Presently, the names of various technologies that are alternatives to communicating over cables and wires sound like the proverbial alphabet soup of unpronounceable babble. The good part is that you don't need to memorize them or understand how they work from the inside out, said Mike Hogan, the general manager of Texas Instruments Inc.'s wireless networking business unit. For most of us, it's just important that it works. TI has been spending lots of time these days in the wireless area, trying to leverage the introduction of high-speed Internet access into the home in order to position its semiconductors inside a variety of wireless devices. From a business point of view, offices have tended to be over-wired, with Ethernet jacks installed every five to 10 feet, experts say.
Ethernet is the most widely used local area network access method.
Most PCs these days come with Ethernet ports, which allow for wiring up a small home network or a connection to the Internet over DSL or cable modem. With so many Ethernet-wired offices, wireless doesn't really solve anything, but as the need for mobility increases, the time for wireless has come. TI doesn't have a favorite wireless technology. The company just wants to make sure its chips are there for the party when consumers at home realize the benefits of instant, always-on wireless connectivity. Experts say that most people slowly adopt a new networking technology until it catches on and then the technology takes off.