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Intel Demos Software Defined WiFi/WiMAX/DVB-H Chip

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the all-in-wonderful dept.

Doc Ruby writes "Electronics Weekly is reporting that Intel has developed a new prototype chip for software defined radio. The new chip will be able to handle WiFi, WiMAX and DVB-H digital TV all on the same chip. 'This kind of chip would allow equipment to access the WiFi network in the home, automatically handover to a WiMAX network when you leave the house and also access digital TV on the move, all through one chip.' It's also a proof that the entire class of SW radios that could possibly converge CDMA, GSM and various other radio networks for opportunistic handoffs by a single device, a 'universal radio' that could use content formerly locked into a single radio type."

25 of 97 comments (clear)

  1. Closed drivers by CRCulver · · Score: 4, Interesting

    And presumably the drivers for this will be closed source because of that dumb FCC rule that end-users shouldn't be able to tinker with wi-fi chips because they are a dangerous radio device.

    1. Re:Closed drivers by JK_the_Slacker · · Score: 5, Informative

      No worries, mate. I'm a ham radio op... and a programmer... I'll have an open source control program along shortly.

      Alternatively, I could write support into GNU Radio.

      --
      I'm waiting for a "-1 somepeoplejustshouldn'tgetmodprivileges" meta-moderation.
    2. Re:Closed drivers by MBCook · · Score: 5, Informative

      I should point out that I'm almost positive that there is no rule that says this. The companies take that position then try to back it up that way ("well the FCC might pull the device's license if..."). There are valid reasons for this (it would be easy to cause interference for only the purpose of being annoying) and good reasons against (my device means my responsibility, it's an unlicensed part of the spectrum).

      However that only applies to transmitting. The is no valid reason why there would be a problem letting you configure the thing however you wanted to receive things. There are a few little bands that you aren't supposed to listen to, but if the analog part was designed correctly that would be impossible (I don't know if any of those bands are that high up). It would be simple to make it so that it's impossible (without modification of the physical circuits) to get RF though the amplifier unless it is within a little frequency set that the device is allowed in.

      It IS illegal to make a device in such a way that it can be easily modified to transmit on other frequencies (seen with CBs) and I think it may be illegal for receiving too (like to listen into cell frequencies). Note that there is no solid definition on this as far as I know. You can't make it so it's "cut jumper B3 and you're set", but you don't have to go all the way to "install 12 wires, a chip, flash the firmware, hold the radio upside-down and...". Someone who is more familiar with this rules will surely point out the specifics.

      --
      Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
    3. Re:Closed drivers by fbjon · · Score: 2, Funny

      Not to mention that air pressure is the standard way of measuring altitude. You'll need a fairly powerful radio transmitter to interfere with that system.

      --
      True confidence comes not from realising you are as good as your peers, but that your peers are as bad as you are.
  2. Excellent! by JK_the_Slacker · · Score: 4, Funny

    But the real question is, can I change software modes and nuke a burrito with my wireless card?

    Or, even better, my roommate?

    --
    I'm waiting for a "-1 somepeoplejustshouldn'tgetmodprivileges" meta-moderation.
    1. Re:Excellent! by TheRaven64 · · Score: 4, Funny

      Why would you want to nuke a burrito with your roommate?

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    2. Re:Excellent! by Chabil+Ha' · · Score: 4, Funny

      So that's what they're calling it these days...

      --
      We're all hypocrites. We all have hidden parts, it's the contrast between them that make us more a hypocrite than others
    3. Re:Excellent! by toadlife · · Score: 3, Funny

      And shortly after being eaten, the burrito causes the resonant sound of the body to fluctuate with ever increasing frequency.

      --
      I don't always use unix-like operating systems; but when I do, I prefer FreeBSD.
  3. Winmodem? by solafide · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Will these chips end up like Winmodems? no intelligence in the chip and impossible to get drivers for?

    1. Re:Winmodem? by Hal_Porter · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Actually, Winmodems aren't a bad idea per se. They are cheaper to make than full modems, and you don't need to update the hardware much when new modulation standards appear since they are basically a soundcard. Microsoft basically worked out they could make something that hardware manufacturers would like because it was cheap. And rival OS vendors would hate it since the specification wasn't published.

      --
      echo -e 'global _start\n _start:\n mov eax, 2\n int 80h\n jmp _start' > a.asm; nasm a.asm -f elf; ld a.o -o a;
  4. Uh, not quite by Ancient_Hacker · · Score: 5, Informative
    Uh, not quite.

    There are still a few stages in the receiving chain that have to be analog.

    In particular the first few stages of input filtering, RF amplification, and mixing all HAVE to be analog, and delicate, tricky analog at that.

    Someday we may have 5Gig sample/second 32-bit floating-point A/D converters with microvolt sensitivity, but until then radio receivers can't be quite as flexible as the term "software defined radio" implies.

  5. Cell Companies by Adambomb · · Score: 3, Insightful

    With a resounding cry of "Ahhhhh crap." from carriers relying on clients using only their devices.

    "You need to replace your phone? well then you can sign a new contract for a discount on our new..."

    "I already have a device to use for it right here....picked it up online, and its not part of your expected sell/refurb/resell cycles. I believe you know what you can do with your contract..."

    Course there will still be the "But don't you want 6 months of unlimited local talking and a discounted rate plan?!", still cuts out a lock in technique though.

    --
    Ice Cream has no bones.
  6. awesome! by spiffmastercow · · Score: 4, Funny

    Now I'll be able to open and close people's garage doors while accessing their wifi, all with one device!

