Broadcom Ships Over 1 Million Draft N Chips

Written by Adam Gosling

Tuesday, 18 July 2006

When is a standard not a standard? When it is a defacto standard, perhaps? Even with the final standards for next generation wireless networking still a year away, the market is moving on, with Broadcom alone shipping more than one million WLAN chipsets based on the Draft-802.11n specifications. That run rate was achieved in less than four months.   There seems no likelihood of the demand abating either. Linksys, Netgear and Buffalo (available from Uniden in Australia) all use the Broadcom Intensi-fi chipset in their current IEEE 802.11n draft specification wireless LAN equipment and Broadcom has now announced that Dell will use it in its dual-band wireless card for notebook computers. "Wi-Fi is featured in over 85 percent of notebook PCs, representing over 57 million WLAN chipset units shipped in 2005, which demonstrates strong demand for wireless connectivity in home and business networks," said Celeste Crystal, Senior Analyst from IDC. "By offering draft-802.11n, notebook manufacturers underscore the technology's promise by delivering an end-to-end connectivity solution that provides a new level of wireless performance and range." This push to faster wireless speeds on notebooks is going to make interesting watching over the next 18 months as Intel is drawn into the WiMAX (in which Intel has invested heavily) versus 802.11n quandary over Centrino. The two technologies are vastly different with 802.11n being short range and high speed compared to WiMAX's long range with lower speed, both of which will have to be included to properly connect your laptop. Add to that the need for UWB/wireless USB and laptop makers are going to have to equip their notebooks with three wireless technologies to accommodate everything we want to do with them (just a thought). "Intensi-fi solutions deliver the standards-based technology and proven performance that are critical to our notebook partners," said Michael Hurlston, Vice President and General Manager of Broadcom's Wireless LAN Business Unit. "By providing cutting edge connectivity options, Dell is enabling notebook users to enjoy the un-tethered experience of high-definition multimedia access, online gaming, and music streaming from far corners of their home or office," he said. Related news items Broadcom Enthusisam for 802.11n Wavers -06/09/2007 D-Link Boosts Draft N Range -30/07/2007 New ToughBook Hitting The Streets -25/02/2007 Aepona Announces Cellular to WiFi Roaming Solution based on VCC Specifications -13/02/2007 Linksys Releases Draft-N For SMBs -30/01/2007 Newer news items Luxury Yachts Get Intelsat Broadband -09/08/2006 The Wireless Loop Spectrum Nobody Wants -02/08/2006 Unwired Trims Wireless Broadband Plans -31/07/2006 BigAir Turns 10 (thousand) Ahead Of Schedule -30/07/2006 Better Unwired Coverage In Melbourne -19/07/2006 Older news items BigAir Makes Smart Home Acquisition -04/07/2006 Airwaves Get Faster With Linksys Draft-N -03/07/2006 Longcheer Signs Qualcomm Licence For 3G Data Card -21/06/2006 WiMAX Demo Sends Strong Signal -21/06/2006 Cebit: A Wireless World -08/05/2006 Tag This Now: