Tech Hardware Supply Chain - Gazhoo

Bhavin Shah
(852) 2800-8538
bhavin.a.shah@jpmorgan.com
68
Asia Pacific Equity Research
20 April 2009
• Cons: Slow speed; supports fewer simultaneous users; appliances may interfere
on the unregulated frequency band.
802.11g
802.11g attempts to combine the best of both 802.11a and 802.11b by supporting
bandwidth up to 54 Mbps, and using the 2.4 GHz frequency for greater range.
802.11g is backwards compatible with 802.11b, meaning that 802.11g access points
will work with 802.11b wireless network adapters and vice versa.
• Pros: Fast at maximum speed, supports more simultaneous users and signal range
is the best and is not easily obstructed.
• Cons: Appliances may interfere on the unregulated frequency.
Wireless network adapters cost approximately the same for 802.11b and 802.11g.
Dual-band adapters that work for 802.11 a/b/g are also available but at an
appreciably higher cost.
802.11n
In January 2004, IEEE formed a new 802.11 Task Group to develop a new
amendment to the 802.11 standard for local-area wireless networks. The real data
throughput will be at least 100 Mbps and should be up to four to five times faster
than 802.11a or 802.11g, and perhaps 20 times faster than 802.11b. It is projected
that 802.11n will also offer a better operating distance than current networks.
802.11n builds upon previous 802.11 standards by adding MIMO (multiple-input
multiple-output). The additional transmitter and receiver antennas allow for increased
data throughput through spatial multiplexing and increased range by exploiting the
spatial diversity.
There were two competing variants of the 802.11n standard: WWiSE (backed by
companies including Broadcom, HP, Motorola, Nokia and TI) and TGn Sync
(backed by Intel and Philips). In May 2005, TGn Sync, WWiSE and MITMOT (a
third group promoted by Mitsubishi and Motorola, whose proposal had been rejected
by IEEE in January 2005) merged to form a Joint Proposal Group. In September
2005, the group presented two status reports regarding progress toward developing a
merged proposal. In Jan 2009, the 7th draft of the standard was re-approved;
however, the standard still is not finalized.
Despite the standard not being finalized, we are seeing some products on the draft
versions being sold in the market already. Apple Computers announced the release of
its 802.11n products, Apple TV and Apple’s new AirPort Extreme base station in
early 2007. Computers shipped to date with Intel Core 2 Duo chips could also be
upgraded to support the new wireless standard through a firmware patch and an
updated base station.
802.11s (wireless mesh networks)
Mesh networking is a way of routing of data, voice and instructions between nodes
(devices that are part of a computer network). These mesh networks reduce the need
for wired connections in wireless LANs by letting multiple access points carry each
others’ traffic. A conventional WLAN access point needs its own wired link to a
backbone network, whereas a wireless mesh can have just one wire for many access
points. Traffic destined for the internet can hop from one access point to another until
it reaches the wired connection. A newly added access point can be automatically