ST Microelectronics has embedded Airgo Network’s MIMO Wireless LAN technology into its STx7100 settop box and the companies have collaborated on a set-top-box reference design that will allow video content to be streamed wirelessly around the home at speeds up to 240 Mbits/sec.
STBs featuring True MIMO Media technology from Airgo Networks will be able to stream live TV and movies, including high definition, throughout a home. Carriers like AT&T are spending billions to deliver IPTV to consumers. But most homes today aren’t equipped with Ethernet cabling that IPTV settops require. MIMO settops allow fast, inexpensive connections. No cables are needed.
The first actual STB with the MIMO Media chips will be the V2O Wireless Home Media Network from original equipment manufacturer Caton Overseas of China, which also uses STMicro’s chips for MPEG decoding, reports WiFi Planet.
- Atheros says their XSPAN family including the AR5008, demonstrated at CES 2006, are the first to be based on the draft 802.11n specification. The Atheros chipset will use three antennas.
- Ruckus Wireless (right) developed specialized 802.11g access points, based on Atheros chips, with an antenna array to boost range, stability and speed. In theory, stable, high-speed WiFi will make it cheaper and easier to deliver multimedia to several TVs in the home. The firm’s demo worked flawlessly, pushing three 10-Mbit/s streams — including one HDTV transmission — wirelessly over 1200 square feet of plush hotel rooms.
- Broadcom says their Intensi-fi technology incorporates all mandatory elements of the IEEE 802.11n draft specification and is designed to be software upgradable once the standard is finalized. Broadcom’s H-264 chips are also used in DirecTV and Echostar boxes. It supports both high-definition (HD) and standard-definition (SD) video in both the future format of MPEG-4/AVC as well as MPEG-2 for legacy services.
- Marvell says their TopDog™ branded family of 802.11n IEEE draft compliant products are targeting consumer, enterprise, and mobile markets. They support multiple antenna configurations including 3×3, 2×3, 2×2 and 1×2; for applications like wireless streaming of HDTV and multimedia content throughout the home.
Most broadcast standard definition video requires between 2 and 5 mbps, explains ZDNet, while high definition video typically requires a stable 8 to 16 mbps. Ruckus’ solution will deliver a smooth 16 mbps barring severe interference. The smart antenna technology from Ruckus can change its antenna array to a more suitable configuration on the fly whereas non smart antenna solutions cannot.
Early “Draft N” products have not rallyed around Airgo’s current 3rd Generation chips. The company has stated it will not go to a 4th generation until 802.11n is in a far more completed state. Some companies just can’t wait.
Atheros and Broadcom said today that they have achieved interoperability with their next-generation 802.11n chipsets. Both the Atheros XSPAN and the Broadcom Intensi-fi 802.11n chipsets were shown to be compatible at speeds greater than 100-Mbits/s. The compatibility tests were not run through the Wi-Fi Alliance, the official standards testing body, however. Of course that would be tough — there really isn’t an official “standard” (yet).
Related DailyWireless articles include Broadcom Ships 802.11n Chips, RangeMax 240 Tested and MIMO USB, AT&T’s IPTV Pricing, Intelsat Does Home Delivery, AT&T’s WiFi TV, NAB 2006, IPTV: Is It Soup Yet?, IPTV Networking, PBS + MovieBeam, WorldView, Cuban: Broadcasting Not Dead, Wireless IP-TV Box, IP-TV End Game and Cisco Buying Scientific Atlanta.
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