Synad Combines Wireless Standards

By Michael Foley
iApplianceWeb
(09/27/01, 11:34:15 AM EDT)

Synad Technologies Limited is combining two 802.11 wireless communications technologies onto the same chipset. AgileRF provides interoperability in wireless local area networks for 802.11b and 802.11a standards. AgileRF's architecture is a dual mode IEEE 802.11a and IEEE 802.11b chipset for wireless local area network (WLAN) clients.

The AgileRF architecture will enable dynamic switching between 802.11a and 802.11b to whichever access point is providing the optimum service without user intervention. This will enable 802.11a and 802.11b to co-exist interoperably from the user's perspective on the same wireless local area network. 802.11a, the emerging standard for wireless networks, delivers five times the throughput of its established 802.11b counterpart.

The AgileRF architecture consists of three elements:

• RF switching management to maintain a wireless link with an access point
• Access point surveillance to determine the availability of other access points in the user's vicinity
• Association management function to manage the switching process between different access points without dropping network connectivity for the user

Synad believes that by addressing the Achilles heel of wireless networking head on, it will ultimately drive migration from 802.11b to the faster 802.11a standard. Beyond this, Synad believes that removing the confusion between the two wireless standards will accelerate the adoption of wireless local area networking.

Synad will announce the specification of its chip set in Q4 2001 and will demonstrate the technology in Q1 2002.

Link:
Synad