 Wireless in the EnterpriseThis newsletter is sponsored by AkamaiNetwork World's Wireless in the Enterprise Newsletter, 10/10/07Too early to worry about legal 802.11n holdupBy Joanie WexlerArrayComm vs. Atheros. Motorola vs. Aruba Networks. Broadcom vs. Qualcomm. There has been quite a bit of recent litigation over intellectual property in the wireless industry. The latest is an injunction win by Australia’s government research organization, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Organization (CSIRO), over Buffalo Technology. CSIRO’s victory was awarded for infringement of patents CSIRO said are part of the 802.11a and 802.11g standards. CSIRO also has similar suits against several other vendors.
The CSIRO-Buffalo case has fueled reports that the progress of 802.11n standards ratification might be in jeopardy, for example. Some in the industry have inferred that if CSIRO has essential patent technology for 802.11a/g, it must have it for 802.11n, too. But that has not yet officially been determined, according to sources. The IEEE invites participants to come to the table with their ideas and technology, throw them all into a pot, and collectively turn them into a set of standards using the technology pieces that the group deems superior. The IEEE asks everyone involved throughout the process whether they hold patents that might apply to the standard, requesting Letters of Assurance (LOA) in which patent holders describe how they will treat intellectual property that ends up in a standard. The IEEE encourages the treatment of such intellectual property to be on a “reasonable and nondiscriminatory” basis. There have been cases in the past, however, when an IEEE vendor participant has gone through the whole standards process and remained mum, letting numerous vendors go on to build products, and then going after the companies for patent infringement after the fact. Obviously, this kind of tactic is not in the best interest of industry progress or end users. So far, CSIRO has not filed an LOA with regard to 802.11n, but it has until the date the board votes to ratify the standard to file, and that date is about a year away. And it has filed LOAs for 802.11a, which might by itself suffice. So for now, this could be much ado about nothing. Says 802 chair Paul Nikolich: “I’m optimistic that this will not delay 802.11n.”
|
| Contact the author: 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 joanie@jwexler.com. This newsletter is sponsored by AkamaiARCHIVEArchive of the Wireless in the Enterprise Newsletter. BONUS FEATUREIT PRODUCT RESEARCH AT YOUR FINGERTIPS Get detailed information on thousands of products, conduct side-by-side comparisons and read product test and review results with Network World’s IT Buyer’s Guides. Find the best solution faster than ever with over 100 distinct categories across the security, storage, management, wireless, infrastructure and convergence markets. Click here for details. PRINT SUBSCRIPTIONS AVAILABLE International subscribers, click here. SUBSCRIPTION SERVICESTo subscribe or unsubscribe to any Network World newsletter, change your e-mail address or contact us, click here. This message was sent to: networking.world@gmail.com. Please use this address when modifying your subscription. Advertising information: Write to Associate Publisher Online Susan Cardoza Network World, Inc., 118 Turnpike Road, Southborough, MA 01772 Copyright Network World, Inc., 2007 |
No comments:
Post a Comment