SoylentNews

Arthur T Knackerbracket [soylentnews.org] writes:

Story automatically generated by StoryBot Version 0.2.2 rel Testing.
Storybot ('Arthur T Knackerbracket') has been converted to Python3

Note: This is the complete story and will need further editing. It may also be covered by Copyright and thus should be acknowledged and quoted rather than printed in its entirety.

FeedSource: [TheRegister]

Time: 2016-11-21 01:47:23 UTC

Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/11/21/dlink_joins_hands_with_microsoft_to_give_super_wifi_a_push/ [theregister.co.uk] using UTF-8 encoding.

Title: D-Link joins hands with Microsoft to give 'Super Wi-Fi' a push

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- Entire Story Below --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

D-Link joins hands with Microsoft to give 'Super Wi-Fi' a push

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story [theregister.co.uk]:

D-Link and Redmond have put the paddles on 802.11af, charged the machine, and hit the button.

The 2013 amendment [ieee.org] to Wi-Fi is an air interface for "white space" frequencies (from 54 MHz to 698 MHz in the USA; Europe and the UK use a more realistic 490 to 790 MHz), with a maximum per-channel 35.6 Mbps (16 channels can be bonded together to get nearly 600 Mbps).

It's primarily a point-to-point link service rather than a user-access technology, and so it doesn't interfere with TV transmissions, 802.11af uses a cognitive radio to sense other spectrum users, and a localisation database to keep track of broadcasters.

Data rate, however, isn't the main story: compared to 2.4 GHz, TV frequencies cover a lot of ground, and that's the angle D-Link and Microsoft are touting.

The standard is designed for links up to 1 km in range, the kind of reach that 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi can only manage with a cantenna [wikipedia.org].

The two want to use 802.11af for rural/regional services in underserved areas, with a phase-one pilot currently underway in the US.

For Microsoft, the link-up represents an endorsement of the company's affordable access initiatives, under which it's run up white space trials in Africa and Asia.

D-Link is the first "name" vendor in the network space to line up with Microsoft on the initiative.

There's still a long march in front of 802.11af. For example, while the Wi-Fi Alliance said in 2014 it was working on certification for the standard, it hasn't made any follow-up statements. ®

Original Submission