The First Family of 802.11g Wi-Fi Modules by Summit Data

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Summit Data Communications, Inc. has announced the first family of 802.11g Wi-Fi modules designed specifically for integration into application-specific devices (ASDs) like portable data terminals, bar code scanners, portable printers, medical devices, and industrial equipment. The Summit modules provide the performance, security, and software features required for reliable operation in business-critical ASDs and their environments.

The Summit 10G family of compact flash (CF) and PCMCIA (PC card) adapters provide the range and throughput required in radio-challenging environments such as retail stores, distribution centers, hospitals, factories, and ports. The Summit adapters come with a complete software suite that includes device drivers, integrated security software, and a full-featured application for monitoring and management of all radio and security parameters. Summit provides comprehensive technical and compliance services to ASD vendors to ensure successful integration and ongoing end-customer satisfaction.

Based on Broadcom 54g technology, the Summit modules include key hardware innovations that set them apart from mainstream 802.11g products. One hardware innovation is the use of high-performance transmitters and receivers that provide the greatest possible operating range. The modules provide up to 80 milliwatts (mW) of transmit power, which is 40% greater than mainstream radios. This additional power, coupled with industry-leading receiver sensitivity, results in a far more reliable connection than that provided by radios designed for home and office use.

To allow for operation under the extreme temperatures found in factories, warehouses, freezers, and the outdoors, the Summit modules provide an operating temperature range of -30° to 75° Celsius (-22° to 167° Fahrenheit). With an advanced power circuit, both the SDC-CF10G and PC10G consume just 175 milliamps (mA) of power in receive mode and 10 mA when in idle mode, which is approximately one third less than most 802.11g radios. Summit’s modest power consumption provides for increased ASD battery life and full shift operation.

Increasingly, ASDs transmit sensitive information such as inventory data and patient information. To assure the integrity of that information and protect the entire network infrastructure from wireless intrusion, Summit’s 10G family provides the highest level of interoperable security available, including support for Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) and WPA2 (IEEE 802.11i). The radios provide hardware acceleration for the encryption algorithms used by WEP, TKIP (WPA), and AES (WPA2). For mutual authentication of client device and network, the Summit products support IEEE 802.1X with pre-shared keys or any of a broad range of Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) types. Supported authentication credentials include logon passwords, one-time passwords, and digital certificates.

The software suite for the Summit CF and PC Card modules supports Microsoft Windows CE Version 4.2 and 5.0 as well as Pocket PC 2003 and Windows Mobile 5.0. Support for Windows XP Embedded is planned for June. To enable Summit modules to operate on client devices with specialized operating systems, Summit will deliver a software developer’s kit in Q3 2006.

The Summit software suite includes the Summit Client Utility (SCU), a fully integrated management and monitoring utility. With SCU, users and administrators can view and configure all radio parameters, including transmit power and SSID, and all security parameters. SCU supports multiple network profiles to allow for device operation in multiple facilities. To enable applications other than SCU to manage Summit modules, the company provides an application programming interface (API). Summit also provides ASD vendors with a manufacturing utility that allows them to set regulatory parameters such as channel set and maximum transmit power to provide for world-wide compliance across multiple devices.

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