  7. Potential in many markets for this integration by teebob21 · · Score: 2, Informative

    An integrated 3-protocol chip, if produced for a reasonable price, could be just the thing to spark a new age of computing. Let's compare most "movie-future" computers to this: Easy wireless access almost anywhere you go, plus reception of live digital TV broadcasts. Sounds like the movies to me!! Granted -- the chip doesn't appear to be a ATSC decoder (I could be wrong) so current US broadcasters won't have their digital signals accessible by this chip. Additionally, wireless access in most municipalities is not existent, and most of those implementations just plain suck. At any rate, we need the hardware base to exist before the demand for "quality" municipal WiFi will grow.

    Continue this development, and you may reach the point of having essentially a HTPC on a card, with TV tuning and wireless internet built in. With the new FCC mandates to open up the cable box market, Intel may open the door for competition that isn't a TiVO. And...even if no new companies step up, TiVO would probably be interested in providing Internet and TV via the same box -- something most cable boxes cannot do.

    I also LONG for the day where WiFi chips/cards begin coming standard on motherboards; I prefer a desktop to a laptop any day. That, and I am tired of running CAT5 throughout my house to my multiple boxes.

    --
    khasim (12/9/06): In a blind taste test, more people preferred Coke over the Pepsi that I had previously pissed in.
  8. Re:Cool by LWATCDR · · Score: 3, Informative

    Short Answer No.
    To get FCC approval these devices will have to be not "modifiable" by the end user.

    --
    See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
  9. Sounds great but... by phatvw · · Score: 3, Interesting

    You still have a fundamental problem with radio communications - how to tune the antenna for multiple frequency bands in a small package. Not an easy task.

    1. Re:Sounds great but... by MBCook · · Score: 4, Informative

      You don't. You put 3 antennas in the device and switch between them. This would be problematic for other things, but in high frequencies the antennas aren't that big. If all three things use nearby pieces of spectrum (say different parts of 2.4 GHz) then you can tune the antenna for the center and put up with the losses for frequencies near the edges.

      --
      Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
  10. Mid-tex cellular uses software defined radios by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    I don't know a lot about them, but I've read that Mid-Tex Cellular uses software defined radios from Vanu, Inc. From what I've read they updated from TDMA (using conventional hardware) to GSM (using quite unconventional hardware) in early 2005. Instead of installing GSM hardware at each site, they installed this software defined radio hardware. So, now they've decided to add in CDMA also for roamers; instead of having to add expensive and specialized CDMA base station hardware to each site, they just add software to the control computers (and, possibly add an extra computer to a site if it needs more processing power.)

              This sounds like something Alltel could use, given in the west they run AMPS, TDMA, GSM, CDMA, and EVDO. (Western Wireless, which Alltel bought, provides the only coverage in a lot of the rural desert, and so they found the more standards they supported, the more roaming money they made... since it's desert, they didn't have problems with network congestion or whatever, so they just decided to run all standards 8-) They run CDMA + EVDO for themselves, and the rest for roamers.)

  11. Multi-tasking ? by matt_martin · · Score: 2, Funny

    Turn off the TV, I wanna check my email ! (?)

    --
    Lurking in the desert
  12. q.v. onechiptorulethemall by Inf0phreak · · Score: 5, Funny
    Why would you want a chip to rule a mall?

    There. It's been a while since I made a stupid joke here. Quota fulfilled for the next couple of months I guess :)

    --
    ________
    Entranced by anime since late summer 2001 and loving it ^_^
  13. Not Really Software-Defined by LowSNR · · Score: 5, Informative
    FTFA:

    This provides all the digital signal processing and forward error correction for these three protocols and the area is still comparable to three fixed function Asics This isn't really software-defined radio. Software-defined implies that the protocol level processing (i.e. DSP, FEC, etc.) are performed in software or firmware rather than in silicon (and hence changeable on the fly). While it is a pretty neat chip that has the potential to ease the convergence of these wireless standards, software radio it's not.
  14. They sound much more interesting than Winmodems by Chuck+Chunder · · Score: 3, Insightful

    So there's a much better chance that some of the clever people capable of reverse engineering this sort of stuff will make the effort to do so.

    --
    Boffoonery - downloadable Comedy Benefit for Bletchley Park
  15. Re:ettus USRP by Doc+Ruby · · Score: 3, Insightful

    OK, but does the USRP (or even v2) fit on a 24mm^2 chip drawing 80mW for 52Mbps?

    --

    --
    make install -not war

  16. To help clarify your statement.... by Khyber · · Score: 2, Informative

    I refer everyone else to section B of FCC regulations. If you can't Google it, then you don't belong here. :) In short, a device may not cause interference, but it must accept any interference it may receive due to natural or other issues that interfere with/tie into the operation of an EM-based device.

    To put it short, you can receive and listen in to anything you choose to, but to transmit may be a different story. End of simple statement.

    --
    Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
  17. Re:the craziness does not have to continue! by jamesh · · Score: 2, Informative

    Instead of making 100s of different NICs that all behaved differently and required their own software drivers, NIC makers all constructed their hardware so that it would behave like a NE2000 ethernet card.

    That's almost how it happened. Novell used National Semiconductors sample design for how a bare minimum card based on it's 8390 ethernet controller could be constructed. Then everyone else copied it too. I don't think it was done for compatibility reasons, it just saved you doing design work. It was also pretty sucky in terms of throughput and CPU usage.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NE2000