The battles at the conferences of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc , are among the most well known in the technology world. Despite this, the battle last year over the new 802.11n standard for wireless communications set new records.
The argument during 2005 was between two groups comprising representatives from IT and telecommunications giants, who had differing ideas as to how exactly the standard should work. Although the differences between the two sides were comparatively small, the battle raged on for more than six months with each side failing to “throw out” the proposal of the other.
Then, just as the groups were joining forces out of frustration and launching a joint effort to move forward the standard that the industry had been waiting for, a new group, calling itself the Enhanced Wireless Consortium appeared. Not surprisingly, the new organization consisted mainly of companies that were behind the previous two groups and its clear goal was to push for a new standard to be introduced at the earliest opportunity.
After a few more months of work, the basic draft for the new standard was approved in January 2006, with the final standard set for approval by the beginning of next year. The names behind the political-technological battle over the 802.11n standard included WiFi chip manufacturers such as Intel Corp. (Nasdaq: INTC), Marvell Technology Group (Nasdaq: MRVL) and Broadcom (Nasdaq: BRCM); telecommunications equipment manufacturers such as Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO), 3Com Corporation (Nasdaq: COMS) and Linksys, and other leading telecommunications and IT equipment manufacturers.
The battle over the 802.11n standard is not the first to be waged over communications standards and probably won’t be the last either. However, the pressure from IT and telecommunications giants definitely made the atmosphere more tense and you don’t need a special grasp of technology to understand why. Research companies have predicted that the 802.11n market will be worth $2.4 billion by as early as 2008, by which time the standard will be in operation for its second year.
The new standard will enable data transmission volume over WLAN networks that is several times higher than the volume at present. Originally designed to support transmission at a speed of 100Mbs (megabits per second), the final proposal will enable, theoretically, transmission speeds of up to 600Mbs (In practice, the speed will be slower but still substantially higher that the 802.11g standard in use at present).
The above introduction was necessary to understand what led Japanese chip giant Renesas Technology Corp. to cooperate with Israeli company Metalink (Nasdaq: MTLK;TASE: MTLK) in developing a solution for high speed video transmission to domestic consumers over wireless networks.
Last week, Renesas senior network project and corporate strategy planning manager Tsutomu Tsuboi visited Israel. The description on the Japanese visitor’s business card may be misleading. Renesas employs 26,000 people and has annual turnover of almost $10 billion. Tsutomu’s role is to find external growth engines. Founded in 2003 as spin-off combining Hitachi’s chip division and Mitsubishi Electronics, Renesas develops semiconductors for use in electronic entertainment, cellular phones, automotive navigation devices and so on. The company controls a 33% share of the global embedded chip market in these fields.
Metalink, as mentioned, is one of the companies that Renesas views as growth engine. Six weeks ago, the company announced it would integrate Metalink’s 8021.11n compliant technology with its processor, enabling complete solutions for wireless home entertainment networks.
Hitachi, Panasonic, Sony and Toshiba were very impressed.
”At present, we’re using the existing solutions on the market for video transmission over wireless networks,” said Tsutomu during his visit to Metalink, “but this is not enough. We are waiting for introduction of the 802.11n standard, which will enable us to provide larger volumes of communications transmission capacity.” The Renesas video wireless transmission solution is a form of control unit based on its SH4 processor that coordinates home communications. The company aims, through this unit, to transmit broadband communications for all forms of domestic use, of which video and television broadcasts require the largest bandwidth.
The distress implied by Tsutomu’s remarks would not be understood by most Israelis. In Japan, a global leader in electronic entertainment solutions development, the approach is different. For countries in which every school has a number of installations for visual broadcasting (television, computer monitors, handheld devices and so on), the current solutions are no longer relevant.
802.11g is currently the leading standard. It suffers from a number of key problems that prompted electronics and IT equipment manufacturers to speed up the transition to the 11n standard. The problems in question include the relatively low bandwidth, which affects transmission capacity and broadcast quality as well as a broadcasting range that does not enable viewing in all homes.
