HelpingDefineIEEE802.

11andotherWirelessLANStandards
IEEE802.11wirelesslocalareanetworks
IntelisalongtimecontributortotheIEEE802.11standard,agroupofspecificationsdeveloped
bytheInstituteofElectricalandElectronicsEngineers(IEEE)forwirelesslocalareanetworks
(WLANs).MuchofthecurrentworkonIEEE802.11centersonincreasingtransmissionspeeds
andrange,improvingQualityofService(QoS),andaddingnewcapabilities.
NowthatIEEE802.11n,thelatestversionofIEEE802.11,isshippinginvolume,thefocusison
evenfastersolutions,specificallyIEEE802.11acandIEEE802.11ad.Theseamendmentsaimto
providegigabitspeedWLAN.Thedifferenceistheir
QualityofService(QoS)
frequencies.IEEE802.11acwilldeliveritsthroughput
Incomputernetworking,QoSdoesnt
overthe5GHzband,affordingeasymigrationfromIEEE
refertoachievedservicequality
802.11n,whichalsouses5GHzband(aswellasthe2.4
thoughitplaysanimportantroleinit.
band).IEEE802.11ad,targetingshorterrange
Instead,QoSisaboutusingresource
reservationcontrolmechanismstogive
transmissions,willusetheunlicensed60GHzband.
Throughrangeimprovementsandfasterwireless
transmissions,IEEE802.11acandadwill:

ImprovetheperformanceofhighdefinitionTV
(HDTV)anddigitalvideostreamsinthehomeand
advancedapplicationsinenterprisenetworks
Helpbusinessesreducecapitalexpendituresby
freeingthemfromthecostoflayingand
maintainingEthernetcabling
Increasethereachandperformanceofhotspots
Allowconnectionstohandlemoreclients
Improveoveralluserexperiencewhereand
wheneverpeopleareconnected

differentprioritytodifferentapplications,
users,ordataflowstoensureacertain
levelofperformance.Forexample,a
particularbitrate,alongwithlimitson
delay,jitter,andpacketdropping
probabilityand/orbiterrorrate,maybe
guaranteedforarealtimestreaming
multimediaapplicationsuchasanonline
gameorvideo.Forsuchdelaysensitive
applications,QoSguaranteesare
important,whennetworkcapacityis
insufficientforalltheconcurrentdata
flow(i.e.,thevideoandotherless
sensitiveapplicationssuchasemailand
webbrowsing).

TheIEEE802.11WorkingGroup(WG)consistsofindividualswhoareexpertsinwireless
technologyandincludesanumberofIntelemployees.IntelseesIEEE802.11asvitalto
continuingtoimproveandexpandthewirelessexperienceofmanydevicesusingitsproducts.
ThiscasestudytakesabrieflookatthehistoryofIEEE802.11,currenteffortstoimprovethe
standard,andpotentialimprovementsinthefuture.
AshorthistoryofIEEE802.11
802.11,orWiFiasitispopularlyknown,spranginto
existenceasaresultofadecisionin1985bytheUnited
StatesFederalCommunicationsCommission(FCC)to
openseveralbandsofthewirelessspectrumforuse
withoutagovernmentlicense.Thesesocalled"garbage
bands"wereallocatedtoequipmentsuchasmicrowave
ovenswhichuseradiowavestoheatfood.Tooperatein

Didyouknow?
Theterm"WiFi"wasinventedbythe
organizationnowknownastheWiFi
Alliance.Theterm"IEEE802.11b
compliant"wasconsideredtoolongand
hardforconsumerstorememberfor
consumers."WiFi"meantnothingatthe
time,butsoundedlike"hifi,"afamiliar
electronicsterm.Later,themeaning
"wirelessfidelity"wasattachedtoWiFi.

thesebandsthough,deviceswererequiredtouse"spreadspectrum"technology.This
technologyspreadsaradiosignaloutoverawiderangeoffrequencies,makingthesignalless
susceptibletointerferenceanddifficulttointercept.

