Intel has been developing what it calls a "wireless ecosystem"
which is aimed at allowing users with any kind of computing device
to tap into any network worldwide.
Last week, executives at Intel's wireless development group
detailed a series of research projects, which they described as
being essential to the company's efforts to sell future generations
of chips for wireless systems.
Intel market development manager Roger Chandler said the work
included development of a "mobile execution environment" designed
to serve as the base level of a wireless software stack.
Software developers and wireless technology vendors could layer
programming languages, such as the mobile version of Java, as well
as operating systems and applications on top of the Intel
technology, he said.
Chandler added that Intel is also developing IP-based intelligent
roaming capabilities to make it easier for mobile users to switch
from wireless LANs to cellular WANs without any knowledge of
underlying network protocols.
Other wireless initiatives under way at Intel include efforts to
automate authentication procedures as mobile users are handed off
from one network to another and to develop "location-aware"
software that works with the company's mobile computing silicon.
The ultimate goal of Intel's wireless strategy is so-called silicon
radio, which would incorporate multiple cellular and WLAN standards
on chips. But Intel spokeswoman Kari Skoog, said the company did
not expect to complete that technology for "seven-plus years". The
other pieces of the wireless puzzle are due to appear within the
next 18 to 24 months.
Gary Robertson, executive director of global infrastructure at
Delphi, a maker of automotive electronics systems, said Intel's
wireless development plans sounded daunting.
"But if anybody can do it and pull it off, it's Intel," Robertson
said, adding that he could put to good use a system that let him
switch from a WLAN service to a cellular network while travelling.
Intel's development efforts have made it the most important company
in wireless, and one of the most aggressive, said Craig Mathias, an
analyst at FarPoint Group. Because of the growing use of WLANs,
wireless technology is a logical path for Intel to follow in search
of new revenue, he added.