Intel Corp will be demonstrating its HomeRF wireless LAN home networking technology at Comdex next week. The technology, which Intel says will allow ‘whole home connectivity’ for enabled laptops, offers data transmission rates of 1.6 megabits per second at a range of up to 100 meters. The demonstration will form the basis of a home networking push for Intel at the Las Vegas trade show. The firm will also be introducing its first 10Mbps AnyPoint PCI cards, based on the forthcoming Home Phone Network Alliance (HPNA) 2.0 specification. The HPNA specification allows for home data transmission over existing phone lines.
Dan Sweeney, business unit manager of Intel’s home networking operation said that the HPNA 2.0 was very close to being realized and that the firm is confident in bringing out products based on the spec. The PCI card is being sold as product for customers that want video streaming or heavy graphics functionality in a home network set-up. Indeed, Sweeney does not envisage the 10Mbps PCI card becoming prevalent for another 18 months to two years. The original 1Mbps product offers the functions that most customers want – internet sharing, file sharing and printer sharing – at reasonable price point, Sweeney said. And the 1Mbps card costs $49, as opposed to $79 for the new product, making it more attractive to PC OEMs such as Gateway.
However, the impetus to eventually move to the new specification is there, mostly driven by the availability of the iLine 10 chipset from Broadcom Corp. The technology was developed by Epigram Inc, a company that Broadcom bought back in April. As well as Intel, Dell, 3Com, Nortel and Diamond Multimedia have all shipped home networking equipment based on the iLine silicon.
Research shows that the growth of broadband internet access services will also fuel the move to 10Mbps. The Yankee Group says that 17 million US homes are interested in home networking and that phone-line-based systems will be the most common way of connecting the home. By 2003, Yankee says, over four PC-based million homes will install phone-line based systems over existing wiring, 1.5 million will use wireless networking and 300,000 will use power line based networking.