In1990,anewIEEEcommitteecalledIEEE802.11
WirelessLANThroughputbyIEEEStandard
wassetuptolookintogettinganopenstandard
started.Demandforwirelessdeviceswassohigh
MediaAccess
IEEE
ControlLayer,
thatbythetimethestandardwaspublishedin
OvertheAir
WLAN
ServiceAccess
1997,devicesadheringtothenewstandardwere
(OTA)Estimates
Standard
Point(MACSAP)
alreadyshipping.
Estimates

IEEE
802.11b

11Mbps

5Mbps

IEEE
802.11g

54Mbps

25Mbps(when
.11bisnot
present)

IEEE
802.11a

54Mbps

25Mbps

IEEE
802.11n

Upto600Mbps

Upto400Mbps

IEEE
802.11ac

Upto867Mbps
with2antennas
and80MHz;Up
to1.3Gbpswith
3antennasand
80MHz

Upto600Mbps
with2antennas
and80MHz;Up
to900Mbps
with3antennas
and80MHz

DevelopedundertherulesoftheIEEE(commonly
pronouncedasItriplee),theIEEE802.11
standarddefinesanovertheairinterfacebetween
awirelessclientandabasestation(oraccess
point),orbetweentwoormorewirelessclients.As
capabilitiesareaddedtotheIEEE802.11,some
becomeknownbythenameoftheamendment.
Forexample,manypeoplerecognizeIEEE802.11b,
IEEE802.11gandIEEE802.11naspopularwireless
solutionsforconnectingtonetworks.Eachof
theseamendmentsdefinesamaximumspeedof
operation,theradiofrequencybandofoperation,
howdataisencodedfortransmission,andthe
characteristicsofthetransmitterandreceiver.

ThefirsttwovariantswereIEEE802.11b(which
operatesintheindustrial,medicalandscientific
Atleast1.1Gbps
Upto700Mbps
ISMbandof2.4GHz),andIEEE802.11a,which
(upto4.6Gbpsin
for1.1GbpsOTA
IEEE
operatesintheavailable5GHzbands(5.155.35
somefirst
(upto3Gbpsfor
802.11ad
generation
GHz,5.475.725GHz,and5.7255.825GHz).A
4.6GbpsOTA)
products)
thirdvariant,IEEE802.11g,wasratifiedinJune
2003.BothIEEE802.11aandIEEE802.11gusea
moreadvancedformofmodulationcalledorthogonalfrequencydivisionmultiplexing(OFDM).
UsingOFDMinthe2.4GHzband,IEEE802.11gachievesspeedsofupto54Mbps.

TheadventofIEEE802.11n
Intheconstantquestforgreatertransmissionspeed,aHighThroughputstandardizationeffort
waslaunched,andIEEE802.11n,ratifiedinOctober2009,becamethefourthIEEE802.11
variant.IntelproductgroupsandIntelresearchanddevelopmentemployeescontributedtothe
developmentoftheIEEE802.11nstandardfromitsbeginningtocompletion,playingmajor
rolesintheIEEE802.11nTaskGroupandprovidingtechnicalassistance.IEEE802.11nleveraged
manyimportantspecificationsofitspredecessors,butalsointroducedsignificant
2

