Wifi Gets Fourth Revision

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IEEE publishes the latest revision of the 802.11 wifi standard, IEEE 802.11-2012-- with revisions promising improved connections, greater security and smoother handoffs between wifi and mobile networks.

IEEE wifiThe 4th revision since 1997, 802.11-2012 consolidates the 10 amendments to the base standards approved in the 2007 revision. These include 802.11n (defines MAC and PHY modifications to enable throughputs of up to 600MB/s), direct-link setup, "fast roam," radio resource measurement, operation in the 3650-3700MHz band, vehicular environments, mesh networking, security, broadcast/multicast and unicast data delivery, interworking with external networks and network management.

IEEE says it already works on the next 802.11 generation, with project goals including the increase of data rates by a factor of 10, improvements on audio/video delivery, increases in range and decreases in power consumptions.

According to the association, around 2 million wifi-enabled devices ship around the world every day.

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