The Wi-Fi Alliance has
recently
announced a new peer-to-peer wireless network specification which allows
connections between two devices without the need of an access point or wireless
router. The first concept that came to our minds was “Ad-Hoc” Wi-Fi and its
current broad availability in the market. Then we realized that Ad-Hoc is
unfortunately limited to only 11Mbps and has always been more complex and
cumbersome than its worth.
To mend and improve upon this substandard networking
technology, the alliance has announced its near completion of Wi-Fi Direct,
which will connect at existing Wi-Fi standard speeds of up to 250Mbps. In
addition, the new specification will maintain backwards compatibility with much
older Wi-Fi networking controller hardware, including antique 802.11b hardware.
For instance, a Wi-Fi Direct-enabled mobile phone can pair up with a non-Wi-Fi
direct notebook to transfer files and stream audio. Wi-Fi Direct host devices
will also be able to publicly broadcast their SSIDs to allow other devices to
quickly pair up.
In perspective, the technology works almost identically to
Bluetooth in that devices can connect or pair in groups. It essentially takes
personal area networks (PANs) from short distance Bluetooth-like range and
gives them full Wi-Fi range and speed. One device will serve as a “client” and
utilize a software-based “access point” (AP) so it can act as a group owner for
other connected devices.
"Wi-Fi Direct
represents a leap forward for our industry. Wi-Fi users worldwide will benefit
from a single-technology solution to transfer content and share applications
quickly and easily among devices, even when a Wi-Fi access point isn't
available," said Wi-Fi Alliance executive director Edgar Figueroa.
"The impact is that Wi-Fi will become even more pervasive and useful for
consumers and across the enterprise."
On the short side, there are concerns among analysts
regarding security vulnerabilities that Wi-Fi Direct imposes on consumer data
reliability. Bluetooth has long been the subject of Personal Area Network
security matters because of consistent reports of
Bluejacking in large
metropolitan areas and even in small-scale business rooms. While Bluejacking is
only a threat within a radius of 20 or 30 feet due to wireless range
limitations, Wi-Fi allows for the possibility of more frequent attacks with
radiuses of several hundred feet. Intel and Cisco are aware of the security
limitations that Wi-Fi direct imposes on the enterprise market and have
influenced the Wi-Fi Alliance to enable WPA2 and AES encryption on the upcoming
standard.
In terms of availability, many partner companies are
currently beta testing the standard to ensure optimum reliability. Intel and
Atheros have both gone on record to proclaim that they strongly support the
Wi-Fi Direct standard. In the long run, it will be up to the majority of
consumers and enterprise markets to adopt or deny replacement of a ubiquitous
Bluetooth standard. Several reports have already claimed that popular mobile
devices such as the
iPhone
may be implementing Wi-Fi Direct as early as summer 2010 with Apple’s next
hardware refresh. The wireless networking industry will definitely entail some
interesting reports to stay informed with in the coming months.