NEWS
-
Hitting the wireless market running
A number of incoming wireless technologies, are going to hit the market
running this year, covering broadband and local area sectors.
Interoperability is a key factor cited for WiMAX, which is expected to make major strides towards adoption in the coming year. This wireless broadband access technology, developed in mobile and fixed formats, has been under deep scrutiny for the last year or so, while proving its commercial viability. This year will see the start of widespread deployment, spelling good news for the chip community and the equipment vendors.
Forecasters predict steady growth in chip sales, particularly for mobile WiMAX installed in PCs and other portable devices, but also for customer premises equipment and base stations. Growth in RF chips and ICs supporting multiple wireless standards is also forecast to be strong.
In the IEEE 802.11n WLAN market, activity is high, despite the fact that the standard is unlikely to be ratified before early 2009. Demonstrating a market driven standard, vendors are set to deliver '11n-enabled' products. Yet there remains a warning to consumers, to look closely at what is on offer. Some companies are trying to maximise the higher throughput opportunity of 802.11n technology, offering devices up to 600Mbits/s. But the key question is whether the speed is realistic or simply an unsustainable, but impressive-sounding peak. The technical challenge is in the RF IC arena.
Meanwhile, technical challenges are causing wireless ultrawideband (UWB) efforts to stumble. Disappointing data rates have been attributed to problems with device drivers. The WiMedia Alliance says it is set to address the data rate, link-up and regulatory problems.
Interoperability is a key factor cited for WiMAX, which is expected to make major strides towards adoption in the coming year. This wireless broadband access technology, developed in mobile and fixed formats, has been under deep scrutiny for the last year or so, while proving its commercial viability. This year will see the start of widespread deployment, spelling good news for the chip community and the equipment vendors.
Forecasters predict steady growth in chip sales, particularly for mobile WiMAX installed in PCs and other portable devices, but also for customer premises equipment and base stations. Growth in RF chips and ICs supporting multiple wireless standards is also forecast to be strong.
In the IEEE 802.11n WLAN market, activity is high, despite the fact that the standard is unlikely to be ratified before early 2009. Demonstrating a market driven standard, vendors are set to deliver '11n-enabled' products. Yet there remains a warning to consumers, to look closely at what is on offer. Some companies are trying to maximise the higher throughput opportunity of 802.11n technology, offering devices up to 600Mbits/s. But the key question is whether the speed is realistic or simply an unsustainable, but impressive-sounding peak. The technical challenge is in the RF IC arena.
Meanwhile, technical challenges are causing wireless ultrawideband (UWB) efforts to stumble. Disappointing data rates have been attributed to problems with device drivers. The WiMedia Alliance says it is set to address the data rate, link-up and regulatory problems.
More articles in this category:
 | |||
| |||
 |
PRODUCT INNOVATIONS |
|
|
| |||
| |||
| |||
| |||
 |
ANALYSIS-MARKET-TRENDS |
|
|
| |||
| |||
| |||
| |||
|
NEWS |
|
|
| |||
| |||
back
top
