Linksys launches enterprise wireless LAN lineup

By Patrick Mannion
iApplianceWeb
(02/21/03, 12:35:41 PM EDT)

MANHASSET, N.Y. - Linksys has announced its entry into the enterprise wireless LAN arena with line of IEEE 802.11b/a/g access points based on Intel's IXP422 Xscale-based network processor. The company said it would work with Intel Corp. to develop the wireless devices for business and hot-spot environments which will be available in the second quarter of 2003.

"We chose the IXP422 because of its numerous enhanced features and robust functionality, many of which were not needed for our consumer-oriented devices," said a Linksys spokesperson. Along with overall higher performance, the particular features include integrated cryptography for security and the use of a PCI bus for the flexibility to integrate 802.11b, .11a or .11g. Direct memory access is also provided.

While Linksys is making inroads into the enterprise market, it is not giving up its established consumer product lines, said the spokesperson, nor is it going to affect its chip suppliers, particularly Ubicom. The company currently uses the Atmel AT76C510 processor in its WAP11 line and the Broadcom 4702 in its WAP54G and WAP51AB lineup. It also uses Ubicom's IP2022 processor its WET11 wireless Ethernet bridge.

"We're working with them [Linksys] on developments of that [WET11] as well as other products," said Jeff Wolf, Ubicom's vice president of worldwide sales and marketing. "We've consistently heard from Linksys that we respond quickly to changing standards and our engineering team executes more quickly than what they're used to," he said.

To meet the demands of Linksys and other customers, Ubicom recently announced that it has revamped its IP2022 offering in two directions. The current version comes in at 120-MHz for $8; the two new versions comprise a lower-cost 120-MHz processor for $7 and a higher-speed 160-MHz version for $9.

The Ubicom device features a deterministic processing core that allows the I/Os to be re-programmed for a wide range of interface standards, said Glenn Schuster, vice president of marketing at Ubicom. Other current Ubicom customers include D-Link and In-Focus.

For instant access to more informationabout the issues, products and technologies mentioned in this story, click on the flashing icon in the upper right hand column on any page on this site. It will take you to an alternate view of iApplianceWeb based on an associatively-linked XML/Java Web map that can be used to search for any topic published here over the last 12 months.

This map allows any story on the site to be accessed by date, by category, by title, or by keyword, with results displayed within seconds either as a list of possible hits or with specific Web pages displayed below the map, which is adjustable depending on the number of hits and the number of links.

For technical article coverage, go to the  iAppliance Web Views  page and access the EETimes In Focus maps there to browse or quickly search for all articles on a particular topic since the beginning of 1999.