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First signs of WiFi 5 home wireless networking products

It has been assumed that when WiFi's successor, WiFi 5, appears, it will go straight into business applications: here's a sign that the home market may benefit from higher speed wireless.

Wind River and Atheros Communications have decided to work together to develop access point packages which can be built into home as well as office broadband systems.

Atheros will license and resell Wind River's "Tornado for Home Gateways" platform with Atheros 802.11a access point reference designs. The integrated software platform from Atheros and Wind River can be used as is, or as a starting point for developers to create their own unique products ranging from business (large corporate) access points all the way down to domestic DSL or cable based home gateway solutions with embedded 802.11a wireless.

This will run at 50 megabits max per second, compared with WiFi's theoretical 20 megabits speed.

The unknown quantity about 5 GHz as a domestic platform is whether it will penetrate floors. It probably won't.

Most observers are very sanguine about 11a or WiFi 5 in office blocks, because typically, people don't want networks running vertically - the office upstairs often belongs to a different company. And the 5GHz wavelength seems likely to be easily blocked by most floor/ceiling construction in the typical office building. That makes interference less likely, and security easier.

Homes, however, are single units, but often on two or even three storeys; and having data-feeds cut off from access points on the floor above or below could be seen as a real handicap, given that access points cost typically well over a hundred pounds, and quite often twice that. Also, since people don't like drilling cable holes in their houses - it's a major reason why they go for wireless! - linking access points on two storeys is not seen as popular.

"The availability of 802.11-based devices is a key factor in the expansion of the wireless market," said Dave Fraser, group vice president and general manager of Wind River's Networks business unit. "Wind River's wireless technology, including solution level products, embedded networking protocols, and key partnerships underscores our interest in leading this movement. The agreement between Atheros and Wind River enables our mutual customers to quickly build 802.11a devices by leveraging the integration of our products and spending the time saved by focusing on their own innovations."

The joint announcement from the two companies says that a reference design that includes Tornado technology is currently available for the Atheros AR5000, which Atheros claims is the industry's first 802.11a chipset in commercial production. Atheros also plans to offer Tornado in a reference design based on the new AR5001AP chipset, a much more highly integrated WLAN access point design.

Atheros technology is being used by many of the world's leading wireless equipment manufacturers including Accton, Actiontec, ALPS Electric, D-Link, Intel, Intermec, Netgear, Philips, Proxim, SMC Networks, Sony, TDK, UltraDevices and others. For more information, visit www.atheros.com or send email to the information department