802.11 Integration

802.11-based wireless LANs (WLANs) are proliferating, in our homes, offices, airports, and cafes. Wi-Fi access is becoming an integral part of the design process for mobile devices, from cellular handsets to MP3 players to handheld gaming products to entirely new mobile product categories.

Blue Mug has a track record of helping innovative companies ship high-quality mobile products to market. We are applying our experience with embedded wireless technologies to the WLAN market in two ways:

Wi-Fi Integration. Getting WLAN access into a mobile product is not as simple as just squeezing an 802.11b chipset onto the circuit board. Poor antenna design or RF shielding can make a product unusable or fail FCC certification. At the software level, there are driver and networking issues to handle, such as discovering access points, conserving power, interacting with the operating system, and shutting down connections. At a higher level, applications need to provide a simple, easy-to-use interface to wireless networking functions (e.g. do your users know the difference between "infrastructure mode" and "ad-hoc mode"?). And system-level issues like data security and reliability must be addressed at every stage of the design process.

Blue Mug's team can boost your product's success by seamlessly integrating wireless access into your product design. We have extensive experience writing drivers, protocol stacks and low-level network controllers. Clients have used our rapid prototyping skills to validate and nuance project ideas. Our user interface team identifies the full range of usage scenarios and determines the minimal user interactions that are required by the problem, rather than by programmer convenience.

Multi-Network Management. If you own a dual- or tri-mode mobile phone, you already understand the value of having multiple network interfaces in a single product. Wireless chipset manufacturers are extending this concept into "multi-mode" solutions that combine access to 2G, 2.5G, and 3G networks. And several companies have pre-announced the integration of both multi-mode cellular and wireless LAN technologies in a single package.

Anticipating this trend, Blue Mug has developed Multi-Network Management ("MNM") software technology that facilitates access and control of multiple wireless networks in a single product. Our technology is focused on the needs of the mobile device manufacturer, taking advantage of existing wireless network infrastructure. Our design is focused on 3 areas:

• Opportunistic Networking: The MNM architecture automatically detects and configures new networks as they become available. MNM also facilitates migration of live connections from one network to another without user interaction. This allows for cellular-to-WLAN roaming in which handsets take advantage of Wi-Fi hotspots to increase bandwidth, save power and lower cost. Similarly, PDA users can browse the web via a Bluetooth access point and automatically fail-over to a cellular connection once they move out of range.

• Preference Management: Should applications always use the lowest-cost network available? Or default to the highest bandwidth? Our design includes a simple UI and application API for managing these settings.

• Peer-to-peer Service Discovery: Current wireless products do a poor job of supporting peer-to-peer applications, often requiring an access point or complex setup procedures to initiate a connection. The MNM architecture incorporates a discovery protocol to allow peer-to-peer applications to locate and connect with each other on an ad-hoc network.

Our current "Buck Rogers" demo uses the first version of MNM technology to enable an MP3 audio stream to migrate across networks. Please e-mail info@bluemug.com to arrange a live demonstration or discuss a possible application of our technology. (Read more...).

Several representatives of Blue Mug will be attending the upcoming 802.11 Planet Expo in Santa Clara. Please contact us to arrange a meeting during the Expo.