designed to do. For instance, when I was a kid my mom and dad wouldn't
think of buying a lamp or toaster without the world-famous Underwriters
Laboratories seal of approval. UL developed, and still develops safety stan-
dards for a wide variety of products -- and then certifies, through extensive
product testing, that manufacturers meet those standards. By purchasing
products certified safe by Underwriters Laboratories, my folks could rest
assured that unless our Dachshund chewed through a cord, my sister and I
Part I: The Wonderful World of Wireless Fidelity
Who's in charge here?
My guess is that as soon as the second com-
puter was completed, someone started figuring
out how to get the first one to communicate
with it. It's also a pretty good bet that if any two
separate engineers developed devices to do
that job, the widgets they built would be com-
pletely different and entirely incompatible. After
all, computer engineers are resourceful and
innovative -- in every possible direction. How
else could they come up with so many different
ways to achieve a single goal? Well, a quick
spin down the byway of history can clarify how
we got to this point.
Fortunately, the engineers themselves have
long recognized the importance of achieving
not only solutions to problems, but also solu-
tions that work and play well together.
Problems of compatibility (and their solutions)
go way back. In 1963, the American Institute of
Electrical Engineers (AIEE) and the Institute of
Radio Engineers (IRE) merged to form the
Institute of Electronics and Electrical Engineers
(IEEE). It would be difficult to imagine a better-
qualified group leading the charge to set tech-
nology standards that serve as the foundation
for developing a wide variety of compatible
computer-related devices.
The task of creating the first wireless standard
was placed in the capable hands of an IEEE
working group laboring under the name (well,
okay, number) 802.11. In 1997, when the struc-
ture of the first standard was fully defined,
developed and ratified, the working group,
beaming with the pride of a proud papa, named
it after themselves.
A couple of years later, with the birth (just as
proudly announced) of the fraternal twins
802.11a and 802.11b, the alphabet soup of stan-
dards was well on its way to rivaling the confu-
sion brought about by naming all the sons in the
Foreman family George.
Actually, each letter refers to a smaller group
within the 802.11 working-group, assigned the
task of expanding and enhancing, in very spe-
cific ways, the specifications of the original
802.11 standard. To date 13 different task groups,
ranging from 802.11a to 802.11n, have been
formed.
Okay, I can see you flipping fingers up as you
go through the alphabet, and those of you with
your socks off have discovered that from
a to n
there are 14 letters. This is true. There will
never be an 802.11 l; that's to avoid the possi-
bility of confusing the letter
l with the letter i and
the number
1.
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