Testimonials
Fanny has delivered a detailed, insightful and well-written white paper on 802.11n technology. She has worked well with the Wi-Fi Alliance team, exhibiting impressive depth of knowledge and professionalism. — Kelly Davis-Felner
Marketing Director
The Wi-Fi Alliance
Whitepapers
Open Spectrum: New Standards Big Prospects
At the turn of the 20th century spectrum was, much like the Wild West, unregulated and free, but things have changed. Dramatic advances in wireless technology have spurned elaborate regulations from the FCC and its international counterparts. But spectrum regulations have traditionally lagged the evolving needs of the wireless world. TV broadcasting, the dominant wireless technology of its time, gave way to cellular and wireless broadband communications. And now the FCC regulations designed for the broadcasting age must evolve to meet the needs of mobile users. get this whitepaper
At the turn of the 20th century spectrum was, much like the Wild West, unregulated and free, but things have changed. Dramatic advances in wireless technology have spurned elaborate regulations from the FCC and its international counterparts. But spectrum regulations have traditionally lagged the evolving needs of the wireless world. TV broadcasting, the dominant wireless technology of its time, gave way to cellular and wireless broadband communications. And now the FCC regulations designed for the broadcasting age must evolve to meet the needs of mobile users. get this whitepaper
March 2010Comprehensive UWB tests give video a green light but caution on wireless USB
With 22 UWB based Wireless-USB products being certified, it’s time to evaluate UWB technology. While most WiMedia Alliance entries ran at less than 10% of the 480 Mbits/s PHY rate over short distances, Pulse-LINK’s CWave technology was fast enough for multiple HD video streams over good distances. view whitepaper .pdf or view article URL
With 22 UWB based Wireless-USB products being certified, it’s time to evaluate UWB technology. While most WiMedia Alliance entries ran at less than 10% of the 480 Mbits/s PHY rate over short distances, Pulse-LINK’s CWave technology was fast enough for multiple HD video streams over good distances. view whitepaper .pdf or view article URL
December 2007Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ 802.11n draft 2.0: Longer-Range, Faster-Throughput, Multimedia-Grade Wi-Fi® Networks
Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 802.11n draft 2.0 is a certification program for products based upon the IEEE draft 2.0 802.11n specification. At this writing, the final 802.11n amendment to the IEEE 802.11 standard is expected to be released in the second half of 2008. 802.11n is a major next step in the evolution of WLAN technology and represents more than just a new physical layer. view article .pdf
Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 802.11n draft 2.0 is a certification program for products based upon the IEEE draft 2.0 802.11n specification. At this writing, the final 802.11n amendment to the IEEE 802.11 standard is expected to be released in the second half of 2008. 802.11n is a major next step in the evolution of WLAN technology and represents more than just a new physical layer. view article .pdf
June 2007Test Strategies for 802.11n MIMO Devices
True to the trend of ever-increasing data rates, the new IEEE 802.11n WLAN (Wireless LAN) transmission technology based on MIMO (Multiple Inputs/Multiple Outputs) guarantees throughput of at least 100 Mbps but can deliver up to 600 Mbps depending on the complexity of the 802.11n radio and on the environment. MIMO is a highly innovative advancement in wireless data transmission. It turns the long-time nemesis of wireless – multipath – into a friend. Multipath is a common occurrence indoors where the wireless signal reflects from surfaces thus creating multiple signals that add together in the air. While today’s 802.11 a/b/g radios struggle to separate the original signal from this muddle, the MIMO radio actually takes advantage of multipath to send multiple data streams via the available paths. get this whitepaper
True to the trend of ever-increasing data rates, the new IEEE 802.11n WLAN (Wireless LAN) transmission technology based on MIMO (Multiple Inputs/Multiple Outputs) guarantees throughput of at least 100 Mbps but can deliver up to 600 Mbps depending on the complexity of the 802.11n radio and on the environment. MIMO is a highly innovative advancement in wireless data transmission. It turns the long-time nemesis of wireless – multipath – into a friend. Multipath is a common occurrence indoors where the wireless signal reflects from surfaces thus creating multiple signals that add together in the air. While today’s 802.11 a/b/g radios struggle to separate the original signal from this muddle, the MIMO radio actually takes advantage of multipath to send multiple data streams via the available paths. get this whitepaper
October 2006
IEEE802.11T – WLAN Test Methods and Metrics
Until now the surge of wireless networking has been largely confined to the SOHO market, where performance has taken a second place to cost. The new applications for the WLAN industry are voice and video services that depend on performance. Formally defining performance test methods and metrics is a timely and important undertaking. Proper testing will shine the light on performance issues and will help the WLAN industry to expand into the emerging cellular and streaming video markets. download this whitepaper
Until now the surge of wireless networking has been largely confined to the SOHO market, where performance has taken a second place to cost. The new applications for the WLAN industry are voice and video services that depend on performance. Formally defining performance test methods and metrics is a timely and important undertaking. Proper testing will shine the light on performance issues and will help the WLAN industry to expand into the emerging cellular and streaming video markets. download this whitepaper
