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Airgo Quadruples Wi-Fi Limit
QED writes "Airgo Networks, a privately held maker of wireless networking components, said on Wednesday it has developed chips that will increase the Wi-Fi speed limit by a factor of four.
The Palo Alto, California-based company, which designs its chipsets around Multiple Input and Multiple Output (MIMO), a wireless technique that uses different radio channels to improve both speed and transmission quality, said it has achieved data rates up to 240 megabits per second (Mbps)... "
I don't understand the way wireless speeds are rated. I got very close to 100mbps on my LAN before I upgraded to gigabit. I can't get anywhere near 54mbps on my wireless if I put my Powerbook right next to the wireless router!
Good point, but for some of us there would be a big benefit with higher wireless speeds. My cable modem has a typical download speed of 3Mbps so even the 11Mbps (max) speed of 802.11b isn't being used to its full capacity. But I often need to move large files between my laptop and my PC. If I don't want to wait 10 minutes or more for a file transfer I have to carry my laptop into my home office, plug it into my Ethernet switch and transfer the files there. With faster Wi-Fi I could avoid this minor hassle.
Quantum mechanics: the dreams that stuff is made of.
If I'm not mistaken that may be against FCC regulations if it interferes with the operation of other people's home equipment.
I'd be happy if someone could provide more info.
You might as well have said :
"When will the technology market begin to stabilize? I will not invest in technology that very well may become out of date or unsupported by newer technology in the near future. As such, I will continue to use an abacus, thank you very much."
All movements for social change begin as missions, evolve into businesses, and end up as rackets.
I think a lot of people in areas affected by recent disasters (New Orleans, New York, DC, etc) that reliability in EXTREME disaster conditions trumps speed improvements any day of the week. I'll be happy with half the current speed of wi-fi if I could RELY on it to WORK if a disaster were to strike. Of course that has more to do with the signal strength and the actual transmitter network itself.
Phased arrays finally approach the market. If these products capture significant profits that are reinvested into R&D for better phased arrays, we might be able to finally escape the "1 frequency : 1 channel" trap we've lived in for a century.
Phased arrays use spatial info of signal origin/reception to distinguish between different channels, even in the same frequency. Like how our eyes' retinas can distinguish between two red traffic lights in front of our cars, rather than just "seeing red" in the single frequency they share. Conversely, lower power transponders might be able to get the same bandwidth, a boon to mobile devices, or just remote telemetry.
The implications for info density are vast: multiply bandwidth by multiplying transponders. And the political implications are fundamental: the FCC is built entirely on the need to register frequency use to a single operator, to prevent signal interference. Phased arrays don't require the registry, because only physically coincident transponders could interfere, and that's practically impossible. The FCC won't be necessary to protect from signal interference, and won't be able to abuse its power, for example by regulating cable subscription content.
Even "WiFi" will be really unleashed. It became popular due to its unusual status in an "unlicensed band", which therefore doesn't require a license for its low power transmissions. The FCC will still be useful in certifying devices, that they don't transmit unhealthy radiation or otherwise pose a physical danger. Phased arrays promise freedom from physical constraints which have produced constraining, mission-creeping bureaucracies. MIMO might be just the beginning of throwing off those shackles for good.
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make install -not war
Actually, it may be against FCC regulations because the 802.11b band sits partially in a ham band. Ham radio is the primary user of the band, and thus home users have to accept any sort of interference created by both other home users and ham radio users. Additionally, if home users cause noticeable interference to a primary user (in this case licensed ham radio operators), the primary user can complain to the FCC, and you could be required by the FCC to discontinue use of your equipment. Only three out of the 14 channels in 802.11b do not overlap a ham band. In fact, if you're a licensed ham radio operator operating your 802.11b equipment within the necessary FCC regulations (broadcasting callsign, etc.), it could be argued that you have the right to primary usage and other 802.11b operators will have to change channels or discontinue use of their equipment if they provide interference to you.
Well, MIMO may turn out to be useful in your office. Like what you have described, your office has several walls and twisty hallways. This causes multipath radio signals that degrade the main wireless signal, mainly through of fading and interference. However with MIMO, the reflected signals are put to good use as they are recombined by the MIMO algorithm.
w00t
Are you kidding? This will be like any other wifi standard. You'll get close to 240Mbps when you're sitting right next to the base station. For every five feet you put between your antenna and the base station, transfer speeds decrease by 75% of the total. The same goes for any obstruction whatsoever that may come between you and the base station, including a atom-thick sheet of gold foil. Wifi blows. I'll stick with wired, thank you very much.