Hearth and LAN

TREND: Faster, cheaper, wireless

-- CommVerge, 1/1/2000

In theory, wireless LANs are ideal for multi-PC homes, because, by definition, you don't need to install wires. Unfortunately, products so far have cost at least $500/node, while providing only 10 to 20% as much bandwidth as basic Ethernet. Simple cost-benefit analysis tells you why homeowners, and even businesses, have said "Nah."

Proxim's $129/node Symphony product improved the price point, but has limited range and operates at only 1.6 Mbits/sec. However, we're about to see a new generation of 11-Mbit/sec wireless products. That means Ethernet performance at prices even a home LAN enthusiast can stomach.

As usual, the force driving this trend is maturity and competition among IC designs. Lucent Technologies and Intersil (formerly Harris Semiconductor) co-developed the technology that underlies the 11-Mbit/sec IEEE 802.11b specification, and quickly turned out chips supporting the standard. Then ShareWave, which had previously touted a proprietary 4-Mbit/sec technology, joined the fray and in December announced its own aggressively priced ICs. ShareWave offers ICs for end systems such as PCs and PDAs as well as chips for bridges and gateways. The highly integrated offering for portable systems will sell for less than $15 in high volume. ShareWave believes that will pull the price of an 11-Mbit/sec interface card below $100 by the end of 2000. Already, Lucent's 11-Mbit/sec WaveLAN interface cards sell for as little as $179. And Apple has demonstrated even lower-priced products based on Lucent ICs. Look for consumer-priced products from Lucent this quarter.

Meanwhile, ShareWave is also promoting its Whitecap technology. An extension to the 802.11 standard, Whitecap can layer video and audio streams on top of the data LAN, ensuring real-time delivery. The company envisions wireless distribution of a digital-TV datastream through the home. To make end users' introduction to wireless LANs a pleasant one, a group of 802.11b vendors has formed the Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance (WECA). The group will promote the technology and put logos on products that comply with the standard. Further on, the alliance is laying plans to support wireless links at up to 54 Mbits/sec.

Doom for whom?

The biggest potential loser? The HomeRF Working Group and its supporters. HomeRF focuses on 1- and 2-Mbit/sec rates. Proxim is expected to deliver a Symphony upgrade that meets the spec shortly. HomeRF's standard is a derivative of the 802.11 standard but uses a different type of modulation than 802.11b. Moreover, HomeRF's frequency-hopping techniques can't support faster rates within current FCC regulations. HomeRF believes the FCC will allow wider transmission bands shortly and plans an 8-Mbit/sec upgrade, but it could come too late.

Let's hope that at least part of HomeRF's technology survives. SWAP (Shared Wireless Access Protocol) supports a mixed network of computing, consumer electronics, and communications devices. Among other convergence applications, SWAP could let cordless-phone handsets, headsets, and base stations from multiple vendors plug-and-play together in the home.

-by Maury Wright