December 2005
Colliding Views on Call Capacity Measurement
With the emergence of voice over WiFi and WiFi-enabled cell phones, call capacity of the WiFi infrastructure has come under scrutiny. What is the call capacity of WiFi? Can the WiFi infrastructure handle this capacity? How do we test it? In pondering these questions some industry experts instinctively focus on WiFi channel capacity. The trouble is – channel capacity and infrastructure capacity are two different things. So the first question is… download this whitepaper
With the emergence of voice over WiFi and WiFi-enabled cell phones, call capacity of the WiFi infrastructure has come under scrutiny. What is the call capacity of WiFi? Can the WiFi infrastructure handle this capacity? How do we test it? In pondering these questions some industry experts instinctively focus on WiFi channel capacity. The trouble is – channel capacity and infrastructure capacity are two different things. So the first question is… download this whitepaper
September 2005
Liftoff! Launching Wireless Metrics
Can wireless networks deliver predictable performance to the enterprise? As IT managers scrutinize the wireless solutions offered by a rapidly developing industry, performance benchmarking will supply the answer. But before it can do so, vendors, IT managers, users and test labs will need a well-defined and comprehensive set of metrics and methods ready to deliver repeatable results gathered over an inherently unpredictable underlying physical layer, air. Such is the new data benchmarking challenge. When it is met wireless performance testing will fulfill its role and accelerate the adoption of wireless networking in the enterprise. download this whitepaper
Can wireless networks deliver predictable performance to the enterprise? As IT managers scrutinize the wireless solutions offered by a rapidly developing industry, performance benchmarking will supply the answer. But before it can do so, vendors, IT managers, users and test labs will need a well-defined and comprehensive set of metrics and methods ready to deliver repeatable results gathered over an inherently unpredictable underlying physical layer, air. Such is the new data benchmarking challenge. When it is met wireless performance testing will fulfill its role and accelerate the adoption of wireless networking in the enterprise. download this whitepaper
August 2003
Quality Metrics for Network Services
Year after year enterprises make significant investments to improve the quality of network services either through faster equipment or through more efficient protocols. Yet, the networking industry still does not have any objective metrics for Quality of Service (QoS). Different industry sectors have their own definitions of quality. QoS is defined in three different unrelated ways at the Ethernet layer, at the IP layer and for the ATM networks. These disparate definitions of quality confuse the market and offer no objective metrics of acceptable quality. download this whitepaper
Year after year enterprises make significant investments to improve the quality of network services either through faster equipment or through more efficient protocols. Yet, the networking industry still does not have any objective metrics for Quality of Service (QoS). Different industry sectors have their own definitions of quality. QoS is defined in three different unrelated ways at the Ethernet layer, at the IP layer and for the ATM networks. These disparate definitions of quality confuse the market and offer no objective metrics of acceptable quality. download this whitepaper
April 2001
Level III Tester Accuracy
Field testers certifying category 6 installations must conform to the Level III accuracy specifications defined by TIA and ISO. When you invest time and money into the certification job you want to be sure that the certification work is valid. The best way to ensure certification validity is to use a tester that is independently verified to meet Level III. The Agilent WireScope 350 has been independently verified by ETL to meet all Level III requirements in both the Permanent Link and Channel configurations. This white paper explains what Level III accuracy is and shows the independent verification test results for the WireScope 350. download this whitepaper
Field testers certifying category 6 installations must conform to the Level III accuracy specifications defined by TIA and ISO. When you invest time and money into the certification job you want to be sure that the certification work is valid. The best way to ensure certification validity is to use a tester that is independently verified to meet Level III. The Agilent WireScope 350 has been independently verified by ETL to meet all Level III requirements in both the Permanent Link and Channel configurations. This white paper explains what Level III accuracy is and shows the independent verification test results for the WireScope 350. download this whitepaper
March 2001
The Monster Cords
Does our industry need bulky and expensive Permanent Link test cords and complex field calibration procedures to support Category 6 testing? Does a monster cord provide better measurement repeatability or longer life? This paper demonstrates that the answer to both questions is no. download this whitepaper
Does our industry need bulky and expensive Permanent Link test cords and complex field calibration procedures to support Category 6 testing? Does a monster cord provide better measurement repeatability or longer life? This paper demonstrates that the answer to both questions is no. download this whitepaper
March 2001
Fiber Optic Test Issues – What to Measure and Why?
