IBM goes for Intersil's Wi-Fi solution

IBM has chosen Intersil's Prism chipset to power its new high-rate wireless LAN gateway that enables sharing of a single broadband cable or digital subscriber line account by multiple users.

IBM has chosen Intersil's Prism chipset to power its new high-rate wireless LAN gateway that enables sharing of a single broadband cable or digital subscriber line (DSL) account by multiple users in small businesses and the home.

IBM's high-rate wireless LAN gateway uses Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11b) wireless standards to provide a new platform for small office and home (SOHO) users.

It allows multiple small business or home users to share a single broadband Internet connection without losing their wireless mobility and without running any new cables.

For corporate users, the new product's Wi-Fi interoperability certification allows the same 802.11b PC card to be used at work and in the home for true seamless mobility, without changing cards.

Additionally, a built-in firewall with features such as Statefull Packet Inspection provides enhanced security from hacking.

A built-in four-port 10/100 Ethernet switch also provides high-performance wired LAN access.

"The new IBM high-rate wireless LAN gateway acts as a central access point and wireless distribution centre for broadband and network content throughout a small office or the home", said Larry Ciaccia, vice president and general manager of Intersil's Wireless Networking Business.

"It uses Intersil's Prism wireless networking chipset which is optimised for small form factor and embedded WLAN applications such as this and the reference design allowed IBM to quickly develop these new products for the growing and home wireless LAN market".

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