Intersil Keeps Pace with Wireless Standards

By Michael Foley
iApplianceWeb
(02/04/02, 10:13:03 PM EDT)

Intersil Corporation released its new chip set designed to support the 802.11g high-rate WLAN Draft Standard. The new standard supports data transmission speeds up to 54 million bits per second (Mbps), while remaining backward compatible to the existing Wi-Fi systems and includes Quality of Service (QoS). Intersil's PRISM GT chip set operates in the same 2.4 GHz band as 802.11b.

Along with increased speed PRISM also has a 30 percent range advantage and lower power consumption compared to systems operating in the 5 GHz spectrum. PRISM GT incorporates the 802.11g Draft Standard's mandatory modulation schemes - Complementary Code Keying (CCK), which is used in 802.11b, and Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), used in 802.11a. ``Using CCK ensures backward-compatibility with the installed Wi-Fi base, while OFDM provides the speed required for today's high-bandwidth applications", said Larry Ciaccia, vice president and general manager of Intersil's Wireless Networking business.

The Medium Access Controller (MAC) includes enhanced security and network management features. The transceiver integrates the receiver, transmitter, synthesizer and filters onto a single chip that directly interfaces with the Baseband Processor. This allows it to take high frequency radio waves and directly convert them to baseband signals during reception, or directly up-converts them from the low-level baseband signal to radio frequency during transmission.

Intersil's first generation PRISM GT OEM Kit will begin sampling in the second quarter of this year with full production slated for the third quarter. Intersil also has Development tools and reference designs are available for integration of the PRISM GT chips. The reference design kit includes the PRISM GT chip set, complete schematics, Gerber and layout files, BOM, manufacturing test utilities, PRISM lab test diagnostic tools, FAB drawings (PC board), antenna construction details, a technology license agreement, manufacturing, mechanical and assembly drawings.

Link:
Intersil