August 28, 2007 -- Ubicom, Inc. reports that it has shipped one million of its StreamEngine family of 802.11n-compliant chip-based processors so far in 2007, which the company sees as indicative of surging momentum for the acceptance of the 802.11n draft standard. The company began shipping the 802.11n-compliant devices, designed for use within wireless home routers, in 2006, and anticipates that it will ship more than two million components to wireless home networking vendors by the end of 2007.
"Hitting the one million-unit milestone for StreamEngine-based 802.11n products at this point in the year certainly underscores the increasing call for home networking devices that can reliably transport voice, video, gaming, and data traffic," comments Cathal Phelan, CEO of Ubicom. "Both the historical data from the 11b-to-11g transition and the accelerating 11n demand that Ubicom is experiencing point to a real takeoff for 802.11n in the home networking environment in the latter half of 2007."
The company says its StreamEngine processors support the 802.11n draft standard's increased data throughput and preferential operation at 5 GHz to avoid interference from neighboring wireless networks. The StreamEngine technology delivers an enhanced online experience by employing powerful quality of service (QoS) mechanisms. According to the company, the key to making these useable for a home or small office is "Intelligent Stream Handling," a patent-pending algorithm which automatically manages the flow of traffic going to the Internet, without the need for user configuration. As a result, real-time interactive traffic, such as gaming, VoIP, instant messaging and video conferencing, are automatically given the appropriate priority when other users and applications use the network. In addition, the technology minimizes the impact of large-packet, lower-priority traffic on latency-sensitive traffic and eliminates delays caused by DSL or cable modem connections. As a result, StreamEngine effectively eliminates the lag and breakup problem in online gaming and other voice/video applications, according to the company.
"As consumers place more and more demands on their home networks, products featuring the high speed and range of 802.11n are becoming essential, especially with the proliferation of online services such as streaming video," offers Kurt Scherf, vice president and principal analyst for Parks Associates. "The availability of Ubicom's StreamEngine technology is a key variable in educating consumers about the capabilities of next-generation wireless networking products, and recognizing solutions such as Intelligent Stream Handling as a critical feature for upgrading the home network."