advancementsinwirelesstechnology.SomeofIntelscontributionsincludedthedevelopment
ofchannelmodels,usagemodels,functionalrequirements,andcomparisoncriteria.Intel
employeesalsohelpeddefinekeymodificationstothePhysicalLayerandMediaAccessControl
Layer(PHY/MAC)anddevelopperformancemeasurementmethodologiesandsimulation
methodologies.
IEEE802.11napproximatelyquadruplesWLANthroughputperformancecomparedtoIEEE
802.11a/gnetworks.Itssupportformultipleantennasprovidesbetterrangeatgiven
throughputsandimproved,moreuniformservicewithinthecoverageofabasicserviceset
(BSS).Usingmultipleantennasystemsforboththetransmitterandthereceiverisreferredtoas
multipleinputmultipleoutput(MIMO)orasmartantennasystem(seeFigure1).Intel
contributedmuchresearchtoMIMO.Byemploying
BasicServiceSet(BBS)
multiplediverseantennastunedtothesamechannel,
ABBSisthebasicbuildingblockofan
eachtransmittingwithdifferentspatialcharacteristics,
IEEE802.11WLAN.ABSSconsistsofa
MIMOusesspectrummoreefficientlywithoutsacrificing
singleaccesspoint(AP),togetherwithall
reliability.Everyreceiverlistensforsignalsfromevery
associateddevices,suchasalaptop,
transmitter,enablingpathdiversitywheremultipath
smartphoneandHDTV.Thisisnottobe
confusedwiththecoverageofanaccess
reflections(normallydisruptivetosignalrecovery)may
point,whichiscalledbasicservicearea
berecombinedtoenhancethedesiredsignals.
(BSA).

MIMOtechnologyalsousesSpatialDivisionMultiplexing
(SDM).SDMspatiallymultiplexesmultipleindependentdatastreams(essentiallyvirtual
channels)simultaneouslywithinonespectralchannelofbandwidth.Havingmultipleantennas
simultaneouslysenddifferentflowsofindividuallyencodedsignals(spatialstreams)overtheair
shovesmoredatathroughagivenchannel.Atthereceivingend,eachantennaseesadifferent
mixofthesignalstreamsandthedevice"demultiplexes"themtousethem.MIMOSDMcan
significantlyincreasedatathroughputasthenumberofresolvedspatialdatastreamsis
increased.Eachspatialstreamrequiresitsowntransmit/receive(TX/RX)antennapairateach
endofthetransmission.

Figure1.Diagramshowinghowasmartantennasystemenablesmultipleinput/multipleoutput(MIMO).

AnimportanttoolinIEEE802.11nforincreasingthephysicaltransferrateiswiderbandwidth
spectralchannels,alsoknownaschannelbonding.Usingawiderchannelbandwidth,in
combinationwithOFDM,offerssignificantadvantagesinmaximizingperformance.Wider
3

bandwidthchannelsarecosteffectiveandeasilyaccomplishedwithmoderateincreasesin
digitalsignalprocessing(DSP).Ifproperlyimplemented,doublingthelegacybandwidthofIEEE
802.11channelsfrom20MHzto40MHzcanprovidegreaterthantwotimestheusable
channelbandwidth.CouplingMIMOarchitecturewithwiderbandwidthchannelsoffersthe
opportunityofverypowerful,yetcosteffectiveapproachesforincreasingthephysicaltransfer
rate.
TheuseofthesetechnologiesinIEEE802.11nenablesaWLANtoachieveupto300Mbps.
Designsemployingfourantennastunedtothesamechanneleachtransmittingadifferent
spatialstreamatachannelwidthof40MHzarecapableofevendeliveringupto600Mbps.
Thedevelopmentof802acandIEEE802.11ad
Inaworldhungryformobiledevicescapableofsimultaneouslyhandlinghighdefinition(HD)
streamingvideo,voiceoverIP(VoIP)calls,webpagedelivery,andfastdatatransfers,IEEE
802.11nisfast,butstillnotfastenoughtokeepupwithpeoplesdesireforhigher
performance,particularlyinvideostreamingandgameplay,andforhandlingthegrowing
numberofdevicesconnectingtoanAP.Whatsmore,theenormouspopularityandsuccessof
WiFicontinuestocreatenewchallenges,manyofwhichcouldbeattributedtotheneedto
copewiththetechnologysoverwhelmingitssuccess.In
AccordingtoInStat,mobiledeviceswith
additiontospeed,thesechallengesincludeproviding
WiFiwillaccountforaround800million
greaterbandwidthandbetterhandlingofchannel
unitsby2015.Itsexpectedthat100
contention.
percentofmobilehotspotshipmentsby
thatdatewillsupportIEEE802.11ac.

