Industry body the Wi-Fi Alliance has announced the first
phase of plans to certify the next generation of Wi-Fi
products.
The alliance is aiming to certify the interoperability of
products that include “baseline features” from the 802.11n standard
now under development by the Institute of Electrical and
Electronics Engineers (IEEE) in the first half of next year. The
802.11n specification is designed to improve the bandwidth of
wireless networks, supporting at least 100mbps.
A second phase of certification would require full alignment
with the standard when it has been finalised and ratified. The
IEEE’s latest timeline estimates ratification of the new standard
by the first quarter of 2008.
But the alliance has moved to introduce an early phase of
certification because Wi-Fi products with features meeting the
draft specification are already on the market, with tens of
millions of devices expected to shop next year.
Wi-Fi Alliance managing director Frank Hanzlik said, “This
two-phase approach balances our longstanding commitment to
standards-based technology with the current market need for product
interoperability certification.
“While we are committed to supporting a full 802.11n standard
when it is available, pre-standard products are reaching a level of
maturity and there is enough market uptake that a certification
programme makes sense for the industry.”
Vote for your IT greats
Who have been the most influential people in IT in the past 40
years? The greatest organisations? The best hardware and software
technologies? As part of Computer Weekly’s 40th anniversary
celebrations, we are asking our readers who and what has really
made a difference?
Vote now at:
www.computerweekly.com/ITgreats