If the news is real we will forget about wires soon. Intel announced the development of a Wi-Fi platform to increase the wireless range from cities to rural areas. The technology called the rural connectivity platform (RCP) involves a processor, radios, a special software and two antennas (one to send the radio signals and other to receive it).
Let me explain how it works. The first antenna will be connected to a local-area network cable. Then the signal sent will be received by the other antenna placed in a 60-mile range. Because of the Earth curvature, the 60-mile range is the limit for now. However the Intel guys say that the RPC technology has been tested for 30-mile range coverage and performs impressively well. They obtained speeds of 6.5 MBps. In fact, the RPC technology rewrites the communication rules of Wi-Fi radios. The software produced by Intel is the key, explains Jeff Galinovsky, a senior platform manager at Intel.
The long distance Wi-Fi would be possible even with a regular antenna.The software used by radios can boost Wi-Fi's performance. It "creates specific time slots in which each of the two radios listens and talks, so there's no extra data being sent confirming transmissions."
Intel has already tested the RPC hardware in India, Panama, Vietnam and South Africa. Intel plans to sell the device at first in India, with a target price below $500, but the two nodes infrastructure will cost less than $1,000. Intel's Rural Connectivity Platform is expected to become a commercial product in the second half of 2008.
thats awesome
Posted by: ppp | March 21, 2008 4:19 AM | Permalink to Comment