Evolution of Wi-Fi : IEEE 802.11 a wireless network protocol
Evolution of Wi-Fi : Over the past years and in future.
Wi-Fi is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices & internet access.
In the blog we are going to discuss about the Evolution of Wi-Fi Over the past years & the future of it in the mankind revolution. The history of Wi-Fi is long & interesting. In 1971, ALOHA net connected to the Hawaiian Islands with a VHF wireless pocket network. ALOHA net and the ALOHA Protocol were early fore-runners to Ethernet, & later on the IEEE 802.11 Protocols respectively. Vie Hayes is often called as the “ Father Of Wi-Fi”. He started such work in 1974 when he joined NCR crop, which is a now a part of semiconductor components maker Agree Systems.
In 1985 ruling by the U.S federal communication commission released the ISM band for unlicensed use these are actually the frequency in the frequencies used by equipments such as microwave ovens and are subjected to interference. In the year 1991, NCR corporation with AT & T corporation invented the precursor to 802.11, which are mainly used in cashier system in that time. The first wireless products were under the name Waveland. They are actually the ones credited with inventing Wi-Fi.
This WIFI system was also used to detect mini black holes. In 1991, the Australian radio-astronomer John O Sullivan with his friends Terence Percival, Graham Daniels, Deity Oshry, John Deane developed a key pattern used in Wi-Fi as a byproduct of Common Wealth Scientific & Industrial Research Organization ( CSIRO) research project, “ a failed experiment to detect exploding mini black holes the size of an atomic particles”. In 1992 & 1996, CSIRO obtained patents, WIFI logo. This yin-yang WI-FI logo indicates the certification of a product for interoperability.
Wi-Fi Standards and development history :
The original version of the standard IEEE 802.11 was released in 1997 and clarified in 1999, but it now obsolete. It is specified with to net byte rates of 1 or 2 megabytes per second (mb/s) , plus forward error correction code. Its specified three alternative physical layer technologies : defuses infrared operating at 1 mb/s; frequency hopping spread spectrum operating at 1 or 2 mb/s and direct spread spectrum operating at 1 or 2 mb/s. The letter two radio technologies used microwave transmission over the Industrial Scientific Medical frequency band at 2.4 GHz. Some earlier WLAN technologies used lower frequencies, such as the U.S. 900 MHz ISM band.
802.11b (1999) :
The 802.11b standard has a maximum raw data rate of 11 mb/s and uses the same media access method defined in the original standard. 802.11b products appeared on the market in early 2000, since 802.11b is a direct extension of the modulation technique defined in the original standard. The dramatic increase in throughput of 802.11b compared to the original standard along with simultaneous substantial price reductions led to the rapid acceptance of 802.11b as the definitive wireless LAN Technology. Although, the devices using 802.11b experience interference from the products operating in the 2.4 GHz band. Devices operating in the 2.4 GHz range include microwave ovens, Bluetooth devices, baby monitors, cordless telephones and some amateur radio equipment.
802.11a (2012, OFDM waveform) :
It was originally described as clause 17 of the 1999 specifications. The OFDM waveform at 5.8 GHz is now defined in clause 18 of the 2012 specifications. Provides protocols that allow transmission and reception of data at rates of 1.5 to 54 mb/s. It has been seen that widespread worldwide implementations, particularly within the corporate work space. While the original amendment is no longer valid, the term 802.11a is still used by wireless access point manufactures to describe interoperability of their systems at 5 GHz 54 mb/s.
Since, the 2.4 GHz band is heavily used to the point of being crowded, using the relatively unused 5GHz band gives 802.11 a significant advantage. In practice, 802.11b typically has a higher range at low speeds ( 802.11 we will reduce speed at 5.5 megabyte per second on even 1 mb per second at low signal strength). 802.11a also suffers from interference, but locally there may be fewer signals to interference with, resulting in less interference and better throughput.
802.11 g (2003) :
In June 2003, third modulation standard was released 802.11g. This works in the 2.4 GHz (like 802.11b) but was the same OFDM-based transmission scheme as 802.11a. It operates at a maximum physical layer byte rate of 54 mb/s exclusive of forward error correction codes or about 22 mb/s average throughput. Like 802.11b, 802.11g devices suffer interference from other products operating in the 2.4 GHz band for example wireless keyboard.