Foreseeingthesechallenges,theIEEE802.11WGin2007
formedtheVeryHighThroughput(VHT)studygrouptoworkonthenextgenerationIEEE
802.11.Onegoalwastoincreasethroughputtoatleast1Gbpstobesharedbydevices
connectedtoanAPintheunder6GHzband,withthecapabilityforasinglelinktooperateat
500Mbps.Thesecondgoalwassinglelinkperformanceofatleast1Gbpsinthe60GHzband.
IEEE802.11acandIEEE802.11adwerethetwointerfacestargetedfordevelopmentforVHT
operation.
AllWLANstandardsdependonaccesstoradiospectrum.IEEE802.11bandIEEE802.11gshare
the2.4GHzspectrumwithcordlessphones,noisefrommicrowaveovens,andvariousother
nuisances.IEEE802.11ncanuseacombinationof2.4GHzand5GHzbands.Toavoid
contention,allIEEE802.11variantsdividetheirtargetedbandsintochannels,similartohow
radioandTVbroadcastbandsaresubdivided.Thisenablesdevicestosharethesamespectrum
withneighboringdevicesonotherchannelsinthesameband.Theabilitytousedifferent
channelsalsoenablesIEEE802.11tobemoreeasilyadaptedinternationallysincechanneluse
canbeconfiguredforeachcountry.
IEEE802.11acisdesignedtousethe5GHzspectrum,whichisclearerandfacesless
interferencethanthe2.4GHzspectrum.The2.4GHzspectrumiscongestedwithcurrentWiFi
andBluetoothwirelesscommunication,thegrowingpopularityofsmartgridwirelesshome
areanetworks,andthe"Internetofthings."Whatsmore,onlyonenonoverlapping40MHz
channelisavailablein2.4GHz.Incomparison,the5GHzbandprovides11nonoverlapping
4

40MHzchannels.Forallthesereasons,theIEEE802.11acTaskGroupseesthe5GHzbandas
thesolutionforhighbandwidth,highQoSWiFicommunications.
IEEE802.11ad,ontheotherhand,usesthemuchhigher60GHzspectrum.Thisspectrumhas
evenmoreroomtopackdifferentcommunicationchannelssidebyside.Consequently,itcan
deliverup7Gbpsbutonlyforshortdistances.Itseasilyobstructedbyair,waterandwalls,
andotherlimitations.
IEEE802.11ac,thesuccessortomainstreamWiFi
ThegoalforIEEE802.11acisforittobecomethemainstreamnetworkingaccesspoint
technologythatpeopleuseinhomes,businesses,andpublicWiFihotspots.AccordingtoKelly
DavisFelner,marketingdirectorfortheWiFialliance,witharawdatarateof1Gbpsandthe
abilitytostreamuptothreelightlycompressedHDvideosatonetime,IEEE802.11acwillbea
bigenablerforthedigitalhome.
Toachievethisperformancelevel,deviceswillberequiredtosupportchannelbonding.First
introducedwithIEEE802.11n,channelbondingimprovesbandwidthbothbyusinglarger
channelsandbycombiningchannels.IEEE802.11actakesevengreateradvantageofchannel
bondingbysupporting20,40and80MHzchannels.Infact,IEEE802.11acsupportsasanoption
theuseof160MHzchannels.However,thereareafewisolatedissueswithsomeofthese
channelsdependingongeographiclocations.InChina,forinstance,160MHzchannelsarenot
availablebecauseofthelimitedavailablebandwidth.Nonetheless,withitsmultiplechannel
choices,thefutureisbrightforglobaladoptionof802.11ac.

