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Apple pushes for next-gen 600Mbps Wi-Fi standard as member of Enhanced Wireless Consortium

Monday, October 10, 2005 · 5:02 pm · 25 Comments

“In order to speed up the IEEE 802.11n standard development process and promote a technology specification for next-generation wireless local area networking (WLAN) products, 27 Wi-Fi technology providers have formed the Enhanced Wireless Consortium (EWC), the group announced today,” Electronic News reports. “The consortium designed its specification to support speeds of up to 600Mbps, and is considering the inclusion of other advanced technologies — including Space Time Block Coding (STBC) and beamforming – to allow systems to deliver greater range for wireless products across multiple market segments and support advanced multimedia applications.”

“Members include Intel, Sanyo, Sony, Toshiba, Broadcom, Cisco, Apple, Conexant, Lenovo, Airoha, Atheros, Azimuth, Buffalo, D-Link, Gateway, Linksys, LitePoint, Marvell, Metalink, NETGEAR, Ralink, Realtek, Symbol Technologies, USRobotics, WildPackets, Winbond and ZyDAS,” Electronic News reports. “The EWC specification comprises a number of technical elements, including mixed-mode interoperability with 802.11a/b/g networks to allow enhanced performance while maintaining communication with legacy devices. PHY transmission rates are supported up to 600Mbps for support of applications requiring high data rates, such as transmitting multiple HDTV streams, and reduction of battery drain by minimizing the time required to send and receive data streams.”

Full article here.

MacDailyNews Note: IEEE 802.11b = Airport (11Mbps), IEEE 802.11g = Airport Extreme (54Mbps)

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Comment Feed

25 Comments

1 2 Next »

SeanMon

Monday, October 10, 2005 - 6:23 pm · Reply

600 Mb/s would be teh awesome!

But really, who’s going to have any use for that much speed? Most HD’s can’t read/write that fast to transfer over the network. The biggest use for this would likely be large (>100) wireless computer networks.

Or maybe video streaming…hmm.

MW: woman
macnut222

Monday, October 10, 2005 - 6:33 pm · Reply

“…such as transmitting multiple HDTV streams…”

’nuff said

Airport AV, anyone?
peragrin

Monday, October 10, 2005 - 6:34 pm · Reply

remember 802.11g really isn’t 54mbs but some where around 25-30. And that slows done massively with the number of connections present.

Take a crowded cafe, or other wi-fi place and the overall speed drops a lot. Significant slow downs occur. Speed is usually good when data is sent but there is a lag between conenctions.

Hopefully they are working on expanding not just the useful range , but also coverage for a large number of installations.
Linus Caldwell

Monday, October 10, 2005 - 6:36 pm · Reply

maybe it will debut with intel powerbooks next year
Mike Buonarroti

Monday, October 10, 2005 - 6:45 pm · Reply

A note from http://www.apple.com/airportextreme/specs.html …

Range:
50-foot range from the base station in typical use at 54 Mbps data rate (range depends on building construction)
150-foot range from the base station in typical use at 11 Mbps data rate (range depends on building construction)

If a user of a Wi-Fi-certified 802.11b product joins the network, that user will get up to 11 Mbps and AirPort Extreme and Wi-Fi-certified 802.11g users will get less than 54 Mbps. Actual speed will vary based on range, connection rate, site conditions, size of network, and other factors.
Mike Buonarroti

Monday, October 10, 2005 - 6:48 pm · Reply

Why do I choose an Apple computer?

“It is commonly said by farmers, that a good pear or apple costs no more time or pains to rear, than a poor one; so I would have no work of art, no speech, or action, or thought, or friend, but the best.” ATTRIBUTION: Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882), U.S. essayist, poet, philosopher. “Nominalist and Realist,” Essays, Second Series (1844).
[from ]http://www.bartleby.com]
Wireless

Monday, October 10, 2005 - 7:07 pm · Reply

Of course, M$ isn’t part of the consortium. Go figure.
Guessing

Monday, October 10, 2005 - 7:18 pm · Reply

News Item:

M$, meanwhile, backs the HD-WiFi consortium which only streams DRM’d WMA files created by the “Windows Original Certified” operating system. They claimed this standard to be the result of years of “innovation” and a major component of other products in their “pipeline”.
qka

Monday, October 10, 2005 - 7:23 pm · Reply

Noticed Microsft wasn’t on the list.

