Wi-Fi: Yet another MIMO for the Mix

When a news release trumpeting a new next-generation Wi-Fi standard from a group called the Enhanced Wireless Consortium landed in my inbox yesterday, my first thought was, oh great--just what we need: another pre-802.11n MIMO technology to confuse consumers.

Of course, that's not how the EWC's news release framed it. Rather, the group--formed by 27 Wi-Fi chip makers and equipment vendors--says their new standard will hopefully speed up agreement on an 802.11n standard (presumably one based on the EWC's technology). What the press release doesn't explain is why the group's members--at least some of whom had previously cautioned consumers to wait for next-generation products based on an official IEEE standard--are now promoting a proprietary standard of their own, developed outside of the IEEE.

A little background is in order. Earlier this year, when neither of the two IEEE 802.11n task force factions backing different specs was able to muster the 75 percent backing required for a draft standard, they formed a joint proposal committee to work out a compromise, as set out in the IEEE's standards process. Those who follow the industry reasonably expected that the next thing they'd hear would be the compromise spec reached by the joint proposal committee, which has met a couple of times since then.

Instead, we now have what looks a lot like an end run around the IEEE process by a group whose membership roster, including major Wi-Fi chip manufacturers Atheros, Broadcom, Intel, and Marvell, is conspicuous for the absence of Airgo Networks, the startup whose disruptive, next-generation True MIMO Wi-Fi chips (in groundbreaking products such as Belkin's Wireless Pre-N Router and Linksys' Wireless G with SRX line) have been very successful, both in PC World's tests and in the marketplace.

Since Airgo's technology was widely expected to figure in the 802.11n standard, I get the impression that the Enhanced Wireless Consortium's initiative is more about positioning other Wi-Fi chip vendors, who haven't been able to successfully compete with Airgo's technology, to shut Airgo out of the 802.11n development process, than it is about delivering true benefits to consumers. At the very least, the surprise announcement of ready-for-market technology with support from so many parties suggests that a lot of negotiating has been going on in private, outside the IEEE process, which was designed to allow input from (and a level playing field for) all interested parties.

How good is the EWC spec itself? It's too early to tell how it stacks up against the MIMO technologies (including Airgo's) that are already in the marketplace. But there's no reason to assume that companies who've developed a spec behind closed doors rather than going through the IEEE's open process have the consumer's best interest at heart.

It's also worth noting that Airgo isn't the only company involved in the 802.11n task force that hasn't signed off on the EWC's standard: Motorola and Nokia are also absent from the membership list. (Clearly the members of EWC couldn't muster sufficient support to make their technology the draft standard--if they had, why would they have bothered to form a separate group?)

Since by all accounts EWC members are planning on introducing products regardless of their success in turning their technology into the 802.11n standard, it looks like Wi-Fi shoppers are going to be seeing yet another group of proprietary MIMO products that will be incompatible with the ones already on the market (although the EWC's big selling point is that its members' products will at least be compatible with those of other members).

As for 802.11n, it's possible that the EWC's initiative, by seemingly precluding meaningful negotiation within the IEEE task force, may have the opposite effect of its stated goal: It may only further delay agreement on an 802.11n standard. The only good news for consumers is that all these products are backward-compatible with today's 802.11g products, so there's little danger that your older Wi-Fi gear won't work no matter whose proprietary pre-N technology you use. Sadly, though, you'll have to wait awhile if you want products that deliver the speed and range benefits promised by 802.11n--as well as the interoperability assurances of an IEEE standard.