Bangalore: Wipro Technologies, the global IT services divisions of Wipro, today announced the licensing of its dual mode 802.11 MAC core to Advanced Broadband Communications (ABC), a leader in developing low-cost cable modem and wireless solution for broadband access and distribution.

Wipro’s 802.11 is an internationally recognised standard for wireless communication in local area networks; 802.11 MAC will be integrated into a chip that ABC plans to design and produce.

“We are pleased with Wipro’s 802.11 MAC IP,” says ABC chief executive officer Shawn Wang. “It meets our stringent requirements on performance and quality.”

“Fulfilling ABC’s stringent performance criteria and the subsequent licensing of our 802.11 MAC IPs is a feather in our cap,” says Ramesh Emani, chief executive, embedded and access group, Wipro Technologies. “What differentiates our 802.11 IP offerings from others is our commitment to quality and the enhanced features we offer to our customers. By working closely with Wipro, customers can keep themselves up with the new standards that emerge like security and QoS as our designs are extremely flexible.”

The performance of Wipro’s low gate count and low power consuming 802.11 MAC was evaluated by ABC and found to meet their stringent requirements. Wipro’s IEEE 802.11 MAC is extremely flexible and supports both embedded and hosted kind of applications.

The MAC IP can support data rates up to 108 Mbps and above, and is designed to work with both IEEE 802.11a and IEEE 802.11b systems. It also supports the CardBus functionality to address the growing market of PC/PCMCIA card chip manufacturers.

Wipro’s recent demonstration of its fully functional 802.11 MAC at the Networld + Interop show in Atlanta had generated a lot of interest. Wipro demonstrated the MAC Station and Access Point solutions, which performed very well despite a very high level of radio interference.

Adds Dilip Thakur, vice president, embedded and access division, who heads the IP programme in Wipro: “ABC’s confidence in Wipro''s IP will further strengthen our leadership position in the SIP space. We are witnessing keen interest in our 802.11 MAC IP. We have already licensed our 802.11 MAC to a few customers and we are close to licensing it to a few others.”

Wipro has both 802.11a Baseband as well as 802.11b Baseband, and is closely tracking the 802.11g specifications and has a roadmap for the same. Apart from IEEE 802.11 IPs, Wipro has a suite of IPs in the IEEE 1394, USB, Ethernet, Bluetooth and Home Networking Embedded Software space.

Wipro’s portfolio of IEEE 802.11 IPs is supported by a vast spectrum of VLSI and system design as well as embedded software expertise that allows Wipro to offer customers a comprehensive, end-to-end solution.