Intel Shows Off Its 1st Mobile WiMax Chipset

Intel, the largest producer of chips in the world, on Wednesday said it had completed the design of its first mobile baseband chip, and combined with its multiband WiMax/Wi-Fi radio, the two components comprise the firm’s first mobile WiMax chipset, dubbed the Intel WiMax Connection 2300, according to a Dec. 6 press release on Media-Newswire.com.

Sean Maloney, Intel executive vice president and chief sales and marketing officer, showed off the chipset during a speech at the 3G World Congress and Mobility Marketplace held in Hong Kong. Using a Centrino Duo mobile-based laptop with mobile WiMax, Wi-Fi and high-speed downlink packet access (HSDPA) functionality, Maloney surfed the Web in front of the audience at broadband speed via a WiMax network.

“Intel continues to drive innovation in mobile broadband access by eliminating the seams that prevent ubiquitous wireless connectivity,” Maloney said. “The Intel WiMax Connection 2300 will help speed the deployment of mobile WiMax, and accelerate the availability of a new wave of ‘personal broadband’ laptops and mobile devices that deliver the real Internet.”

The announcement demonstrates Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel’s progress toward completion of a complete, integrated “wireless system-on-a-chip.” Such a system will likely help increase mobile WiMax adoption because of its ability to be used within the smaller and smaller PCs, handhelds and other electronic devices emerging on the market today.

The Intel WiMax Connection 2300 features global-frequency support for standards-based Wi-Fi and WiMax, scalable channel-bandwidth and high-performance multiple antennas, and Intel also built in multiple input/multiple output (MIMO) functionality into its baseband chip for enhanced quality of signals.

Intel plans to continue work on the chipset with a target of late 2007 to begin sampling both the card and module versions, according to the release.

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• Intel Invests in Malaysian WiMax Co.

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