Toenhanceperformance,IEEE802.11acwilluseanadvancedformofMIMOtechnologyknown
asDownlinkmultiuserMIMO(MUMIMO).DownlinkMUMIMOexploitstheavailabilityof
multipleindependentradioterminalstoimprovenetworkcapacitywhentransmittingto
multipleterminals.TheprimaryuseofDownlinkMUMIMOistoaggregatelowdatarate
devicestoenablehighernetworkcapacity.ConsiderthatinIEEE802.11nhalfthedevicesare
singleantennaandlimitedto150Mbpsatthephysicallayer(PHY).Thismeanswhenanaccess
pointistransmittingtosuchadevice,thenetworkislimitedto150Mbps.WithDownlinkMU
MIMO,anaccesspointcantransmittouptofouruserssimultaneouslyresultinginconsiderable
networkcapacityimprovement.Forexample,a4+antennaAPcouldtransmitasinglestreamto
eachoffourphysicallyseparatedsingleantennastationsatonce,achievinguptofourtimesthe
capacityfromasingle40(or80or160)MHzwidechannel.

Whilemuchoftheworkonanamendmentisdoneina
InJuly2011 ataneventcalledWireless
committee,Intelemployeeshaveplayedmajorrolesin
TechnologyParkinYokohamaCity,NTT,
IEEE802.11acdevelopmentfromtheverystart.This
JapanstelecommunicationsinJapan,
involvementbeganwithanIntelemployeeholdingthe
NipponTelegraphandTelephone(NTT)
chairoftheVHTStudyGroupwhichgavebirthtoIEEE
Corporationdemonstratedaprototype
setupusingthenextgenerationIEEE
802.11ac.Intelalsocontributedtechnologytothe
802.11acstandardThesystemcan
enhancementoftheIEEE802.11nchannelmodelthat
wirelesslytransmitdatatothreeusersat
becamecrucialtothedevelopmentof802.11ac.Aswork
thesametimewithaneffective
progressed,IntelemployeesintheIEEE802.11Working
throughputof120Mbps.TheNTTsystem

usedsixantennasfortransmissionand
threeforreception.NTTalsoshowcaseda
5
transceivermoduleusingIEEE802.11ad.

Groupledthedevelopmentofthespecificationframeworkdocumentandparticipatedin
draftingtheIEEE802.11acamendment.Nowthattheamendmentisfinished,anIntel
employeeiscochairoftheIEEE802.11acCoexistenceAdHoctohelpwiththetransitiontoIEEE
802.11ac.

801.11ad:TheperfectcomplementtoIEEE802.11ac
Forapplicationsrequiringjustafewmetersoftransmission,IEEE802.11ad,providesavery
viablesolutiondeliveringblazing7Gbpsspeeds.SinceIEEE802.11adcompatibleAPswillbe
abletocovernotmuchmorethanaroom,aprimarytargetforIEEE802.11adisstreamingHD
video.Thegoalisforittoenablewirelessdockingbetweendevicesinaroom.Forinstance,a
personcouldbringalaptopintoaroomandhaveitautomaticallylinkwirelesslytoalarge
display,digitalprojectorand/orstoragesystemtostreamvideoordataatastonishingspeeds.
Suchfastdatatransferswillenableincrediblyfastwirelesssyncandgobetweendevicessuch
asalaptopandsmartphone.
801.11adisbeingsupportedbyaconsortium,theWirelessGigabitAlliance.Intelisakeyboard
member,alongwithotherprominenthardwareandsoftwarecompanies,suchasBroadcom,
Cisco,Dell,Marvell,Mediatek,Microsoft,NEC,Nokia,Nvidia,Panasonic,Qualcomm,Samsung,
Toshiba,andWilocity.
ThereasonIEEE802.11adiscapableofsuchhighdataratesisthebreadthoffrequenciesthatit
canuse.Inthe60GHzrange,thereisaround7GHzoffreespectrumthisisover83times
morefreespacethanthe83.5MHzoffreespaceavailableintheunlicensed2.4GHzrange
mostWiFinetworksuse.
The60GHzrangehasntbeencommerciallytappeduntilnowbecausesuchhighfrequency
transmissionsarefragile.Lowfrequenciescanbendaroundhillsandpenetratewalls,buthigh
frequencytransmissionscant.Toovercomethisdeficiency,60GHztransmissionsmustbe
highlytargetedandlineofsight.Whilethisisntgoodforhomenetworking,itsfineforwithina
room.Infact,withadaptivebeamforming(asignalprocessingtechnique),distancesofmore
than10metersarepossible.Withacombinationofphysicalantennasonthedevicesand
algorithmstotunethesignal,IEEE802.11addeviceswilleffectivelyshoottheirsignalsbackand
forthateachotherinanarrow,targetedbeam. Antennasindevices,likearouter,willeach
haveabroadreceptionareatoseedevices.Whenadevicethatwantstousethe60GHz
connectionisbroughtintorange,itwillbegincommunicatingwiththeantennastofinetune
thesignalstomaximizeconnectionspeed.(Theantennasdothisbyadjustingboththe
amplitudesandthephaseshiftsoftheirbroadcastedwaves.)Shouldthehighspeedconnection
belostforanyreason,deviceswillfallbackon2.4GHzand5GHzsignalstocontinue
communications.
WithIEEE802.11ad,thereseventhepossibilityofaunifieddataandaudiovisual(A/V)
network.Throughtheuseofprotocoladaptionlayers(PAL),IEEE802.11adwillallowthe
concurrenttransmissionofdataandA/Vsignals.ThesePALswilloperateattheMACandPHY,
belowtheIPdatalayer,allowingthewirelessinterfacesofHDMIandDisplayPorttobe
implemented,alongwithrelevantdigitalrightsmanagement(DRM)technologieslikeHDCP.
6

