Chipset supports 802.11n consumer electronics.

Press Release Summary:



Designed for consumer electronic devices found in home networks, WLANPlus(TM) dual-band chipset supports both 2.4 and 5 GHz. It is fully compliant with 802.11n standard draft, 802.11a/b/g-based legacy devices, 802.11h (radar detection), 802.11i (security), and 802.11e Quality of Service. To double network coverage in home environment, WLANPlus solution also features Maximum Likelihood slicer and advance-coding gain using low density parity check technology.



Original Press Release:



Metalink Unveils Industry's First Consumer Electronics Grade 802.11n-Draft Compliant Dual-Band Chipset



WLANPlus(TM) Second-Generation Chipset Enables the Wireless Distribution of Digital Entertainment Throughout the Home

YAKUM, Israel, December 11/ -- Metalink Ltd. (NASDAQ: MTLK), a provider of high-performance
wireless and wireline broadband communication silicon solutions, today unveiled the second generation of its industry-leading WLANPlus chip-set, the industry's first consumer electronics (CE)-grade, 802.11n-draft-compliant dual-band chip-set. Designed to enable high-throughput, rich-content, quality-critical applications, WLANPlus provides the foundation for a robust, full-coverage wireless home entertainment network.

Commenting on the news, Metalink's Vice President of Wireless LAN Marketing, Barry Volinskey, said, "We are proud to offer the industry's first CE-grade chip-set which is fully compliant with the 802.11n standard draft.

During the past year, we have successfully integrated our first-generation WLANPlus into a broad range of new 'connected' home entertainment products of leading CE vendors, and have received very enthusiastic feedback. Our second-generation chipset was meticulously characterized to accommodate the different needs of the CE market and to deliver a worldwide first-class solution for the WLAN digital home environment. We expect that the availability of this advanced second-generation product will strengthen our market leadership in the wireless digital home entertainment space."

Metalink's WLANPlus 802.11n chip-set family is optimized to go beyond previous solutions that are designed primarily to transport data, and addresses the far more rigorous needs of the consumer electronics market. As such, it supports the most demanding optional specifications of the 802.11n standard with functionality that is critical for the streaming of high-quality High-Definition Television (HDTV) video throughout the home (three MPEG2 HDTV streams at 60Mbps with whole-home coverage at 60 feet).

First-generation WLANPlus technology has already been integrated by leading CE manufacturers into a broad range of products, including Residential Gateways, Digital Televisions, HDTVs, Set-Top Boxes (STB), Media Adaptors and Digital Video Recorders (DVR).

Metalink's second-generation WLANPlus chip-set presents the cutting-edge technology of CE-grade requirements for wireless home networks, supporting both 2.4GHz and 5GHz. In line with the specifications of IEEE drafts for 802.11n Wi-Fi certification, it is fully compliant with 802.11a/b/g-based legacy devices, as well as 802.11h (radar detection), 802.11i (security) and 802.11e Quality of Service (QoS). The new chip-set supports optional standard features as well as proprietary algorithms to meet the critical demands required for sensitive multimedia applications that require superior bandwidth and the lowest possible jitter, latency and packet loss.

To double network coverage in a home environment, second-generation WLANPlus solution also features a Maximum Likelihood (ML) slicer and an advance-coding gain using Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) technology. In a 2x3 Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) rank, the ML slicer provides benefits equivalent to those of Transmit Beam Forming, only without the pendency problems associated with the latter since it is implemented within the digital signal processing portion of the transmitter.

To guarantee QoS and optimize home performance, WLANPlus also features sophisticated QoS mechanisms, such as Enhanced Distribution Channel Access
(EDCA) with Admission Control and Fast Link Adaptation (FLA). Dynamic Link Adaptation (DLS) cuts by 50 percent the amount of airtime that must be used for QoS operations, and significantly increases network efficiency.

The second-generation WLANPlus chip-set includes full implementation of an integrated Media Access Controller (MAC), dramatically reducing the required processing power and memory allocation from the application host processor. This simplifies WLANPlus integration with consumer electronics devices and reduces the total product cost. The transition to the new chip-set is transparent to the customer due to an agnostic driver's implementation.

"Wi-Fi chip-sets for media adapters and line-powered and portable consumer electronics will increase by a factor of 5 from about 23 million shipments in 2005 to nearly 110 million in 2008," stated Philip Solis, senior analyst at ABI Research. "Consumer electronics is one of the largest growth segments for Wi-Fi enabled chip-sets. Among wireless solutions, there are many that will compete for in-room wireless connectivity, but Wi-Fi is necessary to stream video wirelessly across the home."

Metalink offers several reference designs along with the new chip-set, including Mini PCI (type IIIB), CardBus and Residential Gateways.

About Metalink

Metalink Ltd. (NASDAQ: MTLK) is a leading provider of high performance wireless and wireline broadband communication silicon solutions. Metalink's WLAN and DSL technologies are designed to enable true broadband connectivity in every home, and its products revolutionize the broadband experience by facilitating the convergence of telecommunication, networking and entertainment.

Metalink's WLANPlus(TM) is a high-throughput, 802.11n-draft-compliant wireless LAN technology optimized for the networked home entertainment environment. Featuring advanced MIMO technology and full support of QoS, and operating in both 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, WLANPlus enables multi-room networking of multiple high-definition video streams. In addition, Metalink offers a broad range of symmetric DSL and VDSL products used by operators as a cost-effective network upgrade to support triple-play services.

Headquartered in Yakum, Israel, the company has subsidiaries in Atlanta (US), South Korea, and Japan as well as an office in China.
Further information is available at www.metalinkbb.com

Contact:
Mor Abraham
Marketing Communications Manager
Metalink Ltd.
Tel: +972-9-9605406
Fax: +972-9-9605544
amor@metalinkbb.com

Source: Metalink Ltd

All Topics