Intel Rolls out WiMax Chips

In 2005, Intel's PRO/Wireless 5116 broadband interface device was being developed to ensure that end user OEM manufacturers and telecommunications carriers would be able to develop compatible products and services. The product, originally codenamed "Rosedale" during research and development, is an optimized system-on-chip product with a programmable architecture that made it easier for OEMs to add applications to the Intel solution. The unit may now be placed in residences to receive and transmit wireless broadband signals. Intel has already started intensely rolling out this low cost product.

Then, in October of this year, Intel started rolling out their next generation WiMax chipset with support for mobile devices. Hardware manufacturers Nokia, Motorola, and Samsung have started embedding the chipset into their next generation of mobile devices set to roll out in 2007.

Scott Richardson, the general manager of Intel's Broadband Wireless Division, was quoted as saying that "as a standards-based, high-speed Internet access solution, WiMax can provide the platform for the next generation of Internet expansion, connecting the next billion Internet users. In addition to delivering the first flexible, highly-integrated WiMax system-on-chip, Intel has worked with a number of parties including carriers and equipment manufacturers to prepare the industry for the next wave of wireless technology."