Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Intel Wi-Fi 802.11a/b Chips Ready

From: [email-masked]
Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2003 09:52:02 -0500

Intel Wi-Fi 802.11a/b Chips Ready
 Contributed by derek on Wed, Oct 29 2003

Intel finally is ready to ship a combination 802.11a/b part, which will
use Intel silicon for the 'a', and Phillips for the 'b'. Analysts are
noting that the twice delayed chip is outclassed even as it's launched,
since Broadcom and TI already have a/b available in a single chip
solution, which is cheaper to produce, smaller, and consumes less power.
Intel downplays the significance of this: President Paul Otellini says
these chips are commodity products.  Uhhh...my understanding of a
commodity is a product anyone can make. If Intel cannot make a single
chip solution, then that is a differentiator for Broadcom and TI, and
NOT a commodity.

==================================================================================

Intel readies Wi-Fi chips

Last modified: October 28, 2003, 3:42 PM PST
By Richard Shim
Staff Writer, CNET News.com

A much-anticipated Wi-Fi part from Intel is finally available for
high-volume shipments, and the company's
next-generation part is being sampled by major customers.

The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company has twice pushed back the
availability of its combination 802.11a/b Wi-Fi part, which it calls the
Intel Pro/Wireless 2100A. But, as expected, it is now ready for
customers to use in Centrino-based notebooks, Intel announced Monday.

Volume shipments of Intel's next Wi-Fi chips, a combination 802.11b/g
part, won't be ready until the end of the year and should be in
notebooks in the first half, according to Intel spokesman Dan Francisco.

The Pro/Wireless 2100A will contain two radio chips. The 802.11a radio
will come from Intel and is
the company's first homegrown Wi-Fi chip. The 802.11b radio will come
from Philips
Semiconductors, Francisco said.

Other companies are already making integrated 802.11a/b chips, which are
cheaper than using two
chips, a sign that Intel is behind competitors such as Broadcom and
Texas Instruments. Even as the
company has faced these delays, Intel President Paul Otellini and other
executives have called
802.11 chips commodity products, implying they should be easy to make.

"It (communications) is not their forte," said Kevin Krewell, senior
editor of the Microprocessor Report. "They are trying to be the Intel of
the Wi-Fi market, and they are not the Intel of Wi-Fi," referring to
Intel's dominance in the computer processor business. The company said
it plans to come out with a combination 802.11a/b/g part in the first
half of next year.
Current Centrino-based notebooks use 802.11b chips, allowing them to
wirelessly connect to networks using the 802.11b Wi-Fi standard. The
Centrino bundle of chips includes an Intel Pentium M processor, an Intel
855 chipset and an Intel Pro/Wireless network chip. Chips that use the
802.11b standard can wirelessly transmit data at 11 megabits per second
in the 2.4GHz radio band. The 802.11a standard allows for the wireless
transmission of data at 54mbps in the 5GHz radio band. The 802.11g
standard is interoperable with the 802.11b standard and uses the same
2.4GHz radio band, but it can transmit data at 54mbps. The availability
of the combination 802.11a/b part was twice delayed while the chipmaker
said it was in the process of validating and testing the part.

http://news.com.com/2100-7351_3-5098535.html?tag=cd_lede

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