The AL4000-EVK is based on the company's AL4000 series UWB chipset, which operates at speeds from 55Mbps to 480Mbps -- nearly 5 times faster than any other UWB personal area network (PAN) chipset, according to Alereon.
(Click here for larger image)UWB is a next-generation wireless technology that enables high data throughput with low power consumption for distances of up to 10 meters -- a range considered to be appropriate for many requirements of tomorrow's "digital home." According to an Intel
UWB whitepaper, UWB has succesfully run at up to 252 Mbps, with 480 Mbps expected in the not-too-distant future. Additionally, Intel envisions the possibility of other protocols running on top of UWB technology, including wireless USB (WUSB), IEEE 1394, next-generation Bluetooth, and Universal Plug and Play (UPnP).
The AL4000-EVK combines Alereon's AL4300-EVB MAC and AL4400-EVB PHY evaluation boards with a VIA EPIA-MII Mini-ITX motherboard in a compact enclosure. The motherboard is based on a 1.2GHz VIA Eden C3 processor and incorporates multiple USB, IEEE 1394 (Firewire), Ethernet, video, audio, and serial ports. The system also includes a 60GB hard drive and a DVD drive.
AL4000-EVK Block Diagram
(Click for larger image)The heart of the new test platform is the AL4300-EVB MAC evaluation board. The PCI-based MAC provides an option slot for an MBOA-compatible PHY module based on Alereon's high performance transceiver and baseband processor. MBOA stands for
Multiband ODFM Alliance, an industry group focused on global UWB standardization based on an approach called Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM).
The kit includes Windows XP, a Windows NDIS device driver for the AL4300-EVB, and applications software for configuring and evaluating the UWB subsystem. The provided application software includes a streaming video demonstration, a traffic generation utility, and a performance analysis utility, according to Alereon.
The kit is normally supplied with Windows XP and associated drivers (and therefore also supports Windows XP Embedded), and VxWorks and Linux support are available on request.
Alereon says it is currently accepting orders for the AL4000-EVK, with first units expected to ship within several weeks.
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