Finding MIMO
1
Finding MIMO This new technology add-in could help WLANs take the home entertainment market by storm. Hadass Geyfman 2/5/2004 After conquering the broadband Internet access market, and after consolidating its position among airports, hotels, cafes, and private users, wireless local area networks (WLAN) are making their way into the home entertainment market. The household access point, which up until now has provided a hookup only to high-speed Internet, will soon begin very fast and very high-quality broadband video broadcasting. In the US, which leads the world in the number of WLAN users, access points in private homes have become almost as common as fixed-line telephones. This fact is dictating the plans of hardware manufacturers, in anticipation of the great WLAN breakthrough into the home entertainment market. Movies, interactive games, video on demand, and other video applications are expected to reach users’ home TV sets on broadband, and at very high speeds, through their home access points. Users will be able to view several channels simultaneously. Home users with three TV sets will be able to view three different movies at the same time. Why didn’t this occur a year ago, when WLAN entered the market with a big splash? Because in order to deliver a very wide variety of entertainment applications through wireless telecommunications, you need technology that can handle telecommunications at much higher speeds than those currently available from WLAN on a given frequency. One of the future technologies expected to solve this problem, which is currently the focus of attention among chip and end-user equipment manufacturers, is multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO). This technology makes it possible to broadcast video on wireless telecommunications on very large bandwidth, and is expected to multiply WLAN’s information capacity. As of now, the telecommunications market’s enthusiasm for MIMO is waxing, and with good reason. After all, the most important challenge facing communications technology developers is to increase the capacity of existing frequencies, In principle, MIMO is designed to be integrated with the 802.11n standard, which facilitates data communications at higher speeds than the previous standards. It is believed, however, that MIMO can also dramatically boost the performance and reception range of telecommunications systems working on the 802.11a, 802.11b, and 802.11g standards, at only slightly higher cost than that of current products. Prof. Ephi Zahavi, from the Bar Ilan University School of Engineering, explains, “Thanks to the introduction of MIMO technology, WLAN will enable home users to view several films simultaneously, on several devices. Furthermore, the fact that the TV sets will be hooked up to wireless telecommunications through an access point means that the TV or flat screen can be moved from room to room, without cables or connection points. The device will receive the broadcast at any point in the house. ”The idea is to broadcast video within homes at very high speeds. MIMO technology makes it possible to broadcast a large number of telecommunications channels simultaneously and at high quality in a given frequency range. As a result, information can be broadcast in much larger quantities than are possible with the use of a single antenna. ”In apartment buildings, for example, all residents use the same frequency range. The problem is that the quantity of information that can be broadcast simultaneously on a given frequency range is usually limited. MIMO technology increases the information capacity fourfold or more on the same frequency range.” The entry of WLAN into the home entertainment field, combined with MIMO technology, will enable the cable and satellite companies to sell more content to the user. Fixed-line telecommunications companies, Internet providers, and international calls operators are also expected to join the fun by providing content on their infrastructure. The hardware manufacturers, however, will be the main beneficiaries. MIMO technology has been gathering momentum in recent months, and hardware manufacturers are starting to make preparations. At the end of March, chip giant Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) acquired Israeli company Envara, which had developed WLAN chips that support the 802.11a, 802.11b, and 802.11g standards. The combination is designed to enable a chip to operate anywhere in the world, while meeting each country’s frequency requirements. The multiplicity of WLAN standards is one of the principal obstacles currently delaying the development and deployment of stationary wireless telecommunications. A mobile computer with a chip that supports a given WLAN standard cannot be connected to an access point based on a different WLAN standard. Integrating three standards on a single chip will therefore enable the end users to use a mobile computer from anywhere in the world, roaming freely between regions in which different standards are used. Envara’s chip facilitates better use of frequencies, better exploitation of capacity, and better use of chip space, which makes it possible to save on costs. It is not completely clear at this stage for what purpose Intel acquired Envara. Some believe that Intel wishes to use Envara’s technology and know-how to develop future technologies, such as MIMO. Others, however, think that Intel plans to use Envara’s technology and know-how to develop chips with WiMAX capabilities, while there are those who expect Intel to integrate Envara’s technology in the next generation of the Centrino. In any case, MIMO technology is expected to reach the wireless market in the near future. An initiative has recently surfaced in the wireless market to change standards, in order to include MIMO in 3G systems. The advantage of MIMO in wireless telecommunications is that it can increase the capacity of wireless antennae. MIMO technology could enable wireless operators to increase the quantity of information broadcast on a given frequency, and at higher speeds, while also enabling more users to use a given frequency. The denser the population in a given region, the greater the need to increase the number of antennae per area. Adding more antennae, however, is most difficult in densely populated areas. Technologies that make it possible to increase the capacity of existing antennae, thereby saving on the number of new antennae, will therefore probably enjoy high demand in the wireless market. Furthermore, Intel acquired the assets of Israeli chip manufacturer Mobilian in November 2003. Mobilian developed a chip that combined the Bluetooth standard with the 802.11b and 802.11g WLAN standards. Since Bluetooth and WLAN operate on the same frequency range, using them together creates broadcast interference. Mobilian’s technology succeeded in eliminating the mutual interference between Bluetooth and WLAN. Industry sources believe that Intel will include Mobilian’s technology in a processor designed for mobile devices. Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on May 2, 2004 Page 260 of 822 GlobesArchive 31/07/2007 file://C:\DOCUME~1\ron\LOCALS~1\Temp\\GlobesArchive.htm
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Transcript of Finding MIMO
Finding MIMO
This new technology add-in could help WLANs take the home entertainment market by storm.
