The IEEE standards group today officially ratified 802.11n, the most recent standard for Wi-Fi. The move officially takes the wireless spec out of the draft status it has been in since 2006 and lets companies develop 11n hardware knowing that it will work properly with any device that supports the technology. Officials plan to publish the final standard in mid-October.
The Wi-Fi Alliance on Thursday said that the final version of the 802.11n Wi-Fi standard should effectively remain the same as it is in the Draft 2.0 spec. The organization says that the test program for the finished version will only have some "optional additions" to support some minor new features. Choosing the conservative approach will result in most Draft 2.0 devices already supporting the final 802.11n format without any changes or even having to change logos.
IEEE chairman Bob Heile late Monday signaled that the 802.11n standard for Wi-Fi was likely to be finalized by September. Heading up the 802.15 group for personal area networks, Helie said through e-mail that the faster wireless standard has been sent on to a review committee for approval, which would likely take place at the committee's next meeting in mid-September. The move comes after a "rocky" point of getting appropriate language into the late draft of the 802.11n format.
A recent IEEE standards group format should reach upcoming operating systems soon and eliminate many of the worries over removable drives at work. Known as IEEE 1667, the standard would establish a way for "transient storage devices" such as USB jump drives, external hard drives, and portable media players to authenticate with a host computer and allow them to be used as removable storage.
Details have emerged today from Trapeze Networks of a proposed Wi-Fi standard that should reduce the high power use of wireless networks. Known as 802.11v, the tentative format would more intelligently check for a connection and shut off the radio on either the router or devices themselves earlier when they idle, reducing the wasted energy and drawing out battery life. It would further send traffic maps to prevent end devices from having to send as much information on the network.
