The IEEE 802.11 Working Group, authors of Wi-Fi, has accepted a draft document as a baseline for the 802.11k standard, which covers radio resource management for WLANs. Final approval of 802.11k is expected in January 2007.
The 802.11k amendment to the Wi-Fi base standard will enable more accurate and efficient operation of WLANs in governmental, residential, enterprise and metropolitan settings, the group said.
“Next-generation video streaming, wireless VoIP and dense WLAN deployments present new challenges that call for more precise WLAN measurements,” said Stuart Kerry, IEEE 802.11 Working Group Chair. “IEEE 802.11k will help optimize these radio environments so more devices can coexist, even as it reduces wireless network traffic congestion.”
802.11k identifies medium access control and physical layer specifications. It allows enhanced measurements and diagnostics for Wi-Fi networks that operate in the unlicensed 2.4GHz, 4.9GHz and 5GHz bands.
IEEE 802.11 Working Group www.ieee802.org/11