Fiber optic networking applications, such as Gigabit Ethernet, the emerging 10 Gigabit Ethernet and Storage Area Networks (SANs) are focusing much of the industry’s attention on the need to properly evaluate fiber optic installations. Today there is no simple standards-based test method to assure that the installed cabling can support new fiber optic applications. download this whitepaper
Fiber optic networking applications, such as Gigabit Ethernet, the emerging 10 Gigabit Ethernet and Storage Area Networks (SANs) are focusing much of the industry’s attention on the need to properly evaluate fiber optic installations. Today there is no simple standards-based test method to assure that the installed cabling can support new fiber optic applications. download this whitepaper
January 2001
Understanding FEXT and ELFEXT
Far end crosstalk is a source of noise for twisted pair networks that use more than one pair for transmission. It is important to qualify far end crosstalk on the cabling used for running gigabit Ethernet. download this whitepaper
Far end crosstalk is a source of noise for twisted pair networks that use more than one pair for transmission. It is important to qualify far end crosstalk on the cabling used for running gigabit Ethernet. download this whitepaper
September 2000
Category 6 – The Ultimate Challenge
Life was easy back in the category 5 days, although many of us did not think so back then. Today, faced with the challenges of category 6, all of us can appreciate the good old days. Why is certifying category 6 so much harder than certifying category 5? The simple answer is – the test limits got significantly stricter but the cabling technology is still catching up to these limits. The result? High failure rate on category 6 installations. download this whitepaper
Life was easy back in the category 5 days, although many of us did not think so back then. Today, faced with the challenges of category 6, all of us can appreciate the good old days. Why is certifying category 6 so much harder than certifying category 5? The simple answer is – the test limits got significantly stricter but the cabling technology is still catching up to these limits. The result? High failure rate on category 6 installations. download this whitepaper
October 2000
10 Gigabit Ethernet Field Testing Issues
Today’s fiber optic installations are fast increasing in number and in bandwidth to alleviate the throughput bottlenecks on the backbone networks where traffic from multiple workstations aggregates. This article examines the latest developments in high speed Ethernet transmission over fiber optic media and discusses the new field testing issues associated with these emerging standards. download this whitepaper
Today’s fiber optic installations are fast increasing in number and in bandwidth to alleviate the throughput bottlenecks on the backbone networks where traffic from multiple workstations aggregates. This article examines the latest developments in high speed Ethernet transmission over fiber optic media and discusses the new field testing issues associated with these emerging standards. download this whitepaper
March 2000
Gigabit Transmission − What’s the Limit?