High quality television transmission requires a transmission speed of 20Mbps, a speed provided by the current standard. The problems begin when it comes to multi-channel broadcasting over a local wireless network to several receivers in different rooms. The new standard will enable a substantially higher data transmission capacity (up to nine times more) and a wider transmission range than that provided through the 11g standard.
”We began talks with Metalink over a year ago and we had a lot of discussions about cooperation between us,” recalls Tsutomu. “This year, we demonstrated the integration of our SH4 solution (a processor fitted with a control unit for high speed communications transmission to end users) and Metalink’s 802.11n compliant chip system at exhibitions in Tokyo and Osaka. We successfully transmitted a simultaneous high quality wireline broadcast of three channels. Our customers, Hitachi, Panasonic, Sharp, Sony and Toshiba were very impressed.”
Metalink claims to be the first company to offer a 802.11n-based chipset. The company’s solution includes a core technology called Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO), which has been based on the 802.11n standard and improves signal strength through algorithms and a multiple aerial system. Competition in the field is stiff, despite the difficulty in complying with 11n requirements and high entry barriers. The leading players in the field are giants such as Marvell, Broadcom, Intel and others, whose R&D teams are working on the development of 11n-based solutions.
”We chose Metalink because we saw that their products are far more advanced and they are involved in setting the standard. In addition, we didn’t want to work with the large companies; they’re a bit condescending in their attitude and it’s difficult to work with them,” says Tsutomu by way of explanation for the Japanese company’s decision. “Metalink is a pleasant, reasonable-sized company that moves fast. We also formed ties with other companies but they move extremely slow and it’s difficult to negotiate with them. The big companies want to protect their copyright and it is therefore difficult to reach an advanced level of cooperation with them.”
Looking for wireless communications in Israel.
Tsutomu’s enthusiasm for Israeli companies is not limited to Metalink. Renesas also collaborates with other companies in the wireless technology industry that manufacture relevant equipment targeted primarily at end users. Tsutomu said Renasas was also working with Yitran Communications (which develops applications for communications transmission over existing electrical infrastructure), Runcom Technologies, (which develops broadband wireless communications technologies); Wisair, (which specializes in chipsets for short-range, high speed transmission of voice and data files), and CopperGate Communications (which develops chipsets for distributing multiple video, audio, voice and data services among multiple devices over existing phone or coax cables).
It would appear that, from the Japanese perspective, Israel is a powerhouse in wireless communications R&D. “Israel is one of the global leaders in the field of wireless communications and telecommunications in general,” says Tsutomu. “Japan or East Asia are the places to look for video and encoding technologies. Cellular solutions can be found in Japan or Europe, where more companies are active in this particular field. The US is the place for localized and IP-based networks. So the US is the center for IP communications technologies; Europe the center for cellular technologies; Asia the center for consumer electronics and Israel the center for communications technologies. If we want solutions for wireless communications, we’ll look for them in Israel.”
Globes: You have so far limited yourselves to cooperation with Israeli companies. Will you also consider making acquisitions here?
Tsutomu:”We make mostly strategic investments since that is what we need and this is usually part of a collaboration agreement. Either way, our investments are made by a separate body. Our parent company, Hitachi, has a subsidiary called Corporate Venture Capital, and they handle all the investments in start-ups as well as long-term collaboration agreements that need financing.”
What plans do you have for long-term cooperation with Metalink?
”Our next goal, after domestic communications solutions, is the integration of chips for high-speed video transmission in cellular handsets. After that, we will turn our attentions to the vehicle industry. Renesas is already a leader in navigation solutions for the vehicle industry, and we will also supply solutions for vehicle-based entertainment. We have already begun manufacturing vehicle solutions and we are working together with leading car manufacturers worldwide to move this forward.
"Today’s vehicles have too much wire line communications. The average car has 120 chips and communications between them all has already become too complicated, so manufacturers are now turning to us to for alternate technologies. So the vehicle market is a good one for us as we are expanding our solutions range beyond vehicle navigation. We can also use the integrated Renesas - Metalink solution for this too.”
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on May 4, 2006
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2006