802.11n Standard Teed Up for IEEE Vote Next Week
The IEEE could vote as early as Jan. 18 on the long- awaited 802.11n Wi-Fi standard. If, during its week-long meeting in Hawaii, the IEEE adopts the standard, unanimously endorsed by an ad hoc industry body, initial pre-certification 802.11n products could reach store shelves by mid-2006. To adopt a standard, the IEEE must vote it out with 75% approval.
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Firms that expect to sell 802.11n products say adoption will help Wi-Fi compete with ultra-wideband in streaming video and other emerging uses. With an 802.11n- based device, a firm could tie as many as 100 VoIP phones to a single access point.
The standard offers throughput of 100 Mbps and higher -- a minimum leap of 4x over that available via current 802.11a and g standards. Firms like Airgo Networks already sell MIMO-based chipsets offering the high-speed throughput 802.11n promises, but since those products are deemed “pre-standards,” they can’t even carry the “pre- 802.11n” label that products developed after adoption will bear.
Preliminary accord on the standard came this week in a 40-0 vote by the Joint Proposal (JP) Team, as Atheros, Intel, Broadcom and other industry heavyweights urged approval. The final details are being readied for delivery to IEEE, expected today (Fri.).
The JP vote broke a deadlock between WWiSE and TgnSync, each an industry group backing its own 802.11n standard. The JP was created when neither could win IEEE approval. A 3rd faction, which favored a Mitsubishi/Motorola proposal that eventually was rejected, also worked with the JP.
“Adoption of this specification is a huge step forward for the Joint Proposal team,” said Bill McFarland, CTO of Atheros. “For the first time the team now has a complete and consistent definition for next-generation, high performance wireless LAN devices.”
Sale by Atheros of MIMO-based products has been slow, but will pick up if customers have “confidence” the product won’t vanish from the market, McFarland told us. Talks still could collapse, he warned. “This whole process of getting to a complete standard isn’t a sure thing,” he said. “The JP team is meeting in Hawaii to look over the proposal. Everyone is looking if changes are needed. We don’t know how all of this will shape up.”