Intel Seen Readying New Wi-Fi Chips This Week
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Intel Corp. INTC.O this week is expected to introduce a chip that adds support for a relatively obscure version of Wi-Fi, analysts said on Monday, in a move that could help ease congestion on wireless networks.
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Intel's presentation at a conference next week appears set to confirm many rumored details of the chip's architecture and characteristics.
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(InfoWorld) - During a presentation at the IEEE Globecom 2006 Expo in San Francisco on Tuesday, Alan Crouch, director and general manager at Intel's Communications Technology Lab told the audience to expect Intel to put a pre-standard version of IEEE 802.11n Wi-Fi into its Centrino chips by next year. The IEEE 802.11n standard, which is not expected to be ratified before the first half of 2008, will give users far greater performance and range than current Wi-Fi technology. The technology will someday scale to 600Mbps, according to Bill McFarland, a member of the IEEE committee, with a range 50 percent greater than available with Wi-Fi now. Although the news caused barely a ripple of reaction in the audience of software and hardware engineers, there are industry analysts who have already warned large buyers of wireless technology to resist the temptation to deploy high speed IEEE 802.11n devices until the standard is ratified. This is the advice of Gartner's Ken Dulaney, among others, who said that a pre-standard version might be fine for the home where the technology exists as a closed loop, but in an enterprise with a heterogeneous wireless environment it could lead to interoperability problems down the road. Continuing on a theme of emerging technologies, Crouch also touted the benefits of UWB (Ultra Wideband), a short range, three meters, wireless technology, which he said will start to gain recognition in â07. UWB is sometimes called Wireless USB but with better performance. In addition, Crouch said the Bluetooth standards body will adopt UWB technology as a future version of Bluetooth. With its short range and high performance, first devices will be capable of 480Mbps, Crouch said consumer electronics companies will quickly take up the technology. Following Crouch on stage was David Leeper, senior principal engineer for UWB at Intel who continued to talk about UWB benefits and uses. "It is a compelling technology because you can do video streaming at very low power," Leeper said. Leeper estimated a full-length feature movie could be downloaded using UWB in 80 seconds. If UWB performs as advertised it could easily replace most interconnect cables such as those running to printers, scanners, and other peripheral devices allowing a user to print, stream wireless display data, and synch all at the same time. The capability to move a great deal of content at high speed also has a use in the enterprise, Leeper added. At the end of the Intel presentation, Crouch admitted that the biggest challenge faced by the industry is overcoming RF (radio frequency) interference among the various wireless technologies, especially Wi-Fi, WiMAX, and UWB. Crouch said each of the three technologies has a unique usage model and he does not expect any one of the three to replace the other.Crouch said, however, it wouldnât be easy to have a single device with all three radios inside. "Requirements for [using] multi-radio is a huge leap. This is where companies are spending their time and energy," Crouch said.ADVERTISEMENTNEW IT SERVICES FROM IBM: EASIER TO BUY AND IMPLEMENTDiscover a simpler, more cost-effective way to get the solutions your company needs to grow more flexible and efficient.
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Advanced Micro Devices plans to demonstrate its version of a new approach to processor design on Tuesday, with a chip that is expected to offer faster computing and relatively less power consumption.
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This week, chip giant Intel is hosting its twice-a-year Intel Developer Forum, where PC hardware and software developers will hear the company&#39;s plans for future products.
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Blog: Next week will see the arrival of new Intel chips for servers with four or more processors, as the chipmaker finally moves past the old Netburst architecture.
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Intel is working on a device management technology that could allow IT departments to use existing management software to bring a slew of wireless devices under the IT department umbrella.
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Although the IEEE 802.11n wireless standard isn't expected to be ratified before early 2008, Intel plans to include a prestandard version of the wireless networking technology in its Centrino chips next year.
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With an eye on gaining a stronger foothold in the wireless market, Intel has launched new flash memory software, along with a developer toolset, to speed the design and deployment of applications for next-generation multimedia phones.
