Communications: Silicon Blocks Demonstrate Speedy Serial Interface For WLANs

All IP blocks that support the company's IEEE 802.11 WiLD wireless local-area network (WLAN) now come in silicon, making it possible to demonstrate what's claimed as the first commercial digital interface (HiSS or High Speed Serial) between modem and radio. The HiSS interface allows the radio and modem portions of the system to be separated by as much as three feet, using just a ribbon cable to connect the two. Based on this silicon implementation, the company offers a demonstration platform consisting of an 802.11a/b/g MAC/modem connected to its dual-band, triple-mode CMOS radio transceiver via the HiSS interface. The solution comes with a complete software stack that supports the recent 802.11e/i/h standard extensions. The demo system can be connected to a host system via PCI or USB interface.