Intel is blazing a trail from fixed to mobile WiMax with a new system-on-a-chip that has just begun shipping in sample quantities.
The company is a huge backer of the emerging wireless broadband technology.
The chip, for customer equipment, supports the standard for WiMax networks that serve stationary users, but it can also be upgraded for nomadic and mobile use. It will ship in commercial quantities by year's end, said spokeswoman Kari Aakre.
WiMax, a system for broadband-speed IP (Internet Protocol) networks that reach across metropolitan or rural areas, hit the market in 2004 for use with stationary subscriber devices designed to stay in a home or office. Now a mobile version, based on the IEEE 802.16e-2005 specification, is emerging with the promise of letting users take their broadband with them and even use it while traveling in a car or train.
The WiMax Connection 2250 is Intel's follow-up to its Pro/Wireless 5116, code-named Rosedale , which was designed only for fixed WiMax and shipped in 2004. With the new processor, service providers can roll out fixed services and later upgrade their offerings through a quick over-the-air software upgrade, according to Intel. It is also designed to work with the company's multiband WiMax radio, which is designed to transmit and receive signals in the 2.5GHz, 3.5GHz and 5.8GHz bands, Aakre said.