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Cisco says that under new rules for Software Defined Radios set by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), its own 802.11a radios will be the first certified SDR Wi-Fi products. This means the current radios in the Cisco Aironet 1240AG Series access points, using 12 channels in 5GHz frequency UNII-band, can be upgraded in the field to run 11 more channels between 5.4 and 5.7GHz.
AirDefense has released version 2.1 of its AirDefense Personal software, meant for use on personal Windows XP laptops to protect them from “identity theft, evil twin attacks and denial of service attacks” at hotspots. Users set up their own personal security policy, and if the software sees something wonky, it will shut down the connection. The software is free for download by individuals (use a real e-mail address when signing up, as they mail you the download link), but it also integrates with AirDefense Enterprise for those running that on the corporate network.
Iogear is selling a new, inexpensive ($30) keychain Wi-Fi detector. The new Wi-Fi Finder is only 2.34 in x 0.35 in x 1.25 in, and like other signal detectors in this price range, it’s quite simple: it uses four LEDs to show you the strength of signal in your vicinity.
Broadcom has a new single chip for VoWi-Fi in phones that it also hopes to push into consumer electronics for wireless video. The BCM1161 is their second-generation chip for VoIP use in low-power devices. It has multimedia-specific features such as polyphonic ringtone support, voice and video recording and playback, a 2-megapixel camera, and telephony features like three-way conference and speakerphone support. The company also offers a VoWi-Fi phone reference design (BCM91161) to help vendors speed up the process of making SIP-based phones. The chips are available now.
Legerity of Austin, Texas is also touting a VoWi-Fi chipset this week (all part of the VON Conference in Boston). The company’s Le8100 Handset System-on-Chip (SoC) includes a WiFi Software Package which can be set up with an “off-the-shelf WiFi radio module” that “yields the market’s most integrated and cost-effective VoIP-enabled WiFi handset,” according to the company. The chips are sampling now with select customers.
Chipsets usually spread out on a circuit board, but Atheros is working its way “up.” The company is partnering with Spansion, a maker of Flash memory components (jointly owned by AMD and Fujitsu), to stack chips instead, increasing the memory without spreading out. It’s called Package-on-Package (POP). Specifically, they’re combining the Atheros ROC (Radio-on-Chip) with Spansion’s MirrorBit Flash to offer 802.11a/g and 11g chips with high memory to handset makers. Both measure 12 mm by 12 mm, with the Spansion memory sitting physically on top of the ROC.
AirMagnet is integrating its distributed Enterprise software with ArcSight’s Enterprise Security Manager (ESM) to give customers a single console for wired and wireless security threats. Both companies plan to co-promote the move to customers.
Rotani this week released AirReferee, a Wi-Fi access point technology meant to make OEM equipment immune to interference from the outside using multiple radios and antennas (which we profiled back in July). The reference design for OEMs and ODMs is available for licensing now.
September 15, 2005
Someday soon, maybe we’ll be able to say, “remember when cable meant ‘wires?'” That’s because Scientific-Atlanta, maker of equipment for the cable/fiber optic industry, is going to start selling Tropos Networks’ MetroMesh products. They’ll even make fiber converters for the 5210 MetroMesh router. SA says this move will let cable operators provide wireless mobility for entire cities. For the end of the year, SA is working on “hardened optical and coaxial backhaul solutions” that will run the Tropos equipment… so I guess there are still going to be some cables.
The incredibly popular and ubiquitous Linksys Wireless-G Routers (WRT54G and WRT54GS) can now be used as access points for hotspot networks run by Sputnik. The company has Sputnik Agent firmware specifically for those models, which turns them into units controllable remotely from the Sputnik Control Center management software. One of the first companies to use the flashed routers is Nova-Tech Innovations, which used Sputnik software and Linksys equipment to install service at Holiday Inn Express locations.
September 13, 2005
Linksys has a new MIMO router on the way, cheaper than previous products. The ^107PanOS108^2 Wireless-G Broadband Router with SRX200 goes for $99 (street). It effectively replaces the ^110PanOS111^, which sold for $140. The difference is that the new unit runs the new, lower-cost MIMO chips from Airgo Networks.
