A group of companies from the computer, telecommunications and consumer electronics worlds have joined forces to develop a specification for wireless communications in the home. The collective, which calls itself the Home Radio Frequency Working Group, is developing its Shared Wireless Access Protocol, which it expects to publish later in the year. Members of the group include Compaq, Ericsson, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Motorola and Philips, among others. The HRFWG says its goal is to provide an open spec that will provide the foundation for a broad range of interoperable consumer devices, such as handsets, remote display pads and computer peripherals, which will communicate wirelessly with the home PC. The SWAP will utilize the ISM radio band of 2,400 to 2,484.5 MHz to transmit voice and data at rates upwards of 1Mb per second. The group says it will be signing up more members soon and that the first products based on SWAP should be appearing in late 1999.
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