一个很有意思的设计, 如果真的出现, 特别是功耗问题被解决的话, 不知道3G会不会受影响.但是也感觉风险不小,两年内很可能推出新的无线通信标准, 旧标准也可能obsolete.
1. Intel reveals all-in-one wireless chip
Intel has managed to integrate onto a single chip all of the elements a device needs to connect to a WLAN. The prototype supports 802.11a/b/g but should also be able to meet the projected requirements of the forthcoming 802.11n standard. Intel’s ultimate goal is to build a communications chip that can connect to any type of wireless network, including WiFi and WiMax, as well as PANs like Bluetooth and UWB. Once in production, the technology should enable wireless device manufacturers to build products that are smaller, less expensive and more power thrifty. The chip still requires additional testing and government approval and is at least two years away from production.
“This system-in-a-package design uses more low-voltage circuitry than we’ve ever used in the past, which means we can integrate it and make it lower cost while operating at lower voltages and providing longer battery life,” said Krishnamurthy Soumyanath, director of Intel’s Communications Circuits Research Lab. “The variable bandwidth of this solution extends capabilities beyond today’s 20 MHz to 100 MHz, and is expected to support data rates higher than 100 megabits per second that should allow people to enjoy multiple high-quality video streams concurrently.”
For more on Intel’s all-in-one wireless chip:
– read this company press release
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Intel Researchers Develop CMOS Radio Supporting All Flavors Of The 802.11 Wi-Fi Standard
KYOTO, Japan, June 17, 2005 — Intel Corporation announced it has developed a prototype of an all-CMOS direct conversion dual-band radio transceiver capable of supporting every current Wi-Fi standard (802.11a, b and g), as well as the projected requirements of 802.11n. The system-in-a-package technology is a significant step toward enabling integrated CMOS radios that could provide improved wireless capabilities in future Intel platforms at a low cost.
The announcement, presented as part of a technical paper delivered at the Symposium on VLSI Technology in Kyoto, Japan, outlines the building blocks Intel created to implement the fully flexible, multimode radio in a standard CMOS process. A future extension to the Wi-Fi standard, 802.11n will more than double the wireless transfer speed compared to today’s implementation.
“This system-in-a-package design uses more low-voltage circuitry than we’ve ever used in the past, which means we can integrate it and make it lower cost while operating at lower voltages and providing longer battery life,” noted Krishnamurthy Soumyanath, director of Intel’s Communications Circuits Research Lab. “The variable bandwidth of this solution extends capabilities beyond today’s 20 MHz to 100 MHz, and is expected to support data rates higher than 100 megabits per second that should allow people to enjoy multiple high-quality video streams concurrently.”
Today each device uses a customized radio to connect to a particular network — for example, a wireless local area network or WLAN based on Wi-Fi technology. A different device might use a radio developed for a wireless wide area network or WWAN. In the next few years, Intel expects mobile devices will contain several different radios so they can utilize many different wireless communication networks. Intel’s research points toward a time in the future when one device will use “smart” antenna systems and a reconfigurable CMOS radio on a single device making the radio more power efficient, smaller and lower cost. The goal being pursued is the ability to connect to any network, anytime, anywhere on any device.
One of the key achievements of this research is keeping the underlying manufacturing technology tied to CMOS — the technology Intel uses to make all its microprocessors and other computer chips. By doing so, it keeps manufacturing costs low and the potential to produce this capability in high volume. The device in the research paper features a 1.4-volt design (very low power consumption compared to what is available in the marketplace today).
“By creating this capability in CMOS, Intel will have the option of integrating wireless capabilities into a wide variety of our future chips,” Soumyanath said.
802.11 Standards for Wireless Technology
802.11 refers to a family of specifications developed by the IEEE for wireless LAN technology. 802.11 specifies an over-the-air interface between a wireless client and a base station or between two wireless clients.
802.11a – an extension to the 802.11 standard that applies to wireless LANs and provides up to 54 Mbps in the 5GHz band.
802.11b – an extension to the 802.11 standard that applies to wireless LANs and provides 11 Mbps transmission (with a fallback to 5.5, 2 and 1 Mbps) in the 2.4 GHz band.
802.11g – an extension to the 802.11 standard that applies to wireless LANs and provides 54 Mbps in the 2.4 GHz band.
802.11n – an extension to the 802.11 standard that in the future will increase the speed to more than 100 Mbit/s. As projected, 802.11n will also offer a better operating distance than current networks.