January 26, 2007

Intel Ahead of Schedule With New Wi-Fi Chip

by Jan Harris

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Intel will distribute its Next-Gen Wireless-N chips ahead of schedule and they will appear in appear in laptops from companies such as Acer, Gateway and Toshiba by the end of January 2007.

The new Centrino Wi-Fi chip is based on the 802.11n wireless standard. The standard is still in draft and is due to be finalised later in 2007.

Intel’s Centrino range of chips includes the Core 2 Duo processor, a mobile chipset and a wireless chip.

802.11n chips will allow laptops to connect to wireless networks at faster speeds and with greater range than older wireless chips and will provide up to an extra hour of battery life.

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) voted on the 802.11n draft standard this week, taking it a step closer to final approval.

Intel’s confidence that the final standard will be extremely close to the draft standard is demonstrated by its early distribution of the chips.

The Wi-Fi Alliance plans to start certifying products based on the draft standard during the second quarter.

Intel is also extending its Connect with Centrino program, in which it tests and verifies that its wireless chips will work with wireless chips from other vendors.

The company has signed up several major access point vendors for the program, such as D-Link and Netgear. It has not yet confirmed if Cisco’s Linksys division will participate.

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