Intel splits Wi-Fi signal to create two adapters

Intel has demonstrated a future technology dubbed Cliffside that enables a single Wi-Fi adapter to work as two adapters, one of which becomes a Personal Area Network (PAN). The demo took place in Shanghai before the recent Intel Developer Forum, but you can see Intel marketing product manager Gary Martz preview the concept in this video.

The Cliffside technology would split a Wi-Fi connection into two signals: One for your Internet connection, and another to create a PAN on which you could synch devices such as MP3 players and phones. Intel says Cliffside would enable up to eight devices to connect to the PAN. Beyond synching, this Wi-Fi PAN technology would enable you to “consume” content such as audio and video files stored on your PC using the PAN. Cliffside would also enable a notebook to connect to another notebook to share and synch files.

Intel calls the Cliffside “research technology,” which means you won’t see it on your home network anytime soon. But any core-level improvements in Wi-Fi are welcome. Let’s just hope it doesn’t require ratification by the IEEE.