WiMAX!
The next speaker was Mr. Kok Hon Loong. He is Intel Electronics Malaysia's Public Sector Industry Marketing Manager. Because he was primarily talking about the development of the education here in Malaysia, I'm not going to say much, except that I hope that our younger generations will be able to develop the computer skills necessary to compete in the future workplace.
After Mr. Kok was done talking, Peter Choong went back up and talked about Intel R&D in wireless technology. Here, he really brought up a really interesting topic - WiMAX!
WiMAX is a new form of wireless technology that Intel plans to be implement in 2005 or 2006. Of course, there are already many WiFi hotspots that provide Internet access to people. But the biggest drawback of WiFi is its limited range. Well, all that will change with WiMAX!
WiMAX can cover an area of about 50km while providing a bandwidth of 75-250Mbps! WiMAX is also known as IEEE 802.16. He also introduced the organization behind WiMAX, the WiMAX Forum to members of the press.
The future of WiFi was also discussed. 802.11n is the new WiFi standard that is slated to debut in 2006. Here is a table of the upcoming WiFi standards.
IEEE Standards |
OTA (Over the Air) Estimates |
MAC-SAP Estimates |
802.11b |
11 Mbps |
5 Mbps |
802.11a |
54 Mbps |
25 Mbps |
802.11g |
54 Mbps |
25 Mbps |
802.11n |
200+ Mbps |
100 Mbps |
I was very concerned about the security of the new WiFi standards as well as WiMAX. Because WiMAX has such a wide range, this may lead to higher rates of abuse. Just imagine, a whole city connected together by WiMAX. This presents a juicy opportunity for people to break into other people's computers without getting caught. Unless, of course, they can ensure its security.
After that, Peter talked about the future of computing at Intel. He said in the second half of 2004, the Dothan's FSB will be increased to 533MHz. He also touched on a few other things like the introduction of Intel's High Definition Audio, for example.
After that, a short session of Q&A was held. In this particular event, journalists have the opportunity to grill Intel with questions about Dothan, WiMAX, etc.
I personally asked about Intel's Extreme Graphics 2. I wanted to know if there were any improvements in the graphics performance of the chipsets with Extreme Graphics 2. Peter mentioned that the new chipset will boast a boost in 3D performance, evidenced by an increased 3DMark'01 score. I'm actually waiting for white papers on the new integrated graphics. Will post an update when I get it!