Fiberlink is very happy to report that it’s making more money — the company had 85 percent revenue growth in the first half of this year — by embracing the “software as a service” strategy. Instead of just charging users for access to the Internet (via hotspots, 3G, Ethernet, dial-up, etc.), the company instead drove people to pay for its Extend360 solution, selling 230,000 seats of the mobility software to corporate customers.
Ember says the ZigBee platform it created with Texas Instruments will be on sale to OEMs next month. It’s good for new low-power ZigBee products, and can also be used to build ZigBee support into existing products using the TI MCU.
The Wi-Fi Alliance is now testing 802.11 products for interoperability in a new lab: the China National Telecommunication Metrology Station (CNTMS), a sub-unit of the China Academy of Telecommunication Research (CATR). The CNTMS joins with eight other labs around the world that the Alliance uses for testing, though it’s the first in China — a place many consider the major growth market for the future of wireless networking and telecommunications.
Berkeley Varitronics Systems says its new Caterpillar is a “low-cost, handheld sweeping analyzer.” You hook it directly to an access point or card or whatever via the included SMA antenna connection kit and use that hardware to check 802.11a/b/g networks for frequency power and other attributes. It goes for $750.
September 12, 2005
AirMagnet has introduced new ruggedized sensors for outdoor use with its distributed Enterprise WLAN analysis product. These SmartEdge sensors scan continuously. They’re waterproof, temperature proof (-4 to 150 degrees F), have Power over Ethernet, and use an Intel Xscale processor. They’re available now and can be added to existing AirMagnet Enterprise deployments as needed to extend monitoring.
ARC Advisory Group has a report out that spells out exactly what ZigBee is, what it does, and, oh yeah, why it is “not a perfect fit for industrial applications.” Actually, the report ($495 from ARC) apparently praises that technology (plus others that run on 802.15.4), as well as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and the eventuality of Ultrawideband. But it also apparently points out that open standards are better.
802.11 test equipment provider Azimuth Systems has a new platform, the W-Series, with the 301W desktop chassis. It uses their STM-501 module for testing “roaming, performance, functionality and range,” according to the company. The Azimuth software has been upgraded to test VoWi-Fi for clarity and repeatability. Vendors can use other new features to stress-test a new product. Customers can also get a full suite of scripts used by the Wi-Fi Alliance for interoperability testing of products, so they can use Azimuth equipment to pre-test for things like WPA2/802.11i security and WMM Quality of Service (QoS) before submitting products.
Gizmodo reports that Hewlett-Packard (HP) is planning to put out an LCD-TV model next year with integrated Wi-Fi. The line of panels (26, 32 and 37 inches, measured diagonally) will have a “wireless networking antenna” to connect back to a PC/router that you use as a media server.
Why wait for official WiMax tests? Airspan uses chips from both Intel (in its EasyST and ProST CPEs) and Sequans (in its AS.MAX MicroMAX-SOC base station), and says it has tested them and determined that the products work together flawlessly. Which is a big relief for everyone who thought that two wireless products from one company using a new wireless technology might NOT work together. Whew. Airspan and Sequans worked together on the test to reach a “level of system maturity and compliancy with IEEE 802.16-2004 that will allow Airspan to rapidly achieve certification,” according to the companies. WiMax testing is underway (or will be soon) in Spain.
InfiNet Wireless has FCC approval for its 4.9GHz wireless routers. 4.9 is the frequency reserved for first responders. InfiNet Wireless Series 5000 routers can handle point-to-point and point-to-multipoint connections, so users can be stationary or roaming. The company is also working with Continental Wireless as a VAR for its broadband wireless and public safety radios.
September 9, 2005
Ikarus OS is an embedded operating systems designed for Wi-Fi network equipment from AntCor of Patras, Greece. The software turns equipment into a “dedicated router with concurrent triple-band Wi-Fi” (802.11a/b/g) if the radios are present, as well as other features like firewall and bandwidth management. An Ikarus OS Manager provides GUI remote control of an infrastructure setup with the software. The software is geared toward OEMs for service providers, telecoms and their partners, and AntCor will offer customized versions for ODMs and OEMs that are interested.
