At the beginning of the each year, I get out my crystal ball and prognosticate on what to expect in the networking and security industries. On the networking side, I predicted that 2008 would be a banner year for the latest Wi-Fi standard, 802.11n. To geek out a bit, the current standard is 802.11g with maximum throughput of 54 megabits per second. In comparison, 802.11n bolsters performance all the way to 248 megabits per second.
So how accurate was my prediction? Judging by the Interop meetings I attended last week with Enterprise Strategy Group networking stud Bob Laliberte, spot on. Aruba Networks, Cisco, Meru, and Trapeze are shipping products and closing big deals. Large universities are installing thousands of new wireless access points providing network access to students and faculty across large geographic campuses. Hospitals are embracing wireless networking for user authentication, network access, and asset tracking. In fact, one of the most intriguing things about this market is that it seems to be driven by business applications rather than technology refresh. Manufacturing companies, insurance agencies, government bureaus, and defense agencies are all using wireless for brand new business processes. Pretty cool stuff.
... Read moreAfter years of providing chips for wireless access points used in homes, Broadcom is turning its attention to the business world.
The chip company is putting together a combination of 802.11n Wi-Fi chips and software to help networking companies build wireless access points for enterprise customers, said Mike Hurlston, vice president and general manager of Broadcom's wireless LAN business. Broadcom has been working with its partners for some time on building enterprise-class 802.11n access points, but is finally ready to announce its entry into this category.
Big companies require a lot more sophistication from their access points, Hurlston said. For example, they need things like load-balancing software to move PCs along to nearby access points if one particular unit starts to get overloaded. To this point, they've mostly avoided the faster 802.11n units because of the delay in formal ratification of the standard, but vendors have been shipping 802.11n products for some time.
Broadcom decided to enter the market now because it saw an opportunity to package the Wi-Fi chips with chips for networking switches, so that device makers have more incentive to buy a broader package of products from the company, Hurlston said.
(Credit:
Apple)
Apple has updated its AirPort Express portable wireless base station to make it compatible with the speedy 802.11n wireless standard, the company announced Monday.
802.11n, the latest iteration of the wireless networking standard, more than quadruples wireless-data rates to 248 megabits per second from the current 54 megabits per second offered by the 802.11g wireless standard; there are also some security improvements over 802.11g.
Apple's current lineup of laptops, iMac desktops, Apple TV set-top boxes, and Time Capsule backup devices already come with 802.11n.
An AirPort Express allows up to 10 Wi-Fi users to share a single broadband connection, access a printer wirelessly through a USB, and wirelessly stream media from Apple's iTunes software through its "AirTunes" feature. Always a proponent of small size, Apple touts the weight of the little guy as just 6.7 ounces; it costs $99.
We have a lot of geeky labels in our industry, and one of my new favorites is IEEE 802.11n. Just what do these letters and numbers mean? Simply stated, 802.11n is the latest revision of the wireless networking standard. Heck, it's so new that the standard hasn't even been ratified. That hasn't stopped the vendors from getting products to market. Aruba, Cisco Systems, Meru, and Trapeze are already shipping 802.11n-compliant Access Points (APs) and controllers.
Without going into technical detail, 802.11n drastically increases wireless data rates from 54 megabits per second (delivered by the existing 802.11g standard) to 248 megabits per second. Great in itself, but technology always gets better, faster, and cheaper so this isn't earth-shattering. The real news is that 802.11n represents a wireless "perfect storm" in that 802.11n equipment will marry fast wireless networking with quality of service, network identity, security, and application support. What's more, 802.11n will fit neatly with cellular and WiMax to form a seamless mobile WAN architecture. Think secure connectivity from any device, any network, and any location.
This makes 802.11n a potential big deal. Unlike earlier Wi-Fi standards, 802.11n could be a game changer in several ways:
1. The "all wireless network." With 802.11n, there may be no need for wired Ethernet edge switches anymore. This could make pure plays like Aruba, Meru, and Trapeze into very big companies over the next five years.
2. As 802.11n merges with cellular and WiMax networks, it could really create new service provider/enterprise opportunities for vendors like Alcatel-Lucent, Motorola, and Nortel Networks. This is another reason why Cisco grabbed WiMax start-up Navini Networks in October.
3. Margin-hungry service providers like AT&T, Level 3, and Verizon could offer a number of new managed services for a seamless mobile access network in the enterprise. The transition to 802.11n may be their ticket in the enterprise door.
Let me be the first, or at least an early industry insider, to put 802.11n on the list of "technologies to watch in 2008." Yes, mobility and hot spots are great, but 802.11n may be the wireless standard that turns the enterprise networking market on its head.
This is the seventh in a series of posts from the Hot Chips conference at Stanford University. The previous installments looked at technology and software, process technology, multicore designs, IBM's Power6 efforts, Vernor Vinge's keynote address, and Nvidia. Other CNET coverage may be found here. This is sort of an experiment for me; I usually prefer to have time to review my work before I publish it. If you see anything wrong, please leave a comment!
This session has two presentations--one from SiBeam describing wireless HDTV transmission for home use, the other from Broadcom on new 802.11n Wi-Fi technology.
The SiBeam presentation is easily summarized: It describes a chipset that sends uncompressed HDTV video over ... Read more
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