WiFi for Intel and Microsoft:
"Soft" 802.11 access points on PCs
Intel and Microsoft are exploring how to turn a desktop PCs (laptops, too?) into low-cost -- about $100 -- access points, according to an article in EE Times. Microsoft calls its own intiative Soft WiFi, says the article.
The product isn't ready for prime time yet. Intel says today's PC microprocessors are up to the job of running an AP. However, the company needs to ensure that other tasks running under Windows won't bog down when the AP is active. "One method Intel is currently exploring involves partitioning the application so that real-time tasks are handled on the client 802.11 card where Intel would put a small real-time kernel," says EE Times.
One comment I saw on a news group, Dave Farber's Interesting People, is that Intel wants to provide the complete 802.11 MAC layer access point -- the same thing implemented in APs by Linksys, Orinoco, 3Com, etc.
A software-based 802.11 PC Card is not, however, in the, uh, cards because of the DSP requirements.
The big picture
The big picture here is virtually everyone in the computer and telecommunications industries has concluded that 802.11 will be a very big deal on multiple levels. Hardware, software and microprocessor vendors are working hard to dramatically reduce costs to dramatically increase market penetration.
Sprint PCS and VoiceStream are already involved in WiFi. By the end of the year, I suspect that we will hear of at least two other major U.S. cellular operators providing WiFi services to subscribers. And two is the minimum number.
12:54:53 PM 
|
