Kilmer Peak Chipset To Support WiMAX at 3 Frequencies

Lots of stories have been written about the Sprint and Clearwire buildouts of WiMAX in spots around the country. A while back there was a story about the actual performance in a semi-random test in Chicago, with promising results.

The only thing that was not being talked about was the wait that was being experienced by those manufacturers who make the network cards, which would work with those nifty WiMAX towers.

Just announced is the fact that Intel will be cranking out the basic chipset, which will operate at three different frequencies, so that one chipset will be the base for worldwide usage.

from PC Advisor

After keeping operators and users alike waiting for nearly a year, Intel has begun production of a wireless chipset, called Kilmer Peak, that will support three versions of WiMax, 2.3GHz, 2.5GHz and 3.5GHz.

Intel’s current WiMax chipsets only support the 2.5GHz version of WiMax, which is used markets like Japan, the US and Taiwan. The company doesn’t yet support the 2.3GHz profile, which is used by operators in South Korea and Malaysia, or the 3.5GHz version used in Pakistan. That will change with Kilmer Peak.

“Kilmer Peak is in production and will launch with the Calpella Arrandale notebook platform solution in Q1 2010,” Intel spokesman Barry Sum wrote in an email, adding that the chipset will support the three WiMax profiles.

“As for the availability of notebooks with Kilmer Peak built in, it’s more appropriate for you to check with the OEMs after the official launch in Q1,” he wrote.

Intel has been promising support for more WiMax profiles for some time, but hasn’t delivered any products.

In an August 2008 interview, Garth Collier, Intel Asia-Pacific’s general manager for WiMax, told IDG News Service that support for the 2.3GHz and 3.5GHz profiles would likely be available in 2009, but a definite release date would depend on user demand.

One month later, at the Ceatec exhibition in Chiba, Japan, Intel showed off pictures of its upcoming Evans Peak WiMax chipset alongside signs that said it will support all three WiMax profiles. However, Evans Peak – which is part of Intel’s upcoming Atom-based Moorestown platform, due next year – isn’t yet on the market.

Clearly, WiMAX figures heavily in the wireless plans for many manufacturers, and it will be interesting to see who moves more quickly on this, Sprint or one of the other competitors in the market.

Though I have not seen anything concerning the broadband stimulus appropriations, it makes sense that in many places the WiMAX buildout will be the last-mile solution, and give affordable speed to many who live in rural areas not yet served by any high speed service.

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