Intel Demonstrates Its First Mobile Wimax Baseband Chip

December 05, 2006

In the next step toward integrated WiMAX/Wi-Fi Technology for future laptops and mobile devices, Intel Corporation announced design completion of its first mobile WiMAX baseband chip. Combined with the company’s previously announced single-chip, multi-band WiMAX/Wi-Fi radio, the pair creates a complete chipset called the Intel WiMAX Connection 2300. This development marks another major step in Intel’s efforts to deliver an “always best connected” mobile Internet experience for future laptops and mobile devices.

The Intel WiMAX Connection 2300 chipset design was demonstrated during Executive Vice President and Chief Sales and Marketing Officer Sean Maloney’s keynote at the 3G World Congress and Mobility Marketplace in Hong Kong.

Maloney showed an Intel Centrino Duo mobile technology-based laptop with mobile WiMAX (IEEE 802.16e-2005), Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n), and high-speed downlink packet access (HSDPA) 3G capabilities successfully accessing the Internet at broadband speeds over a mobile WiMAX network. The demonstration illustrates the high-speed and quality of service capability of WiMAX for handling content-rich applications that can be extremely responsive without interference from other wireless technologies residing on the same system.

"Intel continues to drive innovation in mobile broadband access by eliminating the seams that prevent ubiquitous wireless connectivity," said Maloney. "The Intel WiMAX Connection 2300 will help speed the deployment of mobile WiMAX, and accelerate the availability of a new wave of “personal broadband" laptops and mobile devices that deliver the real Internet."

With the initial Intel WiMAX Connection 2300 chipset design now complete, Intel plans to focus on validating and testing the product, with plans to sample both card and module forms beginning in late 2007.