Motorola Inc has controversially chosen Altair – which used to be the name of a pioneering microcomputer, for its wireless Ethernet local area network, which can be integrated into wired Ethernet systems, and has now released more details of the product, which it first announced back in October (CI No 1,540) as the Wireless In-Building Network. Using 18GHz radio, Altair devices replace or extend the reach of cables in a 10Mbps Ethernet local net. The network consists of two external components – a control module and a user module – each with its own radio transceiver and data-handling circuitry. User Modules are connected to between one and six Ethernet-compatible data devices via ThinNet cable. They then transmit data between devices, using low power 18GHz radio signals. As well as User Modules, each network area has to have an elevated, centrally located Control Module. This is connected to an Ethernet addressable data device such as as a server or host, or to the local area net backbone by ThinNet cable. The maximum number of data devices that can be connected via Altair is 32 and the physical area is limited to 500 square yards. Motorola says the 18GHz band offers the necessary data-carrying capacity for high-speed networks. But 18GHz is also the radio band used by British Telecommunications Plc in its point-to-point back-up telephony, and video services. Norman Croft at Motorola says that because the network uses low-power signals, the energy level outside an Altair building is low and both companies should therefore be able to share the frequency. The Department of Trade and Industry and the Radio Agency are still assessing the Altair system for any possible effects.
