Original 45nm Intel® Core™ Microarchitecture

The Technical Challenges of Transitioning Intel® PRO/Wireless Solutions to a Half-Mini Card

ABSTRACTS

Eli Laks, Mobility Group, Intel Corporation

Richard S. Perry, Mobility Group, Intel Corporation

Brad Saunders, Mobility Group, Intel Corporation

Ra’anan Sover, Mobility Group, Intel Corporation

Index words: Intel® PRO/Wireless, half-mini card, HMC, mini card, Wi-Fi, MIMO

Citations for this paper: Eli Laks, Richard S. Perry, Brad Saunders, Ra’anan Sover "Original 45nm Intel® Core™2 Processor Performance" Intel Technology Journal.http://www.intel.com/technology/itj/2008/
v12i3/5-paper/1-abstract.htm (October 2008).

ABSTRACT

With the introduction of Intel's latest mobile platform, Montevina, which is based on the new Penryn Mobile family of processors, the Intel® PRO/Wireless 5300 and 5100 communication daughter boards, offered as part of the Intel Centrino® Mobile Technology platform, also underwent major changes to enable a smaller, more efficient platform solution. The 5300 5100 family of Wi-Fi wireless communications boards is now offered in a Half-Mini Card form factor. This paper describes some of the technical challenges faced when transitioning from a Full-Mini Card used in previous-generation wireless solutions to a half-size card while increasing the functionality on board. These challenges have directly affected the entire design from the core silicon all the way up to the complete product board, not to mention some of the challenges to address at the Peripheral Component Interconnect Special Interest Group (PCI-SIG), from a standardization point of view. Background information will be provided to better understand why this transition was driven in the platform.

In this paper, we will touch on the required Printed Circuit Board (PCB) technology, front-end integration, silicon floor planning, pinout definitions, and the thermal considerations necessary to enable this transition. Further, we will show how this new form factor differs from its predecessors in some key aspects, as wireless communication has progressed from generation to generation. The reader will gain a good understanding of some of the technological challenges driven by this form-factor change that will enable smaller, more condensed platform solutions.

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