Initial wireless home networking products have started to ship in the last year or so; however, none of these have fully met the needs of the home market. Products that incorporate technology from ShareWave, Inc. are the first that can transmit high-fidelity multimedia content wirelessly throughout the home.

Easy to install and use, ShareWave's embedded wireless home networking technology, Whitecap™, enables a new range of exciting wireless consumer devices such as networked set-tops, wireless MP3 players, mobile web pads, networked personal video recorders, and digital audio and video jukeboxes. (See www.sharewave.com )

Whitecap™ wireless LAN technology is now available on retail shelves in the form of Panasonic's KX-HGC200 wireless network card. The Panasonic wireless network card, which began to hit retail shelves at the end of February, is designed to work in Panasonic's KX-HGW200 broadband networking gateway.

Because the KX-HGC200 is wireless, the installation process is simple. One card is inserted into a laptop's PCMCIA slot, while a separate card fits into the gateway. The wireless link allows users to share Internet access (including broadband), PC resources, and -- thanks to Whitecap's multimedia capabilities -- high-fidelity multimedia content, such as streaming video or MP3 audio. The cards are now available nationally at computer retailers at a suggested retail price of $149.99 each.

Whitecap is also a key ingredient of the new Multimedia Wireless Home Network family released by NETGEAR, a provider of small business and home networking products. Each product in the suite, including the 11Mbps Multimedia Wireless Home Network PCI Adapter, the 11Mbps Multimedia Wireless Home Network Ethernet Bridge, and a bundle comprised of the bridge and PCI card, incorporates Whitecap.

ShareWave's technology breakthrough will also pave the way for such new digital content services as video-on-demand, audio-on-demand, high-speed Internet sharing or Voice-over-IP.

To help consumers evaluate their purchase of a home network, ShareWave has developed the following checklist to smooth the decision process.

TOP TEN THINGS TO THINK ABOUT WHEN PURCHASING A HOME NETWORK

Question 1: Is it convenient to install -- for example, is it wireless or do you need to install wires or call the cable or phone company out for additional lines?

Answer: Consumer research indicates that wireless capabilities will increase the penetration rate of home networking. In other words, if the network is easy to set-up, requires no drilling or additional phone jacks, and puts no constraints on the placement of devices in the home, people are much more likely to use it.

Question 2: What is the "effective bandwidth" or net throughput of the gateway? For example, some will say they are 11Mbps (megabits per second) but they really only operate at 4Mbps-you need at least 6 Mbps of net throughput for MPEG2 video.

Answer: Broadband service providers are targeting and delivering bandwidth speeds in excess of 6Mps. The home network will have to support all types of digital content, including both local (in-home) content (DVD/DVR video and MP3 audio) and integrated broadband services (video on demand, IP telephony, streaming media). ShareWave's Whitecap network protocol is designed to provide high throughput, bandwidth utilization and efficient resource allocation to support multimedia content streams resulting in smooth, jitter-free audio and video in speeds exceeding 6 Mbps.

Question3: Can it transmit multimedia such as MPEG2 video or CD quality audio?

Answer: ShareWave's Whitecap network protocol is engineered with several core technologies that allow it to transmit multimedia content (including audio, video, voice, and data) in a way that maximizes utilization of available bandwidth. Dynamic Stream Support, Parameterized QoS (Quality of Service) capability, and Peer-to-Peer (Mesh) Topology combine to manage the transmission of multimedia content at a higher bit-rate threshold and with higher quality than in a basic data-oriented, 802.11b network.

Question 4: Can it work with various non-PC devices in the homes such as set top boxes, TVs, web pads, as well as printers or other PCs?

Answer: Whitecap is a scaleable technology that can be implemented in an entirely new range of consumer devices, such as networked set-top boxes, residential gateways, digital video recorders (DVRs), digital audio jukeboxes, digital cameras, wireless MP3 players, game consoles, PCs, videoconferencing systems, mobile web pads, and other Internet appliances.

Question 5: Do you need to find the perfect spot in the house for it to work reliably, or does the system allow flexibility in the placement of devices?

Answer: ShareWave's architecture was specifically designed with the unique and harsh home environment in mind. Features such as Forward Error Correction (FEC) and Channel Agility, along with efficient radio/antenna solutions provide the robustness and reliability needed to allow superior performance through a variety of building materials, at far corners of the home, and within close proximity to common household interferers.

Question 6: Will your microwave oven or cordless phone interfere?

Answer: Whitecap utilizes Forward Error Correction (FEC) and Channel Agility, two technologies that provide interference immunity from common household appliances. FEC corrects corrupted content on the fly, which not only improves multimedia performance, it increases the operating range of the networked devices. Channel Agility allows the network to change channels automatically, with no user intervention, when interference becomes too pervasive.

Question 7: Is it standards compatible or does it have an interoperable path to such standards as IEEE 802.11 so it will work with various manufacturer devices?

Answer: Existing Whitecap products have a forward interoperability path with Wi-Fi (802.11b) products. Whitecap is designed to "embrace and extend" the IEEE 802.11b wireless network standard. ShareWave's new Whitecap2 protocol embraces 802.11b with full Wi-Fi compliance and interoperability, and extends it with continued support for the unique multimedia and quality-of-service (QoS) requirements of the home environment. ShareWave has already announced their Bodega product line which features the Whitecap2 network protocol. Whitecap2-based products will be fully backwards compatible with Whitecap1-based products.

Question 8: Is the entire network dependent on one point or "node" (such as a PC), so that if that PC goes down, the whole system goes down? Or, does the system prevent there from being a single point of failure?

Answer: Some network architectures are designed such that a single device acts as the network administrator, routing all network traffic through a single point and not allowing another device to assume this role. If this device is turned off, the entire network is rendered unusable. Whitecap is a peer-to-peer network, meaning any device can send/receive directly to or from any other device, and any device can fulfill administrative duties. This prevents a single point of failure.

Question 9: Is the network secure to prevent unauthorized access?

Answer: Built into the current generation of Whitecap is a strict network and device authentication procedure, in addition to the basic security provided by the scrambled DSSS RF signal. Whitecap2 includes WEP encryption, which provides privacy equivalent to wired networks.

Question 10: Will it allow you to transmit or share throughout the home a variety of future new services such as video-on-demand, audio-on-demand, Voice-over-IP or high-speed Internet sharing?

Answer: ShareWave believes home networking transcends traditional data sharing among PC's. Whitecap is designed to incorporate an array of multimedia connections, devices, content and services to allow home users to interact with entertainment, informational, and communication related media

About ShareWave, Inc.

ShareWave provides semiconductor technology for multimedia-capable wireless home networks. The company is privately held with its headquarters in El Dorado Hills, CA. ShareWave has received funding from APV Technology Partners, Cisco Systems, Intel Corporation, KLM Capital, Kyushu Matsushita Electric Co., Ltd., Microsoft Corporation, Philips Electronics NV, SBC Communications, Inc., SOFTBANK Technology Ventures, Vulcan Ventures, Inc., and other public and private investors.

ShareWave has announced partnership agreements with Cisco, Panasonic and NETGEAR. Fortune Small Business named ShareWave a "Hot Company" in May 2001. 

On July 19, Cirrus Logic Inc. (Nasdaq: CRUS), the premier supplier of high-performance analog and DSP chip solutions for consumer entertainment electronics, announced that it had signed a definitive agreement to acquire ShareWave, Inc.

For more information on ShareWave, visit the company's web site at www.sharewave.com .

ShareWave and Whitecap are registered trademarks of ShareWave, Inc. Other brand and product names are registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective holders.