WHO'S DOING WHAT?
Most companies addressing the BWA opportunity say that the product isn't quite there yet. Joe English, director of marketing for Intel's broadband division, indicates that Intel has a broadband chip, called Rosedale, in the works. It targets the CPE market for WiMAX systems. Intel is currently sampling the chip to key customers and will begin general sampling later this year. A baseband chip with standard Ethernet and voice ports, Rosedale is designed to work with RF chips from other vendors.
Fujitsu Microelectronics is hammering away at a similar chip. The chip, which supports the WiMAX standards, is expected to integrate both media-access controller (MAC) and physical-layer (PHY) sections on a single system-on-a-chip IC. The company expects an early 2005 introduction.
You needn't wait for single-chip solutions that are still in the pipeline, though, to build WiMAX radios. Numerous companies make RF receiver front ends and transmit chains. Dave Robinson of Analog Devices says that his company's AD986x series of mixed-signal front ends drops right into this application. Chuck Millet, also of Analog Devices, indicates that the ADI TigerSharc and Blackfin DSP chips are readily adaptable to WiMAX. He adds that for the basestations, a programmable solution seems the best way to accommodate all of the many 802.16 options and add or delete them as needed.
As for available equipment, there's little on hand. One exception is Alvarion, which offers the BreezeMAX 802.16-compatible system
(Fig. 2). While not yet WiMAX-certified, it's WiMAX-ready—the company's equipment meets 99% of the standard and can fully comply with software upgrades later. Its CPE features standard Ethernet 10/100BaseT connection via the standard RJ-45. It supports up to 512 MAC addresses and can achieve a 12.7-Mbit/s data rate over a 3.5-MHz channel.
The CPE unit has standard RJ-11 plain-old telephone-service (POTS) ports, H.323, and SIP for VoIP service. Alvarion's basestation uses network processors to implement the traffic aggregation, classification, and connection. It supports 14-, 7-, 3.5-, and 1.75-MHz channel widths. It also works with the European Telecommunications Systems Institute (ETSI) broadband standard, which is similar to the WiMAX standard.
According to Alvarion's Carlton O'Neal, the company makes a wide range of other fixed wireless systems, including some near-WiMAX radios for the 5.8-GHz band. Other equipment vendors making proprietary broadband wireless equipment and Wi-Fi systems with their eye on WiMAX include Aperto, Airspan, Ensemble, Motorola, and Proxim. Look for many announcements beginning next year.
TIME FRAME
The year of WiMAX seems to be 2005. Not only will chips be available, but many equipment vendors also will have products by year's end. The big holdup is the WiMAX testing and certification program, which has yet to commence. It's expected to be in operation by mid-2005. From then on, look for some growth as products roll out and carriers and WISPs decide their business strategies.
As with any wireless technology, it all takes time, as was demonstrated with Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and 2.5G/3G cell phones. Market research firm iSuppli projects the BWA equipment market to soar from $80 million in 2003 to $2.3 billion in 2008 (95.3% growth). The market for semiconductor products is expected to balloon 113% over this same five-year period.
WHO'S DOING WHAT?
Most companies addressing the BWA opportunity say that the product isn't quite there yet. Joe English, director of marketing for Intel's broadband division, indicates that Intel has a broadband chip, called Rosedale, in the works. It targets the CPE market for WiMAX systems. Intel is currently sampling the chip to key customers and will begin general sampling later this year. A baseband chip with standard Ethernet and voice ports, Rosedale is designed to work with RF chips from other vendors.
Fujitsu Microelectronics is hammering away at a similar chip. The chip, which supports the WiMAX standards, is expected to integrate both media-access controller (MAC) and physical-layer (PHY) sections on a single system-on-a-chip IC. The company expects an early 2005 introduction.
You needn't wait for single-chip solutions that are still in the pipeline, though, to build WiMAX radios. Numerous companies make RF receiver front ends and transmit chains. Dave Robinson of Analog Devices says that his company's AD986x series of mixed-signal front ends drops right into this application. Chuck Millet, also of Analog Devices, indicates that the ADI TigerSharc and Blackfin DSP chips are readily adaptable to WiMAX. He adds that for the basestations, a programmable solution seems the best way to accommodate all of the many 802.16 options and add or delete them as needed.
As for available equipment, there's little on hand. One exception is Alvarion, which offers the BreezeMAX 802.16-compatible system
(Fig. 2). While not yet WiMAX-certified, it's WiMAX-ready—the company's equipment meets 99% of the standard and can fully comply with software upgrades later. Its CPE features standard Ethernet 10/100BaseT connection via the standard RJ-45. It supports up to 512 MAC addresses and can achieve a 12.7-Mbit/s data rate over a 3.5-MHz channel.
The CPE unit has standard RJ-11 plain-old telephone-service (POTS) ports, H.323, and SIP for VoIP service. Alvarion's basestation uses network processors to implement the traffic aggregation, classification, and connection. It supports 14-, 7-, 3.5-, and 1.75-MHz channel widths. It also works with the European Telecommunications Systems Institute (ETSI) broadband standard, which is similar to the WiMAX standard.
According to Alvarion's Carlton O'Neal, the company makes a wide range of other fixed wireless systems, including some near-WiMAX radios for the 5.8-GHz band. Other equipment vendors making proprietary broadband wireless equipment and Wi-Fi systems with their eye on WiMAX include Aperto, Airspan, Ensemble, Motorola, and Proxim. Look for many announcements beginning next year.
TIME FRAME
The year of WiMAX seems to be 2005. Not only will chips be available, but many equipment vendors also will have products by year's end. The big holdup is the WiMAX testing and certification program, which has yet to commence. It's expected to be in operation by mid-2005. From then on, look for some growth as products roll out and carriers and WISPs decide their business strategies.
As with any wireless technology, it all takes time, as was demonstrated with Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and 2.5G/3G cell phones. Market research firm iSuppli projects the BWA equipment market to soar from $80 million in 2003 to $2.3 billion in 2008 (95.3% growth). The market for semiconductor products is expected to balloon 113% over this same five-year period.