IBM Announces Wireless Video-Capable Chipset to Guarded Carrier Reaction
Carriers expressed limited interest in IBM’s new wireless chipset; most agreed the 60 GHz-band chipset is interesting, and has potential, but few indicated any serious desire to explore using the technology for HDTV or other video deployment. The chip has the ability to process as much as 1.5 Gbps -- a blinding speed that would likely meet wireless HDTV requirements with room to spare -- but only over distances of about 10 meters, and only in the unlicensed, unfamiliar 60 GHz band. An IBM official touted the chipset’s potential and said the manufacturer will partner will other companies to sell final products containing the chipset, a move that could pique carriers’ interest.
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The chipset is based on the 802.15.3c specification, and Brian Gaucher, IBM’s research mgr.-communications systems design, also sits on the standards committee for that specification. He told Communications Daily the chipset has the potential to drive a wide variety of convergent technologies, incorporating video and still images, data and voice: “We envision it being able to do… whole networks within a room.” Gaucher said the standards committee hopes to have an established standard there “in the 2007-2008 timeframe,” allowing consumers to use it in routers, to connect to laptops, “even as a peer-to-peer connection,” depending on who manufactures the baseband processor chip.
Most carriers were hesitant to praise or criticize the chipset, citing its newness and uncertainty around the band. A spokesman for BellSouth said the carrier would “probably monitor” the technology’s development. He said the 60 GHz band could have advantages -- “it doesn’t matter that we don’t have spectrum there since it’s unlicensed” -- but major disadvantages as well, namely the short range of such technologies. He said the technology “could have real strong potential” for on-premises applications but wondered whether many would jump on technology with such poor performance over distance. Verizon has mentioned this kind of connectivity in the past but a company spokeswoman said the FiOS TV technology is a major focus for the company.
A spokesman at Cox expressed interest in a different IBM chip altogether. He said the similar “Cell” chip designed by IBM for the yet-to-be-released Sony PlayStation 3 is especially exciting for its myriad uses applicable to gaming, wireless data transfer, real-time video chat, interactive television content -- all of which would integrate perfectly with the broadband services being offered by Cox. “We certainly embrace the gaming community,” he said, adding Cox was excited about the opportunities the Cell chip presents. A Comcast spokeswoman was especially mum on the technology, saying the company keeps an eye on, and is “always evaluating,” new technology, but wouldn’t comment on the IBM chip or any plans Comcast has in the wireless arena.