As Local Area Networking (LAN) technology advances into the realm of gigabit transmission, cabling infrastructure is evolving to address the new physical layer requirements of the new networks. This paper examines the signaling environment pertaining to the new generation gigabit transmission over twisted pair and fiber optic cabling and discusses methods of measuring the headroom of network applications in the field. download this whitepaper
As Local Area Networking (LAN) technology advances into the realm of gigabit transmission, cabling infrastructure is evolving to address the new physical layer requirements of the new networks. This paper examines the signaling environment pertaining to the new generation gigabit transmission over twisted pair and fiber optic cabling and discusses methods of measuring the headroom of network applications in the field. download this whitepaper
December 1998
Cable Analysis-Extracting Information from Measured Data
Every cable tells a story. Cable certification measurements can be presented as a string of numbers or as a series of plots. Most of us are not good at reading numbers. It is much easier to interpret graphical information. This paper explains how to extract information from certification plots and talks about the importance of preserving plot data for future analysis. download this whitepaper
Every cable tells a story. Cable certification measurements can be presented as a string of numbers or as a series of plots. Most of us are not good at reading numbers. It is much easier to interpret graphical information. This paper explains how to extract information from certification plots and talks about the importance of preserving plot data for future analysis. download this whitepaper
November 1998
Understanding the Dynamic Range Requirements for Far End Crosstalk Measurements
This paper examines the requirements for instrument dynamic range when performing field certification of ELFEXT per TSB95, "Additional Transmission Performance Guidelines for 100 Ω 4-Pair Category 5 Cabling " and TIA-568-A-A5, "Additional Transmission Performance Specifications for 4-Pair 100 Ω Enhanced Category 5 Cabling". download this whitepaper
This paper examines the requirements for instrument dynamic range when performing field certification of ELFEXT per TSB95, "Additional Transmission Performance Guidelines for 100 Ω 4-Pair Category 5 Cabling " and TIA-568-A-A5, "Additional Transmission Performance Specifications for 4-Pair 100 Ω Enhanced Category 5 Cabling". download this whitepaper
October 1998
The ATM Controversy
The question of whether the 155 Mb/s ATM interface is properly supported by category 5 cabling has been a topic of some disagreement. Unfortunately for the end user of ATM, the importance of the channel bandwidth above 100 MHz has, on occasion, been misrepresented so as to promote systems and test equipment unspecified above 100 MHz. Category 5, as specified, does not satisfy the requirements of the 155 Mb/s ATM network This fact is supported by theoretical analysis and by experiment1. However, in the interest of allowing the existing standards to become established, the physical layer requirements of this network have sometimes been presented from the “best case” perspective. This paper analyzes the channel bandwidth requirements of a few widely used 155 Mb/s ATM products in the context of the best and worst case conditions defined by the ATM Forum AF-PHY-0015.000 and TIA- 568 standards and demonstrates that typical ATM products rely on the channel bandwidth beyond 100 MHz for proper operation. download this whitepaper
The question of whether the 155 Mb/s ATM interface is properly supported by category 5 cabling has been a topic of some disagreement. Unfortunately for the end user of ATM, the importance of the channel bandwidth above 100 MHz has, on occasion, been misrepresented so as to promote systems and test equipment unspecified above 100 MHz. Category 5, as specified, does not satisfy the requirements of the 155 Mb/s ATM network This fact is supported by theoretical analysis and by experiment1. However, in the interest of allowing the existing standards to become established, the physical layer requirements of this network have sometimes been presented from the “best case” perspective. This paper analyzes the channel bandwidth requirements of a few widely used 155 Mb/s ATM products in the context of the best and worst case conditions defined by the ATM Forum AF-PHY-0015.000 and TIA- 568 standards and demonstrates that typical ATM products rely on the channel bandwidth beyond 100 MHz for proper operation. download this whitepaper
August 1996
Analysis of Physical Layer Requirements for 155 Mb/s Twisted Pair ATM
This paper analyzes the physical layer operation of 155 Mb/s twisted pair ATM equipment, presenting a detailed examination of channel bandwidth utilization and the performance trade-offs inherent in various bandwidth limiting techniques. The data and analysis developed here support the conclusion that in order to meet the required Bit Error Rate of 10-10, the 155 Mb/s ATM application relies on the channel frequency response beyond the 100 MHz band specified by category 5. download this whitepaper
This paper analyzes the physical layer operation of 155 Mb/s twisted pair ATM equipment, presenting a detailed examination of channel bandwidth utilization and the performance trade-offs inherent in various bandwidth limiting techniques. The data and analysis developed here support the conclusion that in order to meet the required Bit Error Rate of 10-10, the 155 Mb/s ATM application relies on the channel frequency response beyond the 100 MHz band specified by category 5. download this whitepaper
August 1996