Intel, Cisco Collaborate on Wi-Fi

Intel Corp. and Cisco Systems Inc. on Tuesday announced plans to collaborate on ways to make their respective wireless LAN products work better together.

At the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco, the two companies demonstrated a new set of features called the Business Class Wireless Suite, which is designed for customers who use Cisco access points and Intel-based clients.

The "suite" includes enhanced access point selection, which will help clients find the most-available access point on a network and improve the process of roaming from one access point to the next, said Cisco officials.

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"Youre making a system-level decision on where to roam," said Alan Cohen, senior director of product management at the wireless networking business unit at Cisco, in San Jose, Calif. "Its an easier, more efficient roaming process."

The suite also includes features that improve the clarity of VOIP (voice-over-IP) calls for software-based phones, for customers who happen to make phone calls from their laptops, officials said.

Cisco will support the features in new code for its IOS (Internetwork Operating System) and in the CCX (Cisco Compatible Extensions) Program, which is designed to let client-side devices work with Cisco gear. Intel will support the features in the next version of its Centrino chip set for notebook computers, code-named Napa, which is due in January.

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