Chip Vendor Boosts Wireless Range

A start-up is sampling a chipset that it says will improve dramatically the range and performance of wireless local area networks, and eliminate current security problems.

Airgo Networks' chipsets blend advances from several technologies. The result will be WLAN access points with two and a half to five times the range of existing products and at least two to four times the throughput of existing WLAN products, says Greg Raleigh, chief executive officer. They also will maintain throughput at longer distances, he says.

Airgo chips for 802.11a could reach 300 feet or more and support a minimum throughput of about 34 megabits per second. The maximum 802.11a data rate is 54 megabits per second, with a range at that rate of about 100 feet. (It can reach further, but the rate drops.) Actual 802.11a throughput typically is in the range of 17 mbps to 22 mbps.

Cost Cut

Those kinds of numbers, if proven, could dramatically lower WLAN installation costs by sharply cutting the number of access points that have to be installed and, most importantly, wired into the existing cable plant.

The company has signed contracts with electronics makers, and is in talks with WLAN hardware vendors that take the boards and incorporate them into finished access points or client adapter cards. Raleigh declined to name these companies. He expects the first Airgo-powered products to be available by year end.

Airgo has achieved its advances by turning chief weaknesses of radio technology into a strength through something called multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology. The weakness is a characteristic of radio: When you transmit a radio signal from one antenna, the energy bounces off various items, such as cabinets and walls, creating multiple signal paths to a receiver that's not in a direct line of sight.

This is called multi-path propagation, which distorts the overall signal. The receiver takes the best signal path and processes it.

Signal Boost

Airgo's chips send and receive via multiple antennas: client cards would have two, access points would have three. The antennas collect all the signals, and Airgo's algorithms combine and process them to create the best possible reception.

"We've taken what had required $100 worth of silicon and reduced it to tens of cents," Raleigh says.

The chips contain the full range of security standards: Wired Equivalent Privacy, Wi-Fi Protected Access, VPN termination, 802.1x authentication, and Advanced Encryption Standard.

Airgo is not alone in trying to advance wireless silicon. Aether Systems, Broadcom, and Intel are major players, and all are working with MIMO. Other rivals are start-ups such as Engim.