Proxim to Develop HomeRF-Based Products

Mountain View, CA-based Proxim Inc. has unveiled plans to develop products based on the HomeRF Working Group's Shared Wireless Access Protocol (SWAP) specification. Proxim, which helped to find the HomeRF group, will support the SWAP specification with new members of its Symphony Cordless Networking Suite. Products in this line will include a cordless universal serial bus (USB) adapter for desktop computers, a new cordless PC card for notebook computers, and a cordless miniature design-in module for radio integration into products such as broadband Internet gateways.

The new SWAP-based Symphony products will interoperate with the installed base of Symphony products, based on the OpenAir standard developed by the Wireless LAN Interoperability Forum (WLI Forum). User intervention or configuration will not be required for interoperability of products based on either standard because of the Harmony software included for free with the new products. Harmony-enabled radios can automatically detect if either the OpenAir or SWAP standard is being used in their environment and employ that protocol.

Proxim's Symphony products will operate in the 2.4 GHz band and will employ a frequency hopping, spread spectrum (FHSS) modulation scheme. They will deliver data rates of 1.6 Mb/s in a single-cell environment with an indoor coverage radius of up to 150 ft.

The Symphony will includes device driver software for the Windows 95 and Windows 98 operating systems. The products will also provide support for the Windows NT 4.0 operating system.