Major Players To Test WiMAX Interoperability

Written by Adam Gosling

Thursday, 27 September 2007

Announced at WiMAX World in Chicago, Intel, Nokia and Nokia's spin off carrier equipment company Siemens have said the three will collaborate to get WiMAX interoperability sorted between their respective products. The move is an interesting one and demonstrates the commitment major technology companies have for the upcoming high-speed wireless broadband system. Intel and Nokia had once planned to collaborate to bring 3G into Intel's notebook wireless platform Centrino, but the idea was abandoned with little explanation. Now it appears that 3G was seen as something OEMs could take care of and the two plan to go after the WiMAX market. Intel is a long time supporter of the standard and has made major investments, including in Australian Wireless Broadband carrier, Unwired, in order to ensure the standard gets a start in the market. The interoperability effort announced by the three companies will see testing across Intel's forthcoming WiMAX silicon for laptops and mobile Internet devices, Nokia WiMAX devices and Nokia Siemens Networks WiMAX infrastructure equipment. Nokia also said it will use Intel's WiMAX silicon product, which is codenamed "Baxter Peak" and designed specifically for mobile Internet and consumer electronic devices, in its forthcoming Nokia Nseries Internet Tablets. The Internet tablets will be among the very first WiMAX-enabled open Internet devices expected to ship in 2008, according to a company statement. "WiMAX enables the mobile Internet and makes it possible to get content on a variety of new mobile devices at broadband speed, and our Baxter Peak solution is designed specifically for these exciting new devices," said Raviv Melamed, general manager of Intel's Mobile Wireless Group. "Intel, Nokia and Nokia Siemens Networks all recognize our collective responsibility in ensuring that people can take full advantage of WiMAX. Simply put, the infrastructure behind the networks and the devices that access those networks must work together seamlessly." Related news items Seven In Unwired Takeover Bid -26/09/2007 New Flash Memeory Card Standard Coming -16/09/2007 Telstra Launches Another Coonan Attack -12/09/2007 Sydney Airport Network Improved For APEC -03/09/2007 3 Trials Alternative Mobile TV Technology -15/08/2007 Newer news items Sony Wireless Data Touches 560Mbps -07/01/2008 New Satellite Broadband In New Year -12/12/2007 Dell Australia Adds BigPond Data -03/12/2007 Vodafone Offers Generous Data Plans -28/11/2007 Jetstar BYOs The Wireless -12/11/2007 Older news items Telstra Wireless Hits Speed Record -24/09/2007 Chilli iBurst Increases Download Limits -16/09/2007 NewSat Deal With Dodo -05/09/2007 NetComm Goes 3G With New Range -05/09/2007 Free iBurst Broadband In Sydney -16/08/2007 Tag This Now: