~ SiS162/163/165 Family Roll Out for the WLAN market~

After bringing innovation to the WLAN market, SiS is now leading the industry with products that have been highly accepted by the industry. So far, SiS has produced WLAN products that conform to the IEEE 802.11a/b/g standards as market penetration of WLAN products grows rapidly, promising a bright future. With over 80% of WLAN products are now produced in Taiwan, the SiS165/165U, SiS163/163U, SiS162/162U having taken a firm lead in the market. There has been wide consumer acceptance of these products, as they offer more features and benefits. As in the motherboard chipset business, SiS has proven itself to not only be a solution provider, but a leader in the market, having produced numerous technological firsts and breakthroughs in WLAN Base Band Processor and Medium Access Controller development.

Maturing WLAN environment, get wireless everywhere!
As a symbol of Taiwan's leadership in the WLAN field, the Taipei City Government has vowed to make Taipei into a world-class WLAN Hotspot by establishing 5000 WLAN hotspots by the end of 2004. That puts Taipei well into the forefront of WLAN penetration, creating a truly wireless city unrivalled in the world. And, on the other hand, most of the countries worldwide are aware of the importance of construction a WLAN environment. For example, there are 2000 wireless LAN hot spots today in the United States, but this number is expected to grow to at least 6000 by the end of next year, according to Gartner.

For those users who need to travel a lot, getting connected everywhere anytime would also be a must-have to them. For more convenient, on-the-fly connections, wireless LAN hot spots are proliferating throughout airports, common areas of hotels, convention centers and many coffee shops, restaurants, and other locations. And there is a world's largest Wi-Fi roaming network with over 11,000 active hotspots in 33 countries, complement each other perfectly.

Hotspot Access Point Shipment Growth
World Market: 2004 to 2008
(Source: Allied Business Intelligence Inc.)

Uncountable chance, all kinds of device can be mobile!This penetration of WLAN networks reflects the phenomenal growth experienced in the WLAN industry as measured by dollar value: the WLAN market is expected to grow from $US 250 million in 2003 to $US 338 million by the end of 2004! This translates into a 67% growth rate in one year, a sign that Internet penetration is further accelerating beyond the boundaries imposed by wired networks. The potential for WLAN is enormous and has yet to be realized with the Internet able to now connect portable devices anywhere, at anytime, people will no longer be constrained to working in a set location. As well, business decision-making will naturally become faster and employees more productive, further accelerating the pace of technological and economic change. Many commentators have said that the next technology boom will likely come from the explosion in WLAN networks that is bound to happen as portable devices with wireless internet capability become cheaper to produce, leading to mass adoption by consumers and thus more demand for the necessary infrastructure.

WLAN technology offers extensive coverage and fast data rates, making it well suited for use in businesses. With a range of up to 100 meters per access point, and theoretical bandwidths of 54 Mbps with the newer 802.11 standards, WLAN technology is well suited to have a significant impact on the way business is done. With the new 802.11n standard just around the corner, WLAN has the potential to be as fast as standard 10/100 LAN in a very short period of time. Soon, standard LAN will probably be phased out, to become yet another technological relic to be seen in museums of the future.

	Speed	Range	Connection Reliability	Management	Security	Cost
Bluetooth	500kbps	30'	Poor	Poor	Good	Moderate
802.11a	22Mbps	100'	Excellent	Good	Good	High
802.11b	11Mbps	150'	Good	Excellent	Excellent	Low
802.11g	80Mbps	150'	Good	Excellent	Excellent	Moderate

While the market is obviously hot, many companies are concerned about security and are therefore understandably hesitant to fully adopt WLAN for their enterprises. With Internet piracy showing no sign of abating, enterprises as well as consumers are understandable wary about transmitting sensitive information across wireless networks. Another concern has been about market compatibility, with so many companies involved in designing and manufacturing WLAN network hardware, often in direct competition with one another. This has before led to the problem of incompatibility between products produced by competing manufacturers. Yet another issue has been the confusion over the various 802.11 standards; while most in the industry have been quick to adapt to the new terminology, the average consumer has been understandably wary of investing in wireless networking for home or small business. With technology changing all the time, no one wants to get stuck with yesterday's standards.

