Wi-Fi Alliance Certification For GainSpans 802.11b/g Sensor Reference Design

Date: 23/1/2010

Wi-Fi Alliance Certification For GainSpan’S 802.11b/g Sensor Reference Design - the first ultra low power Wi-Fi design to be certified for enterprise security

GainSpan Corporation, a leader in highly integrated low power Wi-Fi semiconductor solutions, has received the top-level stamp of approval from the Wi-Fi Alliance. The company’s 802.11b/g Sensor Reference design is the first ultra low power Wi-Fi design to achieve Wi-Fi CERTIFIED certification for enterprise level security as well as personal security.

In addition, the GainSpan 802.11b/g Sensor Reference design is certified for both WPA™ and WPA2™ and all EAP types including EAP-TTLS, PEAPv0, PEAPv1 and EAP-FAST. GainSpan is the only low power Wi-Fi chipmaker to bear this distinction.

Based on the new GainSpan GS1011 SoC for wireless sensor networks the 802.11b/g Sensor Reference design supports data rates of up to 11 Mbps, can operate in b/g networks and consumes less power than earlier designs. The GS1011 is pin and package compatible with the GS1010, making for seamless hardware upgrades.

According to Pankaj Vyas, Gainspan’s vice president of software and systems, being the only Wi-Fi chipmaker to achieve enterprise level certification is a strong testament to Gainspan’s leadership in the low power Wi-Fi community: “This official certification of our 802.11b/g Sensor Reference design will accelerate the adoption of low power Wi-Fi technology and the rollout of more and more sensor networks in building automation and industrial applications", Vyas said. 

Software Developer's Kit
To complement the new reference design, GainSpan has updated the associated software developer's kit (SDK), making the run-time software more modular and more scalable. Gainspan has optimized the SDK to take advantage of GS1011 power management capabilities to minimize energy consumption by allowing fine-grained control and enabling and disabling hardware components. An OS abstraction layer increases portability of customer's applications. Using the updated SDK, OEMs can write value-added applications on top of GainSpan's software and hardware platforms, the same foundation certified by the Wi-Fi Alliance.