Metalink Targets 802.11n

(Business News & Technology News, 12 Jul 2005)

Metalink Ltd. today took aim at the upcoming IEEE 802.11n standard.
The wireless player unveiled its WLANPlus family of multimedia networking products and announced its MtW8170 baseband device, which, when combined with the company's already available MtW8150 RFIC, will comprise a single chipset for the emerging 802.11n standard for next-generation wireless LAN, Metalink claimed.
IEEE’s 802.11n is expected to enable high-speed video distribution throughout the home, working off Multiple-Input, Multiple-Output technology (MIMO).
Metalink describes its WLANPlus chipset as “the first Real-MIMO-based wireless chipset designed for delivering data throughput of more than 240Mbits/sec. over the air with full-home coverage for video-distribution applications.”
The chipset can be embedded in digital video recorders, set-top boxes, high-definition televisions, media adaptors and other consumer electronics products using Real-MIMO, advanced coding, channel bonding, a media access control (MAC) packet-aggregation scheme, and Quality of Service (QoS) features for video streaming over the 802.11n soon-to-be standard.
"High-quality video distribution capabilities are the last hurdle before home networks can be transformed for use in the wireless entertainment age,” said Barry Volinskey, Metalink’s associate VP of marketing with, in a statement.

While a final 802.11n standard is not expected until next year, Metalink said it has adhered to 802.11n standard drafts and that the chipset fully supports 802.11i security features and the 802.11e QoS standard.
MtW8170 will be available in sample quantities in Q3.