Intel is shipping its highly integrated WiMAX chip, formerly codenamed “Rosedale.” The Pro/Wireless 5116 chip has two ARM9 cores and an OFDM (orthogonal frequency division modulation) modem, and targets low cost, low chip-count access points and gateways supporting WiMAX, an IEEE standard for long distance wireless broadband.

WiMAX (worldwide interoperability for microwave access, IEEE 802.16-2004) was designed to support broadband-like (384 Kbps and up) speeds over long-distance wireless links, and could greatly increase the number of people with fast Internet access, Intel said when it began sampling the Rosedale chip last September.

The Pro/Wireless 5116

The Pro/Wireless 5116 is a highly integrated SoC (system-on-chip) meant to combine with third-party RFIC (radio chips) and power amplifiers in low-chip count wireless broadband equipment. It features two ARM946E-S cores for MAC, PHY, and application processing. The SoC also includes a DSP (digital signal processor), and in-line security processor.

Intel Pro/Wireless 5116 high level block diagram
Additionally, the Pro/Wireless 5116 integrates a 256-channel OFDM modem supporting channel bandwidths of up to 10MHz, Intel says. The OFDM modem can support licensed and unlicensed frequencies, and should simplify the design of WiMAX CPE (customer premises equipment) such as the design blocked out below.

Intel Pro/Wireless 5116 system diagram

The Pro/Wireless 5116 can also be used at the other end of the virtual wire, in WiMAX access points, thanks to a TDM (time division multiplexing) interface that enables it to connect to T1/E1 lines, Intel says, through an off-chip SLIC/SLAC (subscriber line interface/access controller). The TDM interface also supports legacy analog phones in gateway applications, Intel says.

Other I/O interfaces include:

• Modular RF interface support I/F or baseband I/Q radios designed for WiMAX licensed and unlicensed spectrum
• Integrated pair of ADCs (analog-digital converters) and DACs (digital-analog converters), and a PLL (phase-locked loop) to drive converters
• 10/100 Ethernet MAC with MII interface to external PHY
• xternal SDRAM and Flash interfaces, test and debug interfaces, and programmable GPIOs (general purpose I/Os).

Availability

The 5116 is available now, packaged in a 360-pin industrial grade PBGA supporting temperatures from -40 to 85 degrees Celsius, Intel says.

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