TI heaps on Texas-sized support for 802.11

by brad smith
February 4, 2002

Texas Instruments Inc. has been deeply involved–both as a company and as a member of several international standards bodies–in the development of wireless local area networks using the 802.11 specifications. TI Chairman Tom Engibous has said WLANs are an important focus for the company in 2002. Wireless Week Data Editor Brad Smith recently talked with Joe Crupi, vice president of TI’s broadband communications group, about all things 802.11.

Wireless Internet Magazine: Tom Engibous, TI’s chairman and president, recently indicated that 802.11 will play a bigger role in TI’s future. Can you expand on that? What kind of products is TI working on in this arena and when will they be available?

Crupi: One of the things TI is very excited about is the home networking market in general. There are two drivers for the home networking market. One is just the proliferation of PCs in the home. When you start having more and more PCs and you want to network them together, you think about the different types of networking technologies. What are the alternatives? You have wireline-type technologies like HPNA (home networking using existing phone lines) and power line, or you have the wireless technologies like 802.11.

If you take a look at the criteria most people use, one of them is portability. I have a portable device; can I access a home network? And two, can I go anywhere in the home that I may want to use my device? And really, only a wireless technology meets both of those criteria. Secondly, there’s accessibility. You may want to be on your patio, or you may want to be upstairs or downstairs in the basement and you may not have access to either a power line or a telephone line. Really, the only technology out there today that we feel can meet the home network needs is wireless technology. We believe 802.11b is the best alternative. That’s what you heard in Tom’s speech: the recognition that a) home networking is going to be a big market and b) that wireless technology is the right solution for it and that 802.11 is really the right alternative.

WIM: How will this play out? Where will Texas Instruments join in this technology?

Crupi: Right now our primary focus on the networking side is on 802.11b, “g” and “a.” We already made an announcement last year about our 802.11b product that basically covers 70 percent more area than anyone else’s technology in the marketplace. By covering more area, you need fewer access points and it means you can be farther away or cover a larger percentage of your house–or outside your house. We also made announcements last year with a big provider of 802.11 equipment. That’s Melco–which sells under the Buffalo brand–that is using our technology. We expect a number of other announcements this year with players using our technology. We also will introduce an 802.11g chipset this year.

WIM: What does 802.11g bring to the market?

Crupi: The difference between 802.11a and 802.11b is that 802.11b runs on the 2.4 GHz band and 802.11a runs on the 5 GHz band. “B” was limited to [speeds of] about 11 megabits per second and “a” was limited to 54 megabits per second. What people were working for in “g” was what else they could do in the 2.4 GHz band to get beyond the 11-megabit limit. The latest proposal for 802.11g is basically to use the OFDM technologies in “a” and apply them to “b.” That allows you to get much higher data rates in the 2.4 GHz range, even potentially up to 54 megabits.

WIM: Will that then make 802.11a obsolete?

Crupi: No, I don’t think it will make 802.11a obsolete. It might delay it a little bit. But “a” has other benefits. The 5 GHz band is a less-utilized band today so there is probably more bandwidth available and less clutter in that space. And there are more channels available in that band, so you can have a lot more access points, especially in the enterprise space, where we think 802.11a is going to take over.

WIM: Is there a danger of confusing the market with the somewhat similar focus of 802.11b and 802.11g?

Crupi: Yes, I think there is a risk of confusing the market. One of the things we’ve been pushing for inside TI and outside TI in standards bodies is more clarity in limiting the number of different options so that we don’t stifle or slow down the market development. We actually think the latest definition of “g” will help that, as opposed to an earlier proposal that was not ratified. Our plans are to offer an 802.11b product and then offer a “g” product that is basically backward compatible to “b” so you can migrate up to the speed if you need it and not have the issues associated with another technology.

WIM: When do you think we’ll see products with “g”?

Crupi: You’ll see products, assuming that the standard will be ratified, in the middle of the year.

WIM: So we will have products out this year supporting all three of these standards?

Crupi: Yes, there are “a” products in the market today. The issue with “a” products today is that they only work with “a” access points. Our belief is that down the road you’re going to need both a “g/a” device. Something that supports both bands and is interoperable.

WIM: So you expect that in the not-too-distant future there will be something that will in essence combine all three of these?

Crupi: Absolutely. Probably not this year, but maybe next year, the 2003 time frame. You need two radios when you have an “a” and “g” product if you don’t have backward compatibility. That’s why we think the “a” market by itself is going to be fairly limited.

Can I access a home network with my portable device? Can I go anywhere in the home to use my device? Only a wireless technology meets both of those criteria.

WIM: Aren’t there companies that have announced combined “a” and “b” products?

Crupi: I think everyone that’s in this market is thinking that way. But there are people out there today with “a”-only products. I don’t believe there is going to be a big market for “a”-only products in the short term, especially now that “g” goes up to 54 megabits.

WIM: Do you see “a” at all being a consumer play, or is it primarily an enterprise product?

Crupi: I think it has some opportunity for use in the residence [market] down the road. Most of this market is going to be people trying to use this product in both a public and private domain. Take myself, I would like to use whatever I have in wireless networking at work and I want the same thing to use when I go to Starbucks or the airport or home.

WIM: 802.11b as a technology has been very successful in the past year. It hasn’t been quite as successful in the business realm; I’m thinking about MobileStar, and Starbucks may be delayed in rolling out its wireless LAN stores. Is this a technological failure or a business failure?

Crupi: I think it really depends on the particular business model of the company. It’s been very stressful for a lot of companies that went into business in 2000 and 2001 using a lot of venture financing to finance their growth and focus less on profitability. What we’re finding now is that it works when the business has a reason to want to attract customers. I think with Starbucks and hotels and conferences and things of that nature there is a good business reason. Some of the stand-alone ones that were betting too much on building up subscribers with venture financing are struggling.

WIM: How big an issue will security be for WLANs in 2002? Is this a problem that can be readily solved now or will security concerns hold back the technology?

Crupi: On the security front, anytime you’re communicating over a public medium–whether it is wired or wireless–there is a security issue. There isn’t a week that goes by without some kind of hacking. What I like to use is a virtual private network. If you VPN, then 802.11 is as secure as anything that is out there today. If you don’t VPN, then clearly the other issues that are out there today are that people don’t enable WEP [the wired equivalent privacy protocol in 802.11b] or they don’t manage their keys properly … you can run into a situation where security can be breached.

The 802.11i committee, which is currently meeting, is trying to make WEP stronger. You should start seeing something in mid-2002 that will actually strengthen 802.11 security … we’ll get to the point where 95 percent to 98 percent of the time you’ll be very secure. [WIM]