Intel will become the first major vendor to launch 802.11a products.
Intel has announced plans to introduce a family of products based on the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 802.11a wireless LAN standard in November 2001. The company will become one of the first major equipment vendors to support this networking standard.
The IEEE created the 802.11 standards in 1999, aimed at creating a common platform for wireless networking technologies. The widely deployed 802.11b standard operates in the freely available 2.4-GHz spectrum, which is currently saturated by other emerging wireless technologies. In contrast, the 802.11a standard was designed to operate in the more recently allocated 5-GHz band, which has less interference to contend with and is also accessible free of charge. The total bandwidth available for 802.11a applications is almost five times that of the 2.4 GHz range, allowing access speeds of 54Mbit/s compared to the 11Mbit/s offered by 802.11b.
Intel’s new product line will initially be aimed at the US market, as the 802.11a standard does not comply with various EU requirements needed for its market entry. This is due to the fact that certain military and government installations use portions of the 5-GHz space for ground tracking stations and satellite communications. At this time the IEEE remains unclear as to when, and if, the protocol will be bought into line with European standards, but pressure is now mounting in this area. If it does make it across the Atlantic it must also compete with HyperLan 2, a standard currently using the 5-GHz bandwidth and favored on the continent.
The release of this new product family represents a trend in wireless networks that is sure to continue in a market expected to exhibit strong growth. Although 802.11b products will retain their dominance in the medium-term, especially in European markets, those based on the 802.11a standard will proliferate. Other companies such as Cisco, Agere and 3Com are hot on the heels of Intel in the development of new 802.11a-based wireless technologies, though they have not yet announced launch dates.