SiS secures your WLAN
With an eye towards these important concerns, SiS' WLAN technologies provide for full implementation of the 64/128 Bit WEP and WPA encoding standard that offers 100% security across wireless networks. SiS wireless products also are fully compatible with the FCC, Wi-Fi and WHQL standards, ensuring customers and end users need not be worried about compatibility issues with hardware or software.

Free your mind, the first WLAN controller chip support USB2.0 ~ SiS162
With so many different WLAN standards and protocols, it is important to have a broad product range to fulfill different customer and end user needs. The SiS WLAN product range is the most extensive in the industry. The SiS162 was the first USB 2.0 supporting, 802.11b compatible WLAN controller and represents excellent value in the mature market. The adoption of USB 2.0 has also had a huge influence on the WLAN market. Previously, a WLAN connection to a PC or notebook was best accomplished through a PCI slot, as USB did not provide enough bandwidth for a reliable LAN connection. However, USB 2.0 provides for 40 times the bandwidth of USB 1.1 and is also faster that IEEE Firewire. This speed increase also allows for an upgrade from 802.11a to g. Another advantage of USB over PCI are that it is much easier to use by being hot-pluggable with Windows XP, giving more convenience to the end-user on the go.

Keep innovating: SiS163 gives you 802.11b and 802.11g!!
The SiS163/163u represent another first in the WLAN industry, being the first 802.11b/g compatible, USB 2.0 supporting WLAN chipsets. With supporting USB2.0, Cardbus, Mini-PCI, and PCI, SiS163/163U not only enables the card makers to save on the production cost, but also brings more flexibility on the application of the chipset.

The ultimate tri-band solution: SiS165 and 165U
With the release of the SiS165/165U, SiS now has a full range of WLAN products for all IEEE standards: the SiS165/165U offer full support for the 802.11a / b / g standards as well as USB 2.0.

The SiS165/165U's hardware circuit engine supports 64/128 bit WEP/WPA 2.0 encryption coding for the IEEE 802.11i standard to provide exceptional data security capacity. In addition, SiS165/165U meets the requirements of FCC, Wi-Fi and WHQL and the IEEE 802.11e Quality of Service standard, which ensures Video on Demand and VOIP customers will enjoy uninterrupted high quality data flow.

How about getting an AP for free? We can turn your PC into an AP
The flexibility of WLAN means that with one PC, users can create entire WLAN networks throughout a home or office, by turning the PC into a "software access point". This can save time as well as cost from setting up a traditional network with cables and routers, an often time consuming and expensive process. With PCTEL's Segue™ SAM, software turns the entire computer into an access point itself. This means other computers can be connected wirelessly to this "software" host computer, reducing costs as well as the hassle of setting up a hotspot.

	SiS162/162U	SiS163/163U	SiS165/165U
IEEE	802.11b	802.11b/g	802.11a/b/g
Function	MAC/BB	MAC/BB	MAC/BB
Encryption	WPA, WOL	WPA2.0 WOL, 802.11i, e	WPA2.0 WOL, 802.11i, e, h
Interface	USB2.0, CardBus, Mini-PCI, PCI	USB2.0, CardBus, Mini-PCI, PCI, CF	USB2.0, CardBus, Mini-PCI, PCI, CF

Wireless life, boundless joy
Many analysts do not expect WLAN to fully realize it's potential until the later part of the decade, when hot spots will be ubiquitous and the technology will become inexpensive enough that ordinary cell phones will come with wireless Internet access as a standard feature. This will have an enormous impact on not only working lives; entertainment will be easily accessed at the touch of a button, perhaps making the days of the fixed internet seem as quaint and old fashioned as pagers are today.

In the near future, we may no longer need to stick to the same desk everyday, because your WLAN-support NB allows you to get connected with server anywhere in the office building. Or we can easily find a new restaurant to have a nice lunch by simply get online and make search with the Wi-Fi support PDA. With WLAN penetration, we can certainly be sure that our society will be even more in touch than it has ever been, and that is an exciting thought.