Proxim Announces Support for Emerging IEEE 802.11 Media Access Control (MAC) Layer Standard
LAS VEGAS — November 22, 1993 — Proxim Inc., the leader in wireless local area networking, Monday announced its support for the IEEE 802.11 MAC layer "foundation" protocol, approved on Nov. 11 in West Palm Beach, Fla.
This foundation protocol represents a basic framework upon which enhancements and refinements will be added in future 802.11 meetings.
As a pioneer in wireless local area networking, Proxim several years ago anticipated much of what has emerged as the 802.11 foundation protocol in its wireless protocol development efforts. Proxim's original RangeLAN wireless LAN adapter family, based on direct sequence spread spectrum technology, was implemented using a distributed MAC layer protocol similar in many respects to the proposal ratified by the IEEE committee at its recent meeting.
Furthermore, Proxim's RangeLAN2 family, based on frequency hopping spread spectrum technology, incorporates many additional elements such as protocol independent roaming, advanced synchronization, power management and other key features now embedded in the newly adopted 802.11 foundation protocol.
This new IEEE MAC layer foundation combines elements of a wide range of proposals and is not the selection of a single company's submission. To accommodate this new protocol, all current vendors, including Proxim, will be required to modify their existing products to ensure compliance.
Because Proxim's network architecture is fundamentally similar to this new 802.11 foundation protocol, the changes required in Proxim's MAC layer design will be minimal. This means that Proxim will be able to conform very quickly to the final standard once it is fully specified and approved by the IEEE committee.
"Proxim is in a unique position to contribute to the IEEE 802.11 standards development effort given our extensive, market-driven experience in wireless local area networking," commented David King, Proxim's president and chief executive officer.
Proxim is currently the only manufacturer shipping a PCMCIA spread spectrum LAN adapter and seamless roaming for mobile computer users and has shipped a total of over 50,000 spread spectrum products to date. "We look forward to helping the committee further specify a detailed standard based on our empirical understanding of real world user environments and our wireless networking technology expertise," said King.
Proxim demonstrated its commitment to industry standards earlier this year by becoming one of the first vendors to ship a fully compliant PCMCIA product, including support of Card and Socket services. As part of its initiative to assist the 802.11 in forging a final industry standard specification, Proxim will focus its efforts in the following three areas.
Proxim plans to urge tighter integration of several critical central management elements required to support time bounded services for client/server environments. These elements will be critical in achieving superior synchronization, enhanced power management, higher performance in centrally managed environments, and easier facilitation of isochronous traffic for multimedia services (i.e. voice and compressed video) in the future.
Proxim is committed to ensuring interoperability with other vendors at the recently approved 802.11 standard data rate of 1.0 Mbps, while striving to achieve higher speed wireless communications for users of its products. Proxim has submitted a proposal to the IEEE 802.11 to establish an enhanced, higher speed physical layer standard based on its RangeLAN2 product line which operates at 1.6 Mbps.
To achieve full interoperability among all vendors, the IEEE 802.11 must define its MAC layer protocol in much greater detail. In addition to helping 802.11 further specify its protocol, Proxim is committed to working with other major vendors in the industry to ensure system and network level interoperability.
A number of leading wireless companies have voiced support for Proxim's efforts in the development of wireless LAN standards. Jim Slane, group business manager for Digital Equipment Corp.'s mobile wireless products, said: "As with Digital's efforts in other networking areas, we are committed to achieving the goal of multivendor interoperability in wireless networking. As such, Proxim's effort to ensure the inclusion of the best elements of both client/server and peer-to-peer wireless LAN architectures represents the best approach to achieve a unified industry-wide standard."
Ann Marie McGee, director of strategic marketing for Fujitsu Personal Systems Inc. (FPSI) added: "Fujitsu is a long time strategic partner of Proxim's, having incorporated Proxim's spread spectrum technology into several of our wireless products, including our recently announced Fujitsu Pad Plus RF handheld computer. FPSI is pleased to have an emerging standard which closely matches Proxim's wireless networking protocols. This should ensure a smooth migration path for our customers as the industry moves toward an open standard."
Proxim is the leading supplier of wireless local area networking products for mobile computer users. In June, Proxim introduced RangeLAN2, a family of high performance wireless systems designed for the corporate LAN market. Based on frequency hopping spread spectrum technology in the 2.4 – 2.4835 GHz band, RangeLAN2 offers the longest range and power consumption of any wireless LAN product in its class. RangeLAN2 delivers an uncompressed data rate of 1.6 Mbps per channel across 10 independent channels, creating an aggregate network bandwidth of 16 Mbps.
Proxim's original award-winning RangeLAN family of products, which began shipping early 1992, is designed for less data-intensive LAN applications such as E-mail, printer-sharing and file transfer, as well as many industry-specific mobile computing applications. Operating at a data rate of 242 Kbps per channel across three independent channels, the original RangeLAN family has a range of 300-500 feet in normal office environments and 800-1,000 feet in outdoor or open space environments. Proxim Inc., headquartered in Mountain View, was founded in 1984 to develop and market wireless networking solutions. Product and company names used are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.
CONTACT:
Proxim Inc.
Mack Sullivan, 415/960-1630 Walt and Sommerhauser Communications
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