September 8, 2005
Forward Concepts predicts in a new report that WLAN equipment sales will increase 6 percent to $5.2 billion in 2005 — despite a 23 percent drop in selling price, on average. The growth will continue in 2006, especially as 802.11n and VoWi-Fi equipment usage increases. WiMax equipment will go from $72 million this year to $2 billion by 2009. 802.16e (mobile WiMax) will make it even better, but analyst Carter L. Horney says 16e “will augment the Wi-Fi infrastructure that will remain dominant for several years.”
The AiroPeek VX v1.0 Expert VoWiFi (Voice over Wireless) analyzer is now available from WildPackets. The software will show all the active calls on a network, do voice quality assessment, and more. The company has also made upgrades to the AiroPeek SE and NX WLAN analyzers. VX and NX both include the company’s Visual Expert tech to break down communications on a LAN to its constituent components.
The soon-to-debut Kodak EasyShare One camera (coming in October 2005), which will have Wi-Fi support through an SD card, will not be alone. The companion EasyShare Photo Printer 500 will also support Wi-Fi with a similar card (as well as Bluetooth), so you can make wireless transfers from camera to printer without needing a computer in between. The printer has a 3.5-inch LCD preview screen, and spits out 4×6-inch color prints. If you don’t do the wireless, the 500 will also support the EasyShare dock, which costs $179.
Wireless Builders of Baltimore, a division of Barcoding Inc., has released a Linux-based wireless IDS (intrusion detection system). It uses “wireless drones” to create a network for detecting signals within the workplace, and a GPS module to find the source. It doesn’t prevent wireless intrusion, however — it just alerts network admins, who then have to track down the offending node.
Alvarion has made its WiMax-ready customer premises equipment (CPE) available for order. The BreezeMAX Pro uses Intel’s WiMax silicon; Alvarion says it is the first CPE to do so.
AirTight Networks, a member of Cisco’s Technology Development Partnership Program, says it has integrated its SpectraGuard Enterprise Wi-Fi IPS (intrusion prevention system) Firewall with Cisco’s WLSE. Cisco has built-in IDS (intrusion detection), but AirTight says it can track down intruders and shut down ports they might be using, all through WLSE. The upgrade to work with WLSE should be available to SpectraGuard users this month.
September 6, 2005
ZyXEL is the latest company to announce MIMO products, these based on the Atheros smart antenna version of the technology. The company calls the tech 802.11g XtremeMIMO Wireless. The product line will consist of the X-550 router for $160, M-102 CardBus adapter for $120, and M-202 USB adapter for $110. The router also uses the StreamEngine Quality of Service (QoS) technology from Ubicom to prioritize application traffic in order to reduce latency, and is the first product out with Microsoft Connect Now, a sort of souped-up UPnP for connecting peripherals to the network. Security coverage extends up to WPA with 802.1X authentication. The products will be out in mid-October.
Tektronix is the first company to offer a handheld tester that will check High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), a WCDMA 3G technology. The NetTeck Wireless RF Field Tester can support the measurement of HSDPA signals using a new software option. The hardware can also check EDGE, 1x EV-DO, CDMA2000, GSM and other technologies in the air.
Want to share USB devices with everyone on your network, without the icky wires? You don’t have to wait for Wireless USB based on ultrawideband (UWB) if you use the new silex SX-2000WG. It’s a USB 2.0 Wireless Device Server with 802.11g built in — plug it into a USB device of your choice, and it becomes a network asset. The company says it works with most USB products, from printers to scanners to hard drives and more. It costs $150 and supports WEP and WPA-PSK, but only connects with computers running Windows 2000/XP for now.
September 2, 2005Networking company Netgear is the latest to join the WiMax Forum, the group driving the IEEE 802.16 specification into interoperable WiMax-branded products. Netgear joined as a principal member, unique for a company that primarily provides equipment for home networks and small businesses. The announcement states that Netgear “will design and manufacture innovative solutions tailored for portable and mobile use in a WiMAX environment, including routers, gateways, cards, and other access devices.”
TRENDware has expanded its line of TRENDnet Wi-Fi signal detectors. The new TEW-509UB will detect 802.11a networks in addition to 11b/g. (The TEW-429UB handles just 11b/g). Each features an LCD display screen to show info on found networks, such as signal strength, SSID, encryption type (WEP, WPA or WPA2), the channel used, and how much battery life is left. Each product will also work as a USB Wi-Fi adapter. The new detector will sell for $90, starting in about three weeks; the 11b/g version sells for $75.
