SAN JOSE, Calif.-Cisco Systems Inc. said the Federal Communications Commission approved the industry’s first Wi-Fi software defined radio, a new product touted as enabling wireless local area network channel expansion and capacity upgrades. The Cisco radio takes advantage of an FCC rule change designed to address diminishing bandwidth due to the popularity and growth of WLANs.
“This use of the FCC’s progressive software defined radio regulations provides real value to enterprise customers today who are continually calling upon their wireless networks to support more bandwidth-intensive applications,” said Brett Galloway, vice president and general manager of the Wireless Networking business unit at Cisco Systems. “The promise of SDR as envisioned by the FCC, Cisco and other forward-thinking groups, will reshape not just wireless networks, but will foster new categories of innovative, wireless devices.”
Cisco, whose FCC-certified 802.11a radios will operate in three 5 GHz unlicensed bands, said manufacturers that develop SDR-enabled devices, such as handhelds, access points and personal digital assistants, will be able to use one radio in place of multiple radios, reducing costs and speeding new products to market.
