Advertisment

Intel sets strategy on wireless networking

author-image
CIOL Bureau
Updated On
New Update

NEW YORK: Top chip maker Intel Corp. on Monday set a broad strategy for the

emerging business of wireless computer networking, joining the board of an

industry group that backs one standard while unveiling plans for a line of

speedier networking equipment using another standard.

Advertisment

Wireless networks have become popular in homes, businesses, and public places

such as coffee shops and airports, allowing fast Internet connections without

the tangle of cables. Supporters expect the technology to be eventually

incorporated into televisions, stereos, and other home electronics.

While Intel has become a key backer of the largest wireless networking

standard, known as Wi-Fi, it does not plan to support it exclusively.

In November, the company will begin selling a line of products supporting a

much faster networking system called 802.11a, which can transmit and receive a

heftier array of audio, video and other data.

Advertisment

The 802.11a standard can transfer data at 54 million bits of information per

second, while the Wi-Fi standard - also known as 802.11b - has a speed limit of

11 million bits per second. Intel joins Proxim Inc. and others in planning to

ship 802.11a products by the end of the year.

"Intel's 802.11a products will deliver more 'bits per buck' by enabling

up to five times more bandwidth while working alongside with existing 802.11b

networks without interference," Greg Lang, an Intel vice president, said in

a statement.

Concurrently, however, Intel upgraded its status in the Wireless Ethernet

Compatibility Alliance, the Wi-Fi trade group, becoming a member of the board of

directors. The alliance was founded by electronics powerhouses such as Cisco

Systems Inc. and Nokia in 1999, and has succeeded in establishing the Wi-Fi

system as the de facto standard in both home and business wireless networking.

Advertisment

Despite growing sales, wireless networking products have been plagued by

repeated disclosures of security gaps that let interested intruders tap into the

networks from as far away as a company parking lot.

The development of wireless network has also been limited by some confusion

about myriad, incompatible communications standards. The development of Intel's

own wireless strategy demonstrates the rapid changes in the development of

wireless networking.

Intel had supported two wireless systems, Wi-Fi and HomeRF, to address the

business and consumer markets, respectively. Earlier this year, however, Intel

switched its allegiance entirely to Wi-Fi. Intel's plans for 802.11a, as well as

the growth of a separate system called Bluetooth, add to the mix.

(C) Reuters Limited 2001.

tech-news