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Viodi View Newsletter - October 28th, 2005

Sponsored by Latens - The Future of Content & Revenue Protection

Promise of a Cable-Less House

Which technologies will be used to interconnect devices in the digital home?
Report from WiCON Americas –October 5-6, 2005:

by Alan J Weissberger, aweissberger@sbcglobal.net

I. Overview

Consider the digital home of the near future- multiple flat panel TVs (some high definition), set top boxes, stereo audio streaming receivers (from the Internet or via satellite radio), multi-media X box and other game consoles, Internet and locally connected notebook and desktop PCs, along with consumer electronic gadgets that have yet to be invented. How will those devices be interconnected- with each other and with the single wall plug to the telco or cable MSO providing triple play services?

It seems the cleanest way to do this is without wires- using one or more short range, broadband wireless technologies. Indeed, some of the contending technologies were discussed at the WiCON Americas Conference held Oct 5th and 6th at the Santa Clara Convention center.

This author believes that two emerging wireless broadband technologies hold great promise for multi-media distribution within the digital home and multi-dwelling units: IEEE 802.11n and Wireless USB. A third technology – wireless IP over Ultra Wide Band (UWB) is now being standardized and might also be a contender. [Some conference panelists believed that the ultimate solution would be wireless IPv6, but that would take several years].

Let’s now examine the IEEE 802.11n and Wireless USB standards and technologies, as discussed at the conference.

II. IEEE 802.11n: the newest member of the WiFi alphabet soup

A. WiCON Americas panel session:

Bruce Kramer of Conexant (chair of the IEEE 802.11n Task Force), kicked of the panel session on 802.11n by noting that all previous WiFi/802.11 variants were based on PHY amendments, which governed the radios used, over the air transmission rate, modulation schemes, etc. 802.11n will not only specify a new PHY, but also a newly improved MAC which will significantly increase system throughput to well over 100 Mbs. Due to the existing, contention based 802.11 MAC, current usable throughout is less than ½ of the over the air transmission rate. The improved 802.11n MAC (yet to be finalized) will provide usable throughput which is 85% of the over the air rate. So with over the air rate rates approaching 600M b/sec+, we should see system throughputs of 500Mbs over shorter distances (30 or 40 feet). An additional objective is to increase the 802.11n coverage area (=distance between wireless access point and client devices) by decreasing path loss (attenuation of signal en route).

+Note: The actual PHY rate will depend on the number of radios deployed and might range between 135M and 540M b/sec. The most common claim by chip vendors is 108M b/sec over 300 feet.

Three existing 802.11n proposals are being merged together and will be presented at the next IEEE 802.11n plenary meeting in November. The goal is to have a 1st draft spec at the Jan 06 meeting and a fully ratified, IEEE 802 board approved standard by March 07.

Doug Borison of Airgo Networks stated his company was shipping pre-standard 802.11n chips based on MIMO technology. Those devices are backward compatible with 802.11a, b, and g standards and, thus can interoperate with existing WiFi equipment. Their technology uses multiple radios to transmit multiple signals over the same channel at the same time.

Ron Cates of Metalink stated his company was focused on development of silicon that used 802.11n for in-home distribution of video and multi-media content. Ron suggested that the killer app for 802.11n would be in room distribution of video content.

Representatives of Atheros Communications and Broadcom also participated in the panel discussion. They talked about traditional metrics such as speed, range, performance, reliability, power (especially important for battery life/ recharging).

One important issue is that all 802.11 systems use unlicensed spectrum (in both the 2.4Ghz and 6GHz bands), which requires lower transmit power than traditional telco “last mile” access technologies. It was stated that 4 watts was the highest transmit power observed. Therefore, 802.11n coverage will not be sufficient to provide a metro access wireless solution. Instead, it will be used in traditional in-home or in-building local distribution systems – one that we think will be ideal for content distribution.

B. Postscript: the Enhanced Wireless Consortium

On October 11th the Wall Street Journal reported. “A group of 27 high-tech companies proposed a new way to speed up wireless data networks, a move that is prompting complaints by some competitors. The new Enhanced Wireless Consortium said it hopes to accelerate the arrival of a faster variant of Wi-Fi, the wireless technology that many users of laptop computers use to connect to the Internet. By boosting connection speeds -- to more than 200 megabits+, from around 54 megabits today -- companies hope to make it easier to carry out chores such as moving video to electronic devices around the home without wires.

