The Irvine, California-based JVC Information Products Co subsidiary of Matsushita Electric Industrial Co affiliate JVC Corp has announced a new infra-red-based wireless Ethernet local network system. JVC claims it is the first to combine infra-red 10Mbps Ethernet throughput and the mobility of a wireless local network system, although JVC has obviously not come across Acton, Massachusetts-based Laser Communications Inc’s InfraLAN system, which has been shipping since May last year (CI No 2,407). Three configurations are possible with the new JVC system, dubbed the VIPSLAN-10. According to the company, it will connect multiple users, and has a ceiling-mounted Satellite, which communicates with a desktop node connected to a hub using infra-red which is said to provide 360o coverage of up to a 15 foot radius. For point-to-point, peer-to-peer communications, two Stations (wired to a file server or hub) communicate at distances of up to 60 feet. In the final configuration, which is designed for mobile users, a Mobile unit wired into the hub communicates with a PCMCIA Type II card installed in the portable computer at up to a maximum distance of about three feet. According to Samer Sukhon, the company’s network specialist, the VIPSLAN-10 is network operating system-independent, apart from the PCMCIA card: this supports NDIS Network Driver Interface Specification and Object Design Inc drivers. The company said that is does not plan to release a Token Ring version of the system, since it feels there is not a big enough of a market. Prices range from $250 to $350 for the PCMCIA card and mobile. The Satellite, Node and Station cost from $800 to $1,000 and are available now.
JVC ANNOUNCES AN INFRA-RED WIRELESS ETHERNET LOCAL NETWORK SYSTEM TO RIVAL LASER’s INFRALAN