Thiscompliancemeansausercouldplugaspecialdonglethatcanparticipateinallofthesignal
optimizationprocessesintoaTV'sHDMIport,connectacomputertotheTVoverthe801.11ad
WiFi,andstreamHDvideo.Thisassumesthatthecomputer,routeranddongleareIEEE
802.11adcapableandwithinrangeofeachother.ThesePALscanbeextendedtoUSBandPCIe,
meaningaTVmightbeabletocommunicatedirectlywiththesystembusofahometheaterPC
orperhapsdirectlywithanexternalUSBharddrivecaddy.
Asinthedevelopmentof802.11ac,IntelemployeeshavebeeninvolvedinIEEE802.11adfrom
thestart.Theywerethemaincontributorstothechannelmodeldevelopmentandprovided
exhaustivemeasurementsandMatlab*modeling.(Matlabisanumericalcomputing
environmentdevelopedbyMathWorksthatfacilitatesanalyzingandvisualizingdata,aswellas
publishingresults.)AnIntelemployeeledthedevelopmentofthefunctionalrequirements
documentandtheevaluationmethodologydocument.Intelemployeesalsoplayedmajorroles
inthedevelopmentofsuchkeyIEEE802.11adtechnologiesastheOFDMPHY,beamforming
scheme,networkarchitecture,channelaccess,andfastsessiontransfer.Infact,anIntel
employeeistheeditoroftheamendment.

Figure2.AnIEEE802.11ac/addevicewillbecapableoftribandcommunications.(DiagramcourtesyWiGig
Alliance.)

Compatibilitywiththepast
AnimportantcomponentoftheworkintheIEEE802.11acTaskGroupistodesignbackward
compatibilitymechanismsthatenablepeacefulcoexistencewithexistingnetworks.Its
importantthatfutureWiFiadapterssupportIEEE802.11gs2.4GHzbothforbackwards
7