Hadass Geyfman 2/5/2004
After conquering the broadband Internet access market, and after consolidating its position among airports, hotels, cafes, and private users, wireless local area networks (WLAN) are making their way into the home entertainment market. The household access point, which up until now has provided a hookup only to high-speed Internet, will soon begin very fast and very high-quality broadband video broadcasting.
In the US, which leads the world in the number of WLAN users, access points in private homes have become almost as common as fixed-line telephones. This fact is dictating the plans of hardware manufacturers, in anticipation of the great WLAN breakthrough into the home entertainment market. Movies, interactive games, video on demand, and other video applications are expected to reach users’ home TV sets on broadband, and at very high speeds, through their home access points. Users will be able to view several channels simultaneously. Home users with three TV sets will be able to view three different movies at the same time.
Why didn’t this occur a year ago, when WLAN entered the market with a big splash? Because in order to deliver a very wide variety of entertainment applications through wireless telecommunications, you need technology that can handle telecommunications at much higher speeds than those currently available from WLAN on a given frequency.
One of the future technologies expected to solve this problem, which is currently the focus of attention among chip and end-user equipment manufacturers, is multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO). This technology makes it possible to broadcast video on wireless telecommunications on very large bandwidth, and is expected to multiply WLAN’s information capacity.
As of now, the telecommunications market’s enthusiasm for MIMO is waxing, and with good reason. After all, the most important challenge facing communications technology developers is to increase the capacity of existing frequencies, In principle, MIMO is designed to be integrated with the 802.11n standard, which facilitates data communications at higher speeds than the previous standards. It is believed, however, that MIMO can also dramatically boost the performance and reception range of telecommunications systems working on the 802.11a, 802.11b, and 802.11g standards, at only slightly higher cost than that of current products.
Prof. Ephi Zahavi, from the Bar Ilan University School of Engineering, explains, “Thanks to the introduction of MIMO technology, WLAN will enable home users to view several films simultaneously, on several devices. Furthermore, the fact that the TV sets will be hooked up to wireless telecommunications through an access point means that the TV or flat screen can be moved from room to room, without cables or connection points. The device will receive the broadcast at any point in the house.
”The idea is to broadcast video within homes at very high speeds. MIMO technology makes it possible to broadcast a large number of telecommunications channels simultaneously and at high quality in a given frequency range. As a result, information can be broadcast in much larger quantities than are possible with the use of a single antenna.
”In apartment buildings, for example, all residents use the same frequency range. The problem is that the quantity of information that can be broadcast simultaneously on a given frequency range is usually limited. MIMO technology increases the information capacity fourfold or more on the same frequency range.”
The entry of WLAN into the home entertainment field, combined with MIMO technology, will enable the cable and satellite companies to sell more content to the user. Fixed-line telecommunications companies, Internet providers, and international calls operators are also expected to join the fun by providing content on their infrastructure.
The hardware manufacturers, however, will be the main beneficiaries. MIMO technology has been gathering momentum in recent months, and hardware manufacturers are starting to make preparations. At the end of March, chip giant Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) acquired Israeli company Envara, which had developed WLAN chips that support the 802.11a, 802.11b, and 802.11g standards. The combination is designed to enable a chip to operate anywhere in the world, while meeting each country’s frequency requirements.
The multiplicity of WLAN standards is one of the principal obstacles currently delaying the development and deployment of stationary wireless telecommunications. A mobile computer with a chip that supports a given WLAN standard cannot be connected to an access point based on a different WLAN standard. Integrating three standards on a single chip will therefore enable the end users to use a mobile computer from anywhere in the world, roaming freely between regions in which different standards are used.
Envara’s chip facilitates better use of frequencies, better exploitation of capacity, and better use of chip space, which makes it possible to save on costs. It is not completely clear at this stage for what purpose Intel acquired Envara. Some believe that Intel wishes to use Envara’s technology and know-how to develop future technologies, such as MIMO. Others, however, think that Intel plans to use Envara’s technology and know-how to develop chips with WiMAX capabilities, while there are those who expect Intel to integrate Envara’s technology in the next generation of the Centrino.
In any case, MIMO technology is expected to reach the wireless market in the near future. An initiative has recently surfaced in the wireless market to change standards, in order to include MIMO in 3G systems. The advantage of MIMO in wireless telecommunications is that it can increase the capacity of wireless antennae. MIMO technology could enable wireless operators to increase the quantity of information broadcast on a given frequency, and at higher speeds, while also enabling more users to use a given frequency.
The denser the population in a given region, the greater the need to increase the number of antennae per area. Adding more antennae, however, is most difficult in densely populated areas. Technologies that make it possible to increase the capacity of existing antennae, thereby saving on the number of new antennae, will therefore probably enjoy high demand in the wireless market.
Furthermore, Intel acquired the assets of Israeli chip manufacturer Mobilian in November 2003. Mobilian developed a chip that combined the Bluetooth standard with the 802.11b and 802.11g WLAN standards. Since Bluetooth and WLAN operate on the same frequency range, using them together creates broadcast interference. Mobilian’s technology succeeded in eliminating the mutual interference between Bluetooth and WLAN. Industry sources believe that Intel will include Mobilian’s technology in a processor designed for mobile devices.
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on May 2, 2004
Page 260 of 822GlobesArchive
31/07/2007file://C:\DOCUME~1\ron\LOCALS~1\Temp\\GlobesArchive.htm
