New chip promises four separate HD streams over Wi-Fi

Considering that even streaming one piece of high-def video over the latest networking technology, Draft N (the draft version of the still-yet-to-be-officially-ratified 802.11n standard) is dicey, Celeno's solution, the CL1300 WiFi SoC, would seem to be a remarkable technical feat. The company claims that by optimizing existing 802.11 technology, the new chip would allow for ranges 10 times that of an 802.11n device, with a zero packet error rate.

As you might imagine, if such a chip could be reliably deployed that can do all (or even most) of what Celeno promises, it could be a game changer for cable and satellite providers, as well as TV makers. You could conceivably have one Wi-Fi device (which could include DVR functionality) to handle the streaming to TVs that have Celeno chips to receive the streaming HD content.

Of course, as with all potentially exciting developments like this, the hype precedes the goods. While Celeno has demonstrated the technology at a recent industry show, there have been no announcements of testing by any hardware vendors, so don't expect this coming to your home anytime soon.