802.11 (2007) :
In 2003, task group TGma was authorised to ‘roll up’ many of the amendments to the 1999 version of the 802.11 standard. REVma or 802.11ma, as it was called, created a single document that merged amendments of eight (802.11a, b, d, e, g, h, i, j) with the base standard. Upon approval on 8th March, 2007. 802.11 REVma was renamed to then-current base standard IEEE 802.11 2007.
802.11n (2009) :
This version is an amendment that improves upon the previous 802.11 standards by adding multiple-input multiple-output and antennas (MIMO). 802.11n operates on the both the 2.4 GHz and the 5GHz bands. Support for 5GHz is optional. It operates at a maximum net data rate from 54 mb/s to 600 mb/s. The IEEE has approved the amendment, and it was published on October 2009.
802.11 (2012) :
In May 2007, task group TGmb was authorised to ‘role up’ many of the amendments like 2007 version of the 802.11 standard. REVmb or 802.11mb, as it was called, created only signal document that merged 10 amendments (802.11k, r, y, n, w, p, z, v, u, s) with the 2007 based standard. Upon publication on March 29, 2012, the new standard was referred to as IEEE 8.
802.11ac (2013) :
It is an amendment to IEEE 802.11, published on December, that builds on 802.11n. Changes compared to 802.11n included wider channels in the 5GHz, more spatial streams, higher-order modulation and the addition of multiple user MIMO (MU-MIMO). As of October 2013, high-end implementation support 80 MHz channels, three spatial streams and 256-QAM, yielding a data rate of up to 433.3 MB per second per partial stream 1300 MB per second total, in 80 MHz in the most 5 GHz band.
802.11ad (2010) :
IEEE 802.11ad is also an amendment that defines a new physical layer for 802.11 networks to operate in the 60 GHz millimetre wave spectrum. Products implementing the 802.11 standard core being name. The certified program is now being developed by the Wi-Fi Alliance instead of the now defund Wi-Gig Alliance. The peak transmission rate of 802.11ad is 7 gb/s.
802.11af (2014) :
IEEE 802.11af, also referred to as “White Wi-Fi” and “super Wi-Fi” which was approved in February 2014. That allows WLAN operations in TV white space spectrum in the VHF and UHF bands between 54 and 790 megahertz. It uses continuous radio technology to transmit on unused TV channels, with the standard taking measures to limit interference for primary users, such as analogue TV, digital TV, and wireless microphones. The frequency channels are 6 to 8 megahertz wide, depending on the regularity domain. Up to four channels may be bonded in either one or two continuous blocks. With four spatial streams and 4 bonded channels, the maximum data rate is 426.7 MB per second for 6 and 7 megahertz channels and 569.9 MB per second for 8 megahertz channels.
Future Wi-Fi enhancements and upgrade :
802.3 11ah :
It can be used for various purposes including large-scale sensor networks, extended range hotspot and outdoor Wi-Fi for cellular traffic offloading, whereas the available bandwidth is relatively narrow. It was approved on September 2016. The protocol intends consumptions to the competitive with low power Bluetooth at a much wider range.
802.11ai :
It is an amendment to the 802.2 11 standard that will add new mechanism for a faster initial link setup time.
802.11aj :
It is a rebinding of 802.11 ad for use in the 45 GHz unlicensed spectrum available in some regions of the world especially China.
802.11aq :
This is an amendment to the 802.11 standard that will enable pre-association discovery of services. This extends some of the mechanism in 80 2.11au that enable devices discovery to further discover the services running on a device or provide provided by a network.
802.11ax :
It is terribly the successor to 802.11 ac and will increase the efficiency of WLAN networks. Currently in development, this project has the goal of providing 4x the power of 802.11 ac.
802.11 ay :
This operates a new physical layer for 802.11 networks to operate in 60 GHz millimetre wave spectrum. The main was included : indoor operations, outdoor back-haul and short range communication. The peak transmission rate of 802.11 ay is 20 gb/s.
Outdoor grade Wi-Fi and hotspots
This is the most exciting and very vulnerable extension of Wi-Fi. Some vendors have extended Wi-Fi technology to include outdoor Wi-Fi and proprietary extensions such as Mesh and other features. These devices allow greater use access to Wi-Fi in public spaces.
Good article