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 5Mbps 25Mbps(when .11bisnot present) 25Mbps Upto400Mbps Upto600Mbps with2antennas and80MHz;Up to900Mbps with3antennas and80MHz IEEE 802.11b IEEE 802.11g IEEE 802.11a IEEE 802.11n 11Mbps

54Mbps

54Mbps Upto600Mbps Upto867Mbps with2antennas and80MHz;Up to1.3Gbpswith 3antennasand 80MHz

IEEE 802.11ac

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
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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

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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 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
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thatdatewillsupportIEEE802.11ac.

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 802.11ac standardThesystemcan enhancementoftheIEEE802.11nchannelmodelthat wirelesslytransmitdatatothreeusersat becamecrucialtothedevelopmentof802.11ac.Aswork thesametimewithaneffective progressed,IntelemployeesintheIEEE802.11Working throughputof120Mbps.TheNTTsystem

usedsixantennasfortransmissionand threeforreception.NTTalsoshowcased 5a 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.
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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

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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
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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.