[Ti] future 'books: with WiMax cards ?

[Dennis Fazio]

--On Saturday, December 18, 2004 10:02:57 AM CST +0300 "Dr. Trevor J. Hutley" 
<hutley at geneva-link.ch> wrote:

> At 00:44 -0600 18/12/04, Dennis Fazio wrote:
>> "Dr. Trevor J. Hutley" <hutley at geneva-link.ch> wrote:
>>
>>> Since Airport Extreme is now standard in Mac laptops, I am wondering if
>>> there is any view or rumour on the Apple thinking about WiMax (next
>>> version of the 802.11 standard).
>>> Will there be a new Airport to handle this?
>>
>> Intel will be building 802.16 transceivers into its motherboards soon.
>
> Dennis - that is what I heard.
>
>> What Apple will do is not yet visible.
>
> and that is why I asked my question.  I wondered if somehow I had missed an
> Apple paper or statement on this subject

I don't think so. Nothing has come out yet from Apple on any of the rumor 
sites. WiMax is still somewhat immature and Apple's focus is towards the 
easy-to-use consumer market. It will be a little while before WiMax is a 
mainstream technology. Some systems are being installed now in test markets. 
Right now WiMax standards (802.16a and d) provide for transmission in the 
2-66GHz range and are for fixed wireless stations (no roaming around). Intel 
is trying to boost the market by installing transceivers on motherboards. 
True mobile reception (802.16e) is not yet standard but will be shortly. It 
will be 2006 or so before that is available in laptops. 802.16d (fixed 
wireless) is becoming available now and will be most useful for those rural 
and suburban areas where DSL and cable broadband are not available.
>
> we need a techie to help get to the definitive answer on this, who knows
> and understands the differences between 802.11 and the new 802.16

I'm not an expert on it, but my study so far indicates the differences I've 
described (LAN vs. MAN or WAN). Though WiFi is a LAN technology and networks 
can be built by individual consumers, WiMax is a service provider technology. 
802.16 also provides for Quality of Service (QoS) on the network (which is 
not available in WiFi yet) which will more easily permit converged 
communications (voice, video, data).

It will require 2 separate radio systems to handle WiFi and WiMax 
communications. In a couple of years with integration, it may be possible to 
fit both on a PC Card. At some point soon, I expect Apple will integrate 
Airport onto the motherboard, making it standard on all models, like Intel. 
WiMax cards could then be added quickly and easily.

-- 
Dennis Fazio
dfz at mac.com