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| Architosh Staff ([email protected]) |
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Wireless FireWire? Philips rolls out plans for wireless 1394
The August issue of EE Times, the magazine of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) , has a story on Philips Semiconductor's plans for wireless 1394 standards. In efforts to provide higher bandwidths for "in-home multimedia" and networking, Philips demonstrated their technology at the IFA '99 (International Funkkausstellung) consumer electronics show in Berlin this last week. Working in conjunction with Wi-LAN, a technology leader in wireless Internet/data communications, they jointly announced a demonstration of wireless transmission of IEEE 1394 (FireWire) technology at 2.4 GHz using Wi-LAN's patented Wideband Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (W-OFDM) technology. What is the Technology? Wideband Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (known as W-OFDM for short) is WI-LAN's patented RF wireless technology. Like all modulation schemes, OFDM encodes data inside a (RF) radio frequency signal. Since radio communications are often obstructed by other noises and signals OFDM sends high-speed signals concurrently on different frequencies for more robust communications. W-OFDM is a cost-effective variation of OFDM that allows larger throughputs than regular OFDM by using a broad frequency band. According to a press release from Philips:
" the Wireless IEEE 1394 Demonstrator will feature an MPEG-2 data stream generator, which feeds a multiple transport stream into a Philips Semiconductors Set Top Box (STB). The STB converts this signal to an IEEE 1394 data stream and applies it to the WI-LAN W-OFDM radio system. The WI-LAN radio transmitter then sends the IEEE 1394 data stream over the air to the corresponding W-OFDM receiver. On the receive side, the IEEE 1394 signal is demodulated and sent to two STBs, which display the content of the different MPEG-2 data streams on two separate TV monitors. Using IEEE 1394 as the interface for the wired part of the network optimizes the entire system for transmission of isochronous information (voice, live video) and provides an ideal interfacing to multimedia devices in the home." This demonstration establishes W-OFDM as the most bandwidth-efficient wireless transmission technology, capable of providing data rates necessary for in-home multimedia networking. What's in it for Apple's FireWire and the Macintosh? Phillips will position wireless 1394 as a solution for streaming audio and video for home networking, with products set for launch next year. At this time it is still too early to know if Apple will incorporate W-OFDM technology in their FireWire and wireless plans. However, from the information below, it appears that the two technologies have some common ground and will likely be integrated into Apple's technology plans. OFDM technology is becoming increasingly more visible as American and European standardization committees are choosing it as the only technology capable of providing reliable wireless high data rate connections. European terrestrial digital video broadcasting uses OFDM and the IEEE 802.11 standard (the technology standard for the Apple AirPort wireless BaseStation and other Lucent wireless technology) recently selected OFDM in its proposed 6 to 54 Mbps wireless LAN standard. You may remember that Apple's AirPort BaseStation and wireless technology -- jointly developed with Lucent -- is based on the wireless Ethernet standard IEEE 802.11b variation, which is why it supports up to 11 Mbps, compared to the older IEEE 802.11 standard which supports up to 2 Mbps. FireWire (IEEE 1394) itself supports up to 400 Mbps in Apple's machines and a new implementation for that standard will support up to 800 Mbps. WI-LAN just launched the iWILL (TM) 30 Mbps Access Point with its patented W-OFDM technology and carries unprecedented speeds in its industry class. WI-LAN is an industry leader in wireless LAN technology and is based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Other Architosh News Key Note: Apple introduces G4: 'supercomputer' for the rest of us [aug 31] Architosh Survey: Reader Help Requested [26]
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