compatibilityandrange.ItsalsoimportanttheysupportIEEE802.11nandIEEE802.11acs5
GHzforperformance,andIEEE802.11ad/WiGigs60GHzforshortrange,HDvideodata
transfers.Thus,anIEEE802.11n/ac/addevicewillneedtooperateinallthreeIEEE802.11
frequencyranges:2.4GHz,5GHz,and60GHz(seeFigure2).Thismultifrequencyperformance
isbeingachievedbymechanismsforautomaticdetectionoflegacynetworksandcontinuingto
complywiththetechnologicalrequirementsforsupportingtheseearlieramendments.
EnablingnextgenerationdigitalmediathroughQoS
WhiledataandaudiocommunicationshavelongbeentheprimaryattractionsformostWiFi
users,streamingvideoisincreasinglypopularasanetworkedapplication.QoSissueswithearly
WiFiproductsdegradedtheuserexperience,particularlywhenwirelessdevicesareinmotion.
WiFiroamingimprovementshaveenablednewsecureandQoSenhancedVoiceoverWLAN
usagesintheenterpriseandpublichotspots.TheIEEE802.11r(FastBSSTransition)amendment
publishedinJuly2008allowsaroaminguserdevicetoprocureQoSparametersatanewaccess
pointbeforemakingatransitionawayfromtheoriginalaccesspoints.Thisenableshandover
withoutlostconnectionsandstreamdisruption.
IntelemployeesworkedcloselywithCiscoemployeesandothermembersoftheIEEE802.11
communitytodevelopIEEE802.11r,thesecure,QoSenhancedinteraccesspointroaming
protocolamendmentinIEEE802.11.TheIEEE802.11ramendment,ratifiedinJuly2008,builds
upontheIEEE802.11isecuritybyprovidingfaster(sub50millisecond)andsecurekey
hierarchybasedhandoffswhenauserroamsbetweenaccesspoints.IEEE802.11renablesuser
undetectableinteraccesspointroamingforMultimediaoverWiFiapplications,accesspoint
loadbalancing,andsaltandpepper(dualgrid)usagesinenterprises,healthcare,andoperator
deployments.IEEE802.11risfullycompatiblewithIEEE802.11a/b/g/n.
Whatliesahead
Asthenumberofcomputersandotherdevicesusing
Overthepast15years,IEEE802.11 has
WiFicontinuestogrowexponentially,proliferatingall
evolvedwiththeInternettoprovidea
overtheplanet,thevisionoffreedomfromwired
fivetimesincreaseinthroughputevery
Internetconnectionsisbecomingareality.This
fourorsoyears.Wirelessinnovationand
wirelessconnectivityisspreadingtononmobile
MooresLawmakeitpossibletoachieve
productsliketelevisions,automobiles,thermostats,
thisthroughputincreaseatthesamecost
andpowerconsumption.
videosurveillancecameras,medicalequipment,and
eventoys,bathroomscales,exerciseequipment,and
homeappliances.Beingaplayerinawiderangeofconsumerandindustrialelectronicdevices
todayrequiresofferingWiFienabledsolutions.
Behindthissuccessisawellestablishedstandard:IEEE802.11.Thisstandardisascrucialas
evertoindustryinnovationandacceptanceofIEEE802.11products.BecauseofIEEE802.11,
customersenjoytheabilitytobuyWiFideviceswithassuranceoftheirinteroperability.
BecauseofIEEE802.11,theWiFiindustrycontinuestoprofitfromfastgrowth.
IntelscontributionshavebeenimportanttotheevolutionofWiFiandcontinuetohelpdrive
ongoingimprovements,suchasIEEE802.11acandIEEE802.11ad.AswithpreviousIEEE802.11
enhancements,boththesenewenhancementswillalsosupportcompatibilitywithexistingIEEE
8

802.11services,accesspointsandbasestationsaswellasitsmanagementfeaturessuchas
association,authenticationandsecurity.

InteliscommittedtoIEEE802.11inallits"flavors"andwillcontinuetosupportIEEE802.11,the
expansionofitsecosystem,andtheenduserawarenessnecessaryforthebroadproliferation
ofbroadbandwireless.TheinnovationthathasledtoIEEE802.11'ssuccesswillcontinuein
organizationssuchasIEEEaswirelessnetworkingisadaptedtotoucheveryfacetofourlives,
fromhomesandcarstoofficebuildings,factories,andhealthcareinstitutions.
Learnmore
VisittheIEEE802.11WorkingGroup(http://www.ieee802.org/11/)andtheWiFiAlliance
(http://www.wifi.org/).Note:ThelinksonthispagewilltakeyoufromtheIntelWebsite.Intel
doesnotcontrolthecontentontheseWebsites.