The IEEE 802.20 working group has changed its voting rules after allegations that Qualcomm Inc. was trying to dominate the process. In the past IEEE members voted as individuals no matter what company they were affiliated with. Now each entity, ie vendors, research groups, universities, etc will have only one vote and thus limit the… Continue Reading
Category Archives: IEEE
802.11n Gear To Get Seal Of Approval
It looks like the Wi-Fi Alliance is pushing forward, using the latest draft of the 802.11n standard. This means “Wi-Fi Certified” products should be hitting the shelves this summer. Eight laboratories around the globe have begun testing pre-standard products to see if they stick to WPA2 protocols and if they are backwards compatible with other… Continue Reading
802.11n Wi-Fi Draft Approved By IEEE
An IEEE working group endorsed draft 2.0 of the 802.11n wireless-networking standard, thus paving the way for a possible sale of products based on this spec by as early as this summer. With the approval, WLAN adapters and access points supporting the standard will need no radical upgrade to comply with the final spec, which… Continue Reading
Work Begins On 1Gbps Mobile WiMAX Spec
The IEEE has started working on 802.16m, a protocol that promises WiMAX speeds of up to 1Gbps and backward compatibility with 802.16e-2005 or Mobile WiMax. The group hopes to conclude the technology development phase by the end of this year, vote on the spec in 2008, and ratify as well as finalize it by the… Continue Reading
RuBee Seen As Alternative Protocol To RFID
The IEEE working group for RuBee (IEEE 1902.1) is due to meet in Boston on February 20. RuBee, a wireless networking protocol deemed as an alternative to RFID, is expected to enable networks to run on long wavelengths and cover thousands of radio tags working below 450 kHz. It allows for real-time inventory under harsh… Continue Reading
Wireless-N Receives Unanimous Vote
At a gathering in London, the IEEE 802.11n working group has unanimously approved the second draft of the much-awaited next generation Wi-Fi standard. This development, along with the likely approval by the IEEE membersehip, would allow the Wi-Fi Alliance to begin certification of Draft N products by March. Glenn Fleishman of Wi-Fi Net News expects… Continue Reading
IEEE 802.11 Standard’s Evolution
The evolution of wireless technologies brought lessons that are now driving the draft 802.11n efforts: 1) The WLAN industry made the right move of supporting legacy 802.11b rather than establishing a new and potentially higher-performing frequency band at 5 GHz, which could cause incompatibility among products. 2) Improving throughput in environments filled with interference from… Continue Reading
IEEE Struggles With Video Wi-Fi Standard
The second draft of the proposed IEEE standard for 100+Mbps wireless LANs will have to wait until January 2007, months later than many had hoped. The task group responsible for the development of the 802.11n standard is sifting through 12,000 comments to draft 1.0, half of which have already been addressed. Bill McFarland, CTO for… Continue Reading
IEEE Suspends Wireless Group
The IEEE has suspended the 802.20 working group that was working on alternatives to WiMax. The group was suspended after infighting over which companies technology would be adopted. This delay means that WiMax should be the clear front runner for high speed wireless for the forseeable future. Via [news.zdnet.co.uk]… Continue Reading
802.11n Standard Fails To Gain IEEE Approval
With the draft of 802.11n back on the drawing board, vendors who jumped the gun and produced so called ‘pre-n’ gear are now faced with the difficult challenge of what to do if thier products are not sompatible with the final standard. It will now be interesting to see if the devices live up to… Continue Reading
802.11w Fills Wireless Security Holes
802.11w is the latest entry into the 802.11 alphabet soup. .11w plans to extend security for wireless from just the payload part of the packet, to the managment frames as well. Currently thse frames are sent in the clear. These improvments should help prevent information about the network being leaked to an attacker. 802.11w also… Continue Reading
IEEE Group Reaches Pact On Mesh Wi-Fi
Wireless mesh networking is the key ingredient in making the dream of municipal WiFi a reality. That dream is a little closer with the adoption of 802.11s. Until recently there was no standard available for early adopters to use so they were risking alot if things changed from the method they were using. The lack… Continue Reading
Bluetooth Set To Take Over Wireless From Wi-Fi…
The IEEE has abandoned its effort to create a UWB standard, but has agreed on a draft for the next generation of WiFi, 802.11n. The conventional wisdom is that this week’s events are great news for Wi-Fi, and a disaster for Ultra-Wide Band, UWB, and by association, Bluetooth. In fact, the exact opposite is likely… Continue Reading
Proposed Standard Eases WLAN Management
In enterprise-class 802.11 deployments, network control is limited to the infrastructure, such as wireless switches and access points. Network administrators have little control over wireless client devices such as laptops, PDAs and voice over wireless phones. Uneven distribution of wireless clients on access points typically results in heavily unbalanced networks that suffer bandwidth and access… Continue Reading
Double-barreled Wi-Fi Test
Adding “wireless” to networking does more than change physical-layer-test requirements; it adds system complexity that needs simultaneous controlled testing of many layers. Via [Wireless networking based on the IEEE 802.11 standards is poised for substantial growth in both the numbers of units and the range of their applications. The mobility inherent in wireless networks, however,… Continue Reading