IDF Fall 2003: Intel R&D targets agile radio

By Alun Williams

Posted on 16 Sep 2003 at 09:09

Ahead of the main Intel Developer Forum, Intel Research has been signposting its major areas for development.

Steve Palowski, Co-Director of Intel's Communications & Interconnect Lab, kicked things off by giving an overview of Intel's work with radio - the developments behind the 'Radio Free Intel' slogan.

Highlighting the spaghetti soup of networking acronyms (WWAN, WMAN, WLAN, WPAN) and protocols (802.11, GSM, UWB (ultra wide band)), the goal is to help communicate seamlessly and automatically across the radio-based spectrum.

According to Palowski, a significant proportion of work is oriented towards Agile Radio and Cognitive Radio support.

Agile Radio support is simply the ability to work at different frequencies, within the circumstances in which the device finds itself.

The Cognitive Radio concept takes this one stage further. It picks the 'best' available spectrum and adapting communications suitably. In the words of Palowski, such a device would 'sniff for the best available spectrum and configure the network to best use the environment.'

Also covered was Intel's work with Ultra Wide Band radio. Historically used but the military, the American FCC has started to give limited approval for its public use in the US.

Supporting data-comms speeds of greater than 100Mbit/sec within a 10m radius, it uses the 0.5 - 7 GHz swathe of the spectrum. While it is useful for location-aware applications (It can determine transmitter locations within a few inches), its weaknesses include its limited range of operation (it quickly degrades beyond a range of 10m) and it is highly susceptible to interference.

Nonetheless, Intel sees it as being an important element in any approach to seamlessly managing wireless comms, whatever the frequencies available, whatever the protocols.

Intel's real goal, of course, is to shift more silicon, and such technology could help drive the creation of a new generation of 'intelligent' mobile devices.