Is QoS approval holding up 802.11a phone delivery?

NETWORK WORLD NEWSLETTER: JOANIE WEXLER ON WIRELESS IN THE
ENTERPRISE
09/05/05
Today's focus: Is QoS approval holding up 802.11a phone
delivery?

Dear networking.world@gmail.com,

In this issue:

* Vendors may await 802.11e to ship 802.11a phones
* Links related to Wireless in the Enterprise
* Featured reader resource
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Today's focus: Is QoS approval holding up 802.11a phone
delivery?

By Joanie Wexler

I could'a had a V-8 recently during a conversation with a
voice-over-Wi-Fi expert. If you've read this newsletter for very
long, you've probably noticed that I frequently bemoan the
relative scarcity of 802.11a deployments in general (so many
channels, so little time!). I also kvetch about the near-absence
of commercially available 802.11a phones.

The chicken-and-egg situation hit me like a brick. The 802.11a
handsets will likely appear following the finalization of the
ever-elusive 802.11e QoS standard, now due this fall.

802.11a brings flexible configuration options for Vo-Fi
installations. Its 21 available nonoverlapping channels
(depending on geography) offer the ability to set aside some
number of those channels for voice without interference worries
(at least from each other).

Isn't it likely that the 802.11a phone makers are awaiting
ratification of the full 802.11e standard before they unleash
their 802.11a handsets? Why go back and build QoS into an
802.11b phone, which will soon be passé from a bandwidth point
of view? In fact, maybe the absence of industry-standard Wi-Fi
QoS explains why there are so few 802.11a clients deployed in
general.

The Wi-Fi Alliance has already been certifying client devices
for interoperability with what it calls the Wireless Multimedia
(WMM) portion of the 802.11e spec. WMM prioritizes packets into
four classes: voice as highest, then video, then best effort,
then background, such as print traffic and file downloads
(though you can change priorities around, if you want).

Still to get the final seal of approval is the scheduled access
(SA) component, which builds call admission control into the
Wi-Fi QoS equation. This allows the wireless access point to
become a scheduling device, determining how much time to
allocate to each associated client and whether there is capacity
for a "new" client device that wishes to associate with it.

Such deterministic behavior also offers important battery
efficiencies: if the client knows when its turn will come to
transmit and receive, it can power down at other times to
conserve power.

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5. Katrina news <http://www.networkworld.com/nlwir6339>

Today's most-forwarded story:

Cell carriers tackle Katrina damage
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_______________________________________________________________
To contact: Joanie Wexler

Joanie Wexler is an independent networking technology
writer/editor in California's Silicon Valley who has spent most
of her career analyzing trends and news in the computer
networking industry. She welcomes your comments on the articles
published in this newsletter, as well as your ideas for future
article topics. Reach her at <mailto:joanie@jwexler.com>.
_______________________________________________________________
This newsletter is sponsored by HP
Network World Executive Guide: The Evolution of Management
Technologies

With applications and infrastructures growing more sophisticated
and demanding, network and systems management technologies are
more critical than ever. Elevating their focus from bits and
bytes, these networked systems are being called on to close the
gap between IT and business services. Read about the future of
management, including BSM and emerging automation tools. Learn
about 'hot spots' and 'best products' in network management.
http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=112909
_______________________________________________________________
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VoIP networks performing at their best. Click here for more:
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