Embedded 802.11 offers faster, more flexible integration, while reduced development costs make 802.11 WiFi more cost–effective for everything but extremely large–scale production.
| Feature | Chipset | Radio Module | PCMCIA/CF NIC | USB Adapter | WLN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Evaluation |
|||||
| Developers Agreement needed? | Yes $50,000+ per year |
Yes | No | No | No |
| Interface | Compact Flash/ Mini-PCI | Compact Flash/ Mini-PCI | PCMCIA CompactFlash | USB | UART |
| Ease of evaluation | Hard | Hard | Medium | Medium | Easy |
| Evaluate in application? | No | No | Unlikely | Yes (Requires USB port) |
Yes |
| Cost per node | $20 | $45 | $45 | $50 | $75 |
| Cost of development | Make vs. Buy | Make vs. Buy | Make vs. Buy | Make vs. Buy | Make vs. Buy |
| Full scale demo? | No | No | No | No | No |
| OEM Developer Kit | No (SDK only) |
Yes | No | No | Yes |
Development |
|||||
| Level of integration | High (Radio only) |
Medium (Radio only) |
Low | Low | High (Radio + Networking) |
| Size of solution | Very small | Small | Big | Medium | Small |
| Development time | 12-18 mths | 9-12 mths | 9-12 mths | 9-12 mths | 6-9 mths |
| RF Design required? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Radio driver embedded? | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Networking software included? | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Data bridging software included? | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Technical Support Level | Very High | High | High | High | Low |
| Private Label Branding? | N/A | N/A | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Maintenance |
|||||
| Ease of integrating new features | Difficult | Difficult | Difficult | Difficult | Easy |
| Upgrade radio firmware? | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Automatic Radio driver upgrade? | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Upgrade hardware effort | Very Difficult | Difficult | Easy | Easy | Easy |
| Move from 11b to 11g | Very Difficult | Difficult | Medium | Medium | Easy |
Read more: Make vs Buy?
