The Quiet Before the (802.11n) Storm

Author: Philip Solis, Principal Analyst, Mobile Broadband

Tue, 31 Oct 2006 17:33:20 EST

I follow the Wi-Fi semiconductor market very closely, especially 802.11n and embedded Wi-Fi in cellular handsets, consumer electronics, computer peripherals, etc.  There was a lot of activity with Airgo's chipsets about a year ago, and when 802.11n Draft 1.0 products hit the market, a damper was put on Airgo's MIMO-enabled Wi-Fi chipset sales.  Interestingly enough, Draft 1.0 products also put a damper on Draft 1.0 chipset vendors' own sales as well.  Despite what others might say, I view Draft 1.0 chipsets as being not related to 802.11n all that much, simply because they are not similar enough to what the final 802.11n standard will be.

IEEE 802.11n Draft 2.0 chipsets, on the other hand, will be extremely similar to the final version of 802.11n.  In addition, there will be conformance and interoperability testing from the Wi-Fi Alliance.  The name and logo for this approval is still not decided yet, as the Wi-Fi Alliance figures out a way to make the logo show that these products are related to final 802.11n products but are not 100% there yet.

So lately there has been a quiet before the storm.  Expect the December to January timeframe to heat up with announcements.

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