+Up to 600 Mb/sec

The Enhanced Wireless Consortium (EWC) -- whose organizers include Intel Corp., Broadcom Corp., Atheros Communications Inc. and Marvell Technology Group Ltd. -- said they hope to help speed up the standardization process by proposing technology specifications for adoption by the IEEE 802.11n Task Force. The goal is to enable systems to deliver greater range for wireless products across multiple market segments and support advanced multimedia applications.

Significantly, some members of the consortium said they would make products based on the new specifications even if the IEEE doesn't accept the group's recommendations. That raises the possibility that makers of wireless gear could splinter into at least two camps, promoting advanced generations of high-speed wireless gear that won't work well with each other.

The EWC specification comprises a number of technical elements, including:

Mixed-mode interoperability with 802.11a/b/g networks -- provides enhanced performance while maintaining communication with legacy devices;
PHY transmission rates up to 600Mbps -- supports applications requiring high data rates (such as transmitting multiple HDTV streams), and reduces battery drain by minimizing the time required to send and receive data streams;
Enhanced efficiency MAC with frame aggregation -- brings actual throughput closer to the raw PHY rate, providing end users with at least 100 Mbps application level bandwidth;
Use of 2.4GHz and/or 5GHz unlicensed bands -- matches the frequency plan of existing 802.11 devices;
20MHz and/or 40MHz channel support -- uses more of the wireless spectrum when available to enhance performance;
Spatial multiplexing modes for simultaneous transmission using 1 to 4 antennas -- increases robustness of wireless connections to support very high data rates;
Enhanced range via multiple antennas and advanced coding -- provides for a wider coverage area with consistent wireless speeds.

The EWC plans to make its draft product specification available for public download and will provide implementation rights to all silicon suppliers and system vendors who join the organization. If the EWC specification is ratified by the IEEE, EWC members have agreed to make their intellectual property (IP) necessary to the specification available to all parties on reasonable and non-discriminatory (RAND) terms.

Among the current EWC members are Airoha, Apple, Atheros, Azimuth, Broadcom, Buffalo, Cisco Systems, Conexant, D-Link, Gateway, Intel Corporation, Lenovo, Linksys, LitePoint, Marvell, Metalink, NETGEAR, Ralink, Realtek, SANYO, Sony, Symbol Technologies, Toshiba, USRobotics, WildPackets, Winbond and ZyDAS.
Though the new consortium has many big-name companies, including Sony Corp. and Cisco Systems Inc., some influential players such as Nokia and Motorola are withholding support. The IEEE 802.11 committee has been working toward a November 2005 plenary meeting deadline to announce specifications for the new technology, which isn’t expected to lead to new products until late 2006 or early 2007.

III. Wireless USB

Jim Wright of LeCroy Corp compared certified wireless USB vs 802.11n in the next session. He noted that the former was based on WiMedia/UWB radio platform that is organized in a star configuration. All the intelligence resides in the host (center of the star), with devices a few meters away. Representative transmission rates were given as 480M b/sec at 3m and 110M b/sec at 10m.

The wireless USB technology is aimed at interconnection of any box where you don’t want wires. It seems to be best suited for in-room applications, for example as a cable replacement for computer products and very high bandwidth devices. Jim seemed to think that wireless USB had a better chance at low cost apps then 802.11n. He noted that both Intel and Microsoft are supporting it. However, the situation is the reverse of 802.11n- the wireless USB standard is available, but no chips are available yet. The WiMedia Alliance’s Certified Wireless USB WG developed this standard.
Jim opined that wireless USB would be used to connect co-located computer or consumer electronic equipment in a room, while IEEE 802.11n would be better suited for room- to- room communications. In answer to a question of mine, Jim said that IEEE 802.3 Residential Ethernet was not at all a serious contender for either set of applications.

IV. Conclusions

IEEE 802.11n seems to be the more enticing networking technology, with many vendors trying to get a piece of the action. If successful, this faster and more efficient version of WiFi could be used to interconnect set top boxes and notebook PCs to the wall outlet where the telco triple play services would be delivered to the premises.
The less glamorous Wireless USB might be better positioned to connect computer peripherals, e.g. a printer to a PC or consumer electronics gadgets to PCs within the same room. This has great potential as residential users move to a world without wires.

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