Oh, that’s right! They don’t make hardware (contacted out mice & keyboards don’t count.)

I guess they’re not a real computer company. (Then why do the care about next gen DVDs?)
Hard McDrive

Monday, October 10, 2005 - 8:13 pm · Reply

My Powermac hard drive reads and writes at about 400 Mbits per sec.
SeanMon

Monday, October 10, 2005 - 8:33 pm · Reply

Hard McDrive: my HD at times reads out at about 400Mb/s, but it doesn’t do it consistently, especially when running other multiple file-driven tasks, (heavy database use, video editing, etc.).
rebooter

Monday, October 10, 2005 - 8:46 pm · Reply

Here’s a potential use:

How about an iSight plugged into a video iPod?

iChat AV in HD?

At that point, you pretty much have a portable video phone…
Scottie

Monday, October 10, 2005 - 9:25 pm · Reply

I have the Belkin Pre-N router and it’s fast and f**k. Plus it’s range is nuts.

M.
MacDoctor

Monday, October 10, 2005 - 9:55 pm · Reply

Good show!!
shadowself

Monday, October 10, 2005 - 11:32 pm · Reply

Data rate is not the same as information rate.

As said earlier here, a typical 54 Mbps max data rate channel of an 11g network will give an information rate of 25-30 Mbps. The data rate includes such things as Forward Error Correction coding and other handshaking overhead (which can be as much as 50% or more of the total data rate leaving 50% or less for real information).

The new 600 Mbps “standard” my have a state of the art FEC (such as Turbo Product Codes or Low Density Parity Check codes) and some additional overhead for hardware handshaking, etc. However, overhead will still be significant.

I would doubt that the actual information throughput is over 400 Mbps. This is still very, very fast. Especially when the typical router in homes and small businesses is currently stuck at 100 Mbps (which using TCP/IP over Ethernet typically maxes out at about 40-50 Mbps of practical information rate).

Lastly, HDTV can be done for 12 Mbps or less. (I’ve even read of tests done with 1080i at <9 Mbps with a good FEC and H.264.) Thus a full duplex HDTV iChatAV could be done within the 25+ Mbps of an 11g network if you had it all to yourself.

600 Mpbs just gives LOTS of room for growth in the future.
neomonkey

Monday, October 10, 2005 - 11:37 pm · Reply

Where did this “Wi-Fi” business come from anyway? Was the PC world so pissed off that the IEEE adopted Firewire as the official name for IEEE 1394 that they felt the need to be different from Airport over 802.11? A childish response, and a stupid meaningless name at that. Wireless Fidelity? WTF is that?

Whatever happened to 802.15? It was supposed to be fast, and have a two mile range.

MW: higher – I would be, but I ran out…
Naming

Tuesday, October 11, 2005 - 12:22 am · Reply

IEEE 802.11n = Airport HyperExtreme?
Less is More

Tuesday, October 11, 2005 - 2:23 am · Reply

Microsoft is forming its own consortium based on a different technology they are about to develop, copy or (cough) steal. Their new innovative technology will be absolutely necessary if Windows is to have a similar (if somewhat degraded in performance and less secure) functionality. Who gives a flying fcuk [one of those is the MW].
Reality Check

Tuesday, October 11, 2005 - 6:55 am · Reply

> Where did this “Wi-Fi” business come from anyway? Was the PC world so pissed off that the IEEE adopted Firewire as the official name for IEEE 1394 that they felt the need to be different from Airport over 802.11? A childish response, and a stupid meaningless name at that.

I think you’ll find that the “PC World” (whatever that is) couldn’t give a flying fcuk what Apple called IEEE802.11. In fact, I doubt they even noticed. Airport’s name is pretty stupid too – and confusing for the typical technically-challenged Mac user, who imagines that only Apple’s Airport basestations can give them wireless access, not those complicated 802.11B/G PC router things. Good marketing strategy on the part of Apple though, as usual. It makes me chuckle that you might imagine that the marketing department of a minority computer builder should drive the technical name for a major networking standard though….
Frenchie

Tuesday, October 11, 2005 - 7:04 am · Reply

First, wifi doesn’t run throught concrete! That’s why I can’t have wifi from my 1st floor to my Second floor!