A new wireless local area network standard is being developed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers-the 802.11n protocol. According to the standards body, the new 802.11n protocol will raise the effective throughput for wireless LAN to at least 100 megabits per second, three times the existing speed of 30 Mbps.
“The standard will create parity between wired and wireless systems, so enterprises can extend their use of wireless networks to areas where the rate of existing wireless products has been insufficient,” said IEEE.
The protocol is expected to be useful in enterprise networks in offices and campuses, which typically have 100 Mbps wired network connections. It will also help in home networks with consumer applications like data-intensive multimedia equipment with multiple channels of digital video.
“It will allow hot spots in airports, hotels, cafes and other public spaces to offer at least twice the number of user connections than is possible,” noted the standards body.
IEEE said the definition of the speed objective for 802.11n will differ from others like 802.11g. It will focus on the medium access control 802.11r other than the physical layer so that it can match what users see in transferring files and other tasks, according to IEEE.
“We expect the new standard to meet the current demand for better WLAN service and allow a range of advanced uses,” said Stuart J. Kerry, IEEE 802.11 working group chair.
He identified the improvements in this standard as higher-performing radio frequency and analog chips on advanced CMOS technology and the integration of entire WLAN adapters onto a chip.
