Emerging Wireless Standards - WiFi, ZigBee and WiMAX

The world of wireless telecommunications is rapidly evolving. Technologies under research and development promise to deliver more services to more users in less time. This paper presents the emerging technologies helping wireless systems grow from where we are today into our visions of the future. This paper will cover the applications and characteristics of emerging wireless technologies: Wireless Local Area Networks (WiFi-802.11n), Wireless Personal Area Networks (ZigBee) and Wireless Metropolitan Area Networks (WiMAX). The purpose of this paper is to explain the impending 802.11n standard and how it will enable WLANs to support emerging media-rich applications. The paper will also detail how 802.11n compares with existing WLAN standards and offer strategies for users considering higher-bandwidth alternatives. The emerging IEEE 802.15.4 (ZigBee) standard aims to provide low data rate wireless communications with high-precision ranging and localization, by employing UWB technologies for a low-power and low cost solution. WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) is a standard for wireless data transmission covering a range similar to cellular phone towers. With high performance in both distance and throughput, WiMAX technology could be a boon to current Internet providers seeking to become the leader of next generation wireless Internet access. This paper also explores how these emerging technologies differ from one another.

Authors:

• Bhavneet Sidhu
• Hardeep Singh
• Amit Chhabra

Keywords:

• MIMO technology
• WiFi
• WiMAX
• ZigBee.

References:

[1] Introduction to Wi-Fi technology, Retrieved on September 24, 2006 from www.wi-fitechnology.com [2] Broadcom, 802.11n: Next-Generation Wireless LAN Technology, White Paper dated April 2006 [3] Homepage of 802.15 WPAN Task Group 4 (TG4), http://grouper.ieee.org/groups/802/15/pub/TG4.html [4] P. Kinney, ZigBee Technology: Wireless Control that Simply Works, White Paper dated 2 October 2003. [5] IEEE 802.16 and WiMAX: Broadband Wireless Access for Everyone, Intel Corporation, 2003. http://www.intel.com/ebusiness/pdf/wireless/intel/80216_wimax.pdf [6] Specifications of WiMAX. Retrieved on October 10, 2006 from http://wimax.com [7] Westech Communications Inc. on behalf of the WiMAX Forum, Can WiMAX Address Your Applications? White paper dated October 24, 2005.