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Intel Corp. (INTC.O: Quote, Profile, Research) on Thursday said it has upgraded the wireless networking capabilities of its Centrino line of notebook computer chips to allow broader network access with improved security.
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SAN FRANCISCO - Intel Corporation recently disclosed key technical details of its upcoming wireless broadband chip for WiMAX products, which will enable long-distance, high-speed wireless Internet access for homes and businesses.
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Intel Corp. will look to a multicore future during the Fall Intel Developer Forum (IDF) in San Francisco next week as it tries to leave behind a tumultuous year plagued by product delays and road map revisions.
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Intel Thursday announced the latest WLAN chipset for the next generation of its Centrino wireless product set. The new radio chipset will transmit on either the 2.4-GHz or 5-GHz bands, so it can support 802.
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Intel, the world&#39;s largest chip maker, said on Tuesday that it had started providing customers with test versions of chips for equipment that will allow long-range wireless high-speed Internet surfing.
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Intel, looking to maintain mind share and market share in the mobile PC space, said Thursday it will begin shipping new, tri-band wireless functionality in its Centrino platform next month and will boost software and security support.
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SAN FRANCISCO (CBS.MW) - Intel expanded the capabilities of its Centrino chips Thursday by introducing support for an additional wireless networking standard known as 802.
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Intel may deliver WiMax technology more quickly to mobile users by including it as an option for ultramobile devices based on the company&#39;s Menlow platform, according to an Intel executive.Intel&#39;s integration of WiMax technology will come in notebooks based on the company&#39;s Montevina platform, an upgrade to the mobile Centrino platform, due out in the second half of 2008. However, it is possible that Intel will also deliver WiMax technology to ultraportables and mobile Internet devices based on the Menlow platform sometime in 2008, said Mooly Eden, vice president and general manager, Intel Mobile Platforms Group.Intel is already developing a WiMax silicon chip codenamed Baxter Peak for mobile devices. Last year, Nokia said it would use Baxter Peak on its WiMax-enabled N-series Internet tablets, expected to ship in 2008.&quot;Baxter Peak is not a &#39;required&#39; part of the Menlow platform,&quot; said Kari Aakre, an Intel spokeswoman. It will be an option similar to how Echo Peak is an option for Centrino notebooks based on the Montevina mobile platform, Aakre said. Echo Peak is a minicard that integrates WiMax and Wi-Fi technology on one chip.The Menlow platform is a set of components, including the low-power Silverthorne processor and Poulsbo chipset, that run ultramobile devices. Intel didn&#39;t release further details on the platform.Adoption of WiMax is expected to take off in 2009, and Intel wants to deliver WiMax clients quicker to boost adoption of the technology, Eden said. Intel is trying to move in parallel with wireless carriers, which expect WiMax-enabled mobile devices to hit the market as the networks are established.&quot;When you&#39;re trying to create a market, you always start at the infant stages,&quot; Eden said.Intel is already testing WiMax, including in Japan and Russia.&#160;A consortium including Intel and Japanese telecom company KDDI will receive one of two WiMax licenses to be awarded by the Japanese government. Intel is assisting Russian company Comstar UTS in building a nationwide WiMax-based network.Menlow-based devices will ship in the first half of 2008. Intel also said that it will display ultramobile PCs based on Menlow architecture from vendors including Asus, BenQ, and Lenovo at the Consumer Electronics Show at Las Vegas this week. The Menlow platform,&#160;announced at the Intel Developer Forum in Beijing in April, will be followed in 2009 by the Moorestown platform, which Intel detailed in September.The company is also developing Diamondville, an ultramobile processor bearing features similar to the Silverthorne processor.Though WiMax has availability and power consumption issues, Intel is trying to get carriers building networks to establish WiMax as a standard, said Dean McCarron, founder and principal at analyst firm Mercury Research.&quot;Intel wants to make sure that there is a readily available platform that can use WiMax and that it&#39;s worth the while of wireless providers to support WiMax,&quot; McCarron said.If Intel can tackle the power-consumption issues and provide wide-area network access through its products, adoption of the technology may increase, McCarron said.