Future Wireless Technology

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The future presents two major realistic new technologies that will improve on current wi-fi: 802.11n and WiMax. Both these technologies essentially are new standards that allow for stronger and more efficient communication between devices. With this, both technologies present increased speed and range, but in different methods

802.11n. The creation of this standard was for the purpose of increasing reliability, the security, and the speed of wireless networking from its predecessor, the 802.11g spec. Though wireless technology through 802.11g has seen a great expansion due to advances, there are still issues needed to be dealth with.

The advent of 802.11n was supposed to change how wi-fi gear was often highly susceptible to interference from cordless phones and other devices and the slowness in speed to old-fashioned Ethernet. The standard utilizes a powerful smart-antenna technology called MIMO, which stands for multiple input multiple output. MIMO essentially allows a wireless device to make more efficient use of "data transmissions in indoor environments" [Fear 2005]. This achieved through multiple antennas on routers and access points to maximuze throughput (definition below) in indoor environments. Indoor environments greatly affect performance of wireless communications, and MIMO aims to allow the clearest data path on the fly so that both range and throughput will be increased as a aresult.

Wi-Max. An acronym that stands for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access. Essentially, this technology is the new standard created by IEEE, classified as 802.16. The technology is similar to wi-fi, but improves on certain aspect such as performance in throughput and distance for usage.

Although still in its early stages of development, WiMax is anticipated to being a wireless metropolitan area network technology in which coverage covers a massive amount of area. It considered to able to connect IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi) hotspots with each other and to other parts of the internet, which be a fascinating innovation to current hot spot technology now. Additionally, because it is planned for WiMax to operate on much higher frequencies than normal Wi-Fi, there will be less radio interference from other devices because there are fewer devices that operate at these frequencies. This would inevitably increase speed and distance by a great deal. According to WiMax proponents, the technology should be able to simultaneously support more than 60 business with T1-type connectivity and well over a thousands home at the connectivity experienced with most DSL-level services. Researchers consider WiMax as a "bold attempt at forging many technologies to serve many needs across many spectrums" (Wikipedia 2005). With these improvements, WiMax will be able to provide multiple additional opportunities for applicability such as VoIP, DVD quality video streaming, gaming, and much more.

Definitional Terms

Ethernet - A method of networking computers in a local area network (LAN).

Hot Spot - A hot spot is another name for a Wi-Fi access point or an area where there is an open wireless network.

T1 - The T1 carrier is a commonly used digital Internet connection line in the US, Canada, and Japan that can reach speeds up to 1.544 Mb/sec.

Throughput - The amount of data transmitted through the Internet connectors in response to a given request.

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