Intel's Rosedale chip brings WiMax closer

IDG News Service - Intel Corp. has begun shipping samples of its first WiMax chip, called Rosedale, and the first network trials based on the technology will start next year, a senior company executive said today.
Rosedale is an SOC (system-on-chip) processor designed for networking gear that will wirelessly connect end users' homes or offices with a WiMax-based broadband network, said Sean Maloney, executive vice president and general manager of Intel's communications group, speaking at the ITU Telecom Asia event in Busan, South Korea. SOCs are chips that integrate several different electronic components on a single piece of silicon.
The chip maker has begun to provide samples of the Rosedale chip to several of its key customers, Maloney said. He didn't disclose when the chip will begin shipping in large volumes to telecommunications equipment makers.
"The chip is going out for trials, and then we're expecting deployments ... over the next 12 months or so," Maloney said.
WiMax, which is also known as the 802.16 wireless protocol, is an emerging set of wireless networking standards that offer greater range and bandwidth than 802.11, commonly known as Wi-Fi. Unlike Wi-Fi, which is designed to provide wireless networking coverage over a relatively small area, such as a hot spot, WiMax is intended to provide network coverage over a distance of 30 miles at speeds up to 70Mbit/sec.
Rosedale is based on the 802.16-2004 standard, a fixed-wireless networking technology that is intended to connect a home or office to a broadband network. Future WiMax products from Intel will be based on other variants of the technology and support mobile wireless connections, Maloney said, noting that the company plans to integrate WiMax support in notebook computers by 2006 and in mobile phones by 2007.
Intel isn't the only company developing WiMax chips. Last month, Fujitsu Microelectronics of America Inc. announced that it had begun efforts to develop a chip with capabilities similar to those of Rosedale. That chip is expected to be available early next year, Fujitsu Microelectronics said in a statement.