enterprise CIOs. Most companies these days are looking to "squeeze additional dollars" out of existing technology investments rather than invest in new technology, he said.

"It might be difficult to prove SONBuddy can improve the bottom line," Ro said.

Still, Greenpacket's technology could get a boost from Microsoft and Intel, Ro said. Microsoft has been pushing its Tablet PC platform along with better development tools for the mobile market. And Intel recently announced that its forthcoming Banias processor--a CPU developed from the ground up for portable systems--will include integrated 802.11a and 802.11b wireless capabilities.

"Industry heavyweights pushing wireless heavily," he said. "There are going to be a lot more opportunities in the mobile space. All these mobile devices will need to connect, either to a network or to each other."

Puan said Greenpacket is talking with Pocket PC manufacturers about bundling the software on wireless devices and is expecting to be able to announce a deal by the time the software ships. The company is pitching the product to carriers as an additional sales channel, he added.

Greenpacket also markets a technology called SONAccess that lets mobile users roam seamlessly between wireless WAN and 802.11 hotspots. Puan said lab trials for the technology are currently under way with Verizon Wireless and other international carriers.

The beta version of SONBuddy and a beta SDK are available as a free download from Greenpacket's Web site, www.greenpacket.com.