As Wi-Fi adoption grows, companies are coming together to work out suitable standards in two key areas-security and quality of service.
The security protocol for Wi-Fi is called Wi-Fi Protected Access, or 802.11i. The QoS protocol is known as 802.11e. WPA standards should be settled in June and certifications will be resolved later in the year.
Unlike the UWB arena, where companies have rallied behind conflicting standards, Wi-Fi players are looking to cede to the protocol fashioned by the Wi-Fi Alliance.
Although big players including Cisco Systems Inc., Proxim Inc., SpectraLink and Symbol Technologies Inc. already have their own proprietary solutions, they will follow the interoperable protocol, according to Frank Hanzlik, managing director of the Wi-Fi Alliance.
WPA is migrating to WPA2 for greater security, said Hanzlik. The difference lies in the algorithms. The new protocol is enhanced with what is called Advanced Encryption Standards. Since most of the more than 300 Wi-Fi products have WPA certification, migrating to AES is natural and painless, according to market watchers.
Wireless companies understand that WPA2 is harder to compromise and has been used and tested by the federal government for a number of years. It is now capable of being used in applications for the commercial market. But in spite of the imminence of its certification, it will take some time to mature in the market.
“It will be available to enhance the businesses and government agencies that have high requirements,” said Hanzlik, noting it will be the first time that commerce will meet government requirement levels for security.
The government compliance standard is called FIPS 140-2, but the final stages of the standards are being hammered out. The first wave of certification is set to begin in September.
The 802.11e has attracted interest from vendors angling for electronics and voice over Wi-Fi products. The protocol is expected to be ratified by the end of the year, said Hanzlik, adding that a subset of the product, Wi-Fi multimedia extensions-is robust today. This should be ratified in September. The second part, an enhancement known as the Wi-Fi Scheduled Multimedia, is expected to be ratified at the end of this year at the earliest.
WME is expected to ship after ratification, he said. It defines how the network prioritizes applications in a packet environment. For instance, it can prioritize video messaging over e-mails, so that letters take second stage to video messaging sent wirelessly.
Experts describe it as the foundation for the 802.11e standard. The Wi-Fi Alliance has undergone interoperability testing among vendors, said Hanzlik.
WSM prioritizes bandwidth allocation within the network. With this protocol, network managers can decide how much bandwidth to assign to video and e-mail applications. But the standards are not restricted to networks. Device vendors are also working with the alliance to ensure cell phones speak the same language as the networks.
This will enhance handoffs for users moving in and out of the hot spots and campuses of verticals with Wi-Fi coverage, including hospitals and airports.
Cisco said it has unveiled a new module that integrates the wireless local area network with wireline telephony, supporting up to 300 access points and 6,000 users.
The product, known as the Catalyst 6500 series wireless LAN services module, allows customers to use their existing wireline infrastructure to reduce total cost of network ownership. Lower costs certainly would aid firms planing a large-scale wireless LAN, like enterprises, universities, healthcare facilities or service providers. “The new Catalyst 6500 series WLSM also delivers the industry’s fastest, highly secure user roam times, allowing users to now move throughout the campus seamlessly even under high network utilization,” said the company.
The company said this varies from other announcements because Cisco’s product actually is not an appliance but a switch, according to Ann Sun, senior manager of wireless and mobility marketing at Cisco.
“It is the first with a delivery into a true enterprise within the context of switching,” she said.
