Intersil Corporation HWB3163-EVAL Datasheet

HWB3163-EVAL

PRELIMINARY

Data Sheet November 1999

PRISM II™ 11Mbps Wireless Local Area
Network PC Card

™

The Intersil HWB3163 WLAN PC Card
(Note 1) is a complete wireless high
speed Network Interface Card (NIC)
utilizing the Intersil PRISM II Direct

Sequence Spread Spectrum Wireless
Transceiver chip set. It provides a complete evaluation
platform of hardware and software to system providers or
integrators requiring wireless data communications
capability and is ideal for integrationintocomputerplatforms.

Evaluation kits include two WLAN PC cards, a Microsoft®
Windows® 95/98/NT Driver, LANEVAL software, PRISM®
Transmitter Test Utilities (PTTU) software (Note 3) and
documentation to get your evaluation started quickly.
Supporting the IEEE 802.11 network specification for Direct
Sequence Spread Spectrum DSSS signaling, the card is
packaged in aPCMCIAType II extended coverset.Thecard
provides data rates of 1, 2, 5.5 and 11Mbps. Access Points
will be available from a number of suppliers, enabling a total
wireless network solution.

TYPICAL OPERATING RANGE (NOTE 2)

DATA RATE

(Mbps) INDOOR RANGE OUTDOOR RANGE

11 120 feet (37 meters) 400 feet (122 meters)

5.5 200 feet (61 meters) 600 feet (183 meters)
2 240 feet (73 meters) 750 feet (228 meters)
1 300 feet (91 meters) 1000 feet (305 meters)

Ordering Information

File Number 4794

Features

• FCC Certified Under Part 15 to Operate in 2.4GHz ISM
Band (Approval Pending)

• Support for 11, 5.5, 2 and 1 Megabit Per Second (Mbps)
Data Rates

• Supports the lEEE 802.11 Direct Sequence Specification

• Driver Supports Microsoft® Windows® 95, 98, 2000, NT,
CE and LINUX®

• Integrated Microstrip Dual Diversity Antennas

• Advanced RAKE Receiver Design with AGC

• Uses 50% of the Power of Previous Devices

• Provides Wireless Data Communications at Full Ethernet
Speed

• Completely Covered Assembly is Designed to Fully
Support PCMCIA Type II Defined Mechanical and
Environmental Stress Conditions

• Intelligent Power Control, Including Low Power Standby
Mode

• Complete Reference Design, the HWB3163-CD Available
to Ensure Minimum Time-to-Market

NOTES:

1. Throughout this document, all references to ‘PC Card’, ‘WLAN
adapter’, ‘adapter’, or ‘card’ refer to a covered card assembly
conforming to the mechanical size specifications of the PCMCIA
Standard Release 2.0, Type Il Extended (5.0mm) definition.

2. The range will vary in different operating environments due to
effects such as building construction.

3. At present, PTTU supports Windows 95 and 98. An upgrade is in
process which will add support for NT.

PART NUMBER DESCRIPTION CARDS/SET

HWB3163-EVAL WLAN Evaluation Kit 2

Packaging

1

1-888-INTERSIL or 321-724-7143

Intersil Corporation. Microsoft® and Windows® and Windows NT® are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.

CAUTION: These devices are sensitive to electrostatic discharge; follow proper IC Handling Procedures.

| Copyright © Intersil Corporation 1999. PRISM and PRISM II™ logo are trademarks of

LINUX® is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.

HWB3163-EVAL

Functional Overview

The WLAN PC Card is designed to operate in the 2.4GHz ISM
frequency band, channels 1 to 11, as specified by the FCC in
the USA. The Card will also operate on channels 12 through
14, where permitted by local regulatory authorities (refer to
Table 2). Radio equipment must be certified in a country prior to
use. Refer to Table 3 for a list of countries and agencies that
have approv ed the HWB3163-EVAL for operation.

The Intersil PRISM Chip Set allows for high level integration
for reduced size, increased throughput, improved radio
performance and faster time to market. The WLAN PC card
implements Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum DSSS
technology providing superior noise and signal jamming
immunity including less severe impact from unintentional
radiators such as microwave ovens. The user can connect
the PC Card in an ad-hoc peer to peer networking scheme,
allowing for instant network setup in any office environment.
By using an access point, the wireless LAN can be set up to
allow for a greater number of users to interconnect, and to
increase the coverage area. With a portal (i.e., Access Point),
the wireless LAN can be easily connected into an existing
wired LAN, allowing for easy expansion of the service.

Compared to the first generation PRISM I chip set, the
PRISM II generation offers:

• 3.3V operation for reduced power dissipation

• 50% reduction in current drain for extended battery life

• Transmitter Automatic Level Control (ALC/AGC) to
provide constant RF power output

• Sophisticated RAKE receiver and Automatic Gain
Control (AGC) for improved multipath performance

• Higher level of chip integration and less peripheral
components to yield 30% reduction in material cost

• Support of optional IEEE 802.11 Short Preamble for
significantly increased data throughput

A complete Reference Design CD, the HWB3163-CD is
available to ensure minimum time-to-market. This CD
contains detailed information for manufacturing a PCMCIA
WLAN assembly, including Gerber PC board files, an
accurate Bill of Material with component sourcing and
complete mechanical drawings.

Related Literature

To learn more about what the IEEE 802.11 is, refer to:

• Tech Brief TB337, Intersil Corporation, “A Brief Tutorial
on Spread Spectrum and Packet Radio” [1].

The HFA3841 Media Access Controller
(MAC) Protocol Handler

The HFA3841 MAC and its firmware are responsible for
running the IEEE 802.11 protocol in the WLAN card. This
section describes the features of IEEE 802.11 that are
implemented.

The functions supported by the STA (station) Firmware are:

• CSMA/CA (Carrier Sense Multiple Access with
Collision Avoidance) with Random Backoff

• WEP Security

• Short/Long Preamble with multirate

• RTS/CTS Handshake (Ready To Send/Clear To Send)
and NAV Management (Network Allocation Vector)

• MAC Level Acknowledgments (Media Access Control)

• Re-Transmission of Unacknowledged Frames

• Duplicate Detection and Rejection

• Broadcast and Multicast Frames

• Fragmentation and Re-Assembly

• Power Management (Planned)

• Timestamp Synchronization

• DCF (Distributed Coordination Function)

• PCF (Point Coordination Function)

• Beacon Generation in an Ad-Hoc Network

• Probe Response Generation in an Ad-Hoc Network

Card Information Structure

The standard Intersil WLAN PC Card will be supplied with
the following information embedded in the CIS. It should be
noted that in most systems this information is displayed
when the card is inserted. Customization of the CIS for
specific customer requirements is available upon request, to
enable customer information to be displayed when the card
is inserted.

TABLE 1.

FUNCTION NAME CONTENT

Manufacturer’s ID 00
Function ID Network Adapter
Product Revision 1
Manufacturer Intersil Corporation

For a more detailed description of radio operation, please
refer to:

• Application Note AN9864, Intersil Corporation,
“HWB3163-EVAL PRISM II 11Mbps WLAN PCMCIA
Card User’s Guide” [2]

2

Product HFA3841
PROG
LOT