Texas Instruments unveils chip set for Wi-Fi USB dongle

Wi-Fi in a USB dongle form factor may be the killer design that makes wireless home networks as common as a television set in every room.

Texas Instruments unveiled Thursday a single-chip chip set solution, the TNETW 1450, which is compliant with both IEEE 802.11b/g standards and offers an overall reduction in system board size and discrete components small enough to fit into a USB 2.0 dongle.

According to Marcelo Vieira, director of business development for Wireless LAN Business unit at Texas Instruments, a USB form factor will allow many households to upgrade older computer systems with Wi-Fi.

In combination with TI’s current technology now embedded in DSL modems, users can expect broadband suppliers to offer both DSL and Wi-Fi all in one box. SBC, for example, is currently offering a DSL/Wi-Fi modem for $149 with a $99 rebate to encourage users to deploy wireless networks in the home.

 In addition, last month TI unveiled its TNETW1350 chip set that by the second quarter will be embedded in many other devices used in the home, digital cameras, MP3 players, and printers.

Vieira said if the Wi-Fi access point, as found in a DSL modem and the client side, both use TI chip sets users will see a performance gain of over 50 percent, typically from 22Mbps to 35Mbps.

“When it’s TI technology on both sides, we can do packet bursting and frame concatenation to optimize throughput,” said Vieira.

Installation would also be easier, with devices self-configuring to the network, Vieira said.

While the uptake of Wi-Fi embedded with DSL broadband is rapid, Vieira noted that cable operators are somewhat more reluctant, although Wi-Fi embedded in a cable box seems like a logical next step.

However, the cable operators fear increased support costs.

“Cable operators aren’t as aggressive. Fundamentally, they are struggling to find a business model that makes sense,” said Vieira.

Pricing will be comparable to card bus Wi-Fi solutions.