Future of Wi-Fi: Impact of 802.11n and Emerging Standards

Archit Subramanian

Achyuthanandan SampathResearch Analysts

Technical InsightsInformation & Communication Technologies

September 16, 2009

2

Agenda

Overview of Wi-Fi and the 802.11n standardOverview of Wi-Fi and the 802.11n standard11

Business Prospects and Application RoadmapsBusiness Prospects and Application Roadmaps22

Emerging Wi-Fi Standards- Impact AnalysisEmerging Wi-Fi Standards- Impact Analysis33

Future TrendsFuture Trends44

3

802.11n – Snapshot

Backward Compatibility

Enhanced data rate

Dual-band Operation

Friendly-neighbor policy

Channel Bonding

Multiple-input-Multiple-Output (MIMO) Antenna Technology

� Certification of products based on 802.11n Draft 2.0 was started in 2007

� 802.11n standard was finally ratified on September 11, 2009

� 11n promises data rates of up to 600 Mbps

4

Time (years)

Perf

orm

an

ce

Market demand

Disruption PointD

isru

ptiv

e te

chno

logy

Curr

ent te

chnolo

gy

Impact of Economic Downturn on Wi-Fi Adoption

� Increase in Mobile Broadband usage

� Plummet in Enterprise demand for WLAN due to global recession

� Large-scale adoption of laptops, notebooks and personal computers (PCs)

802.11 a, b, g standards

802.11 n standard

2008-2009< 2008 > 2009

5

802.11n – Key Challenges

Power Consumption

Compatibility

Certification Issues

Upgradation Costs

Security

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802.11n Adoption Trends- Verticals

Retail

Enterprise IT

Healthcare

Education

Office WLAN

Business Continuity

Patient monitoring

Campus wide WLAN

Telemedicine

Interactive Apps

Asset tracking

Wireless POS

7

Agenda

Overview of Wi-Fi and the 802.11n standardOverview of Wi-Fi and the 802.11n standard11

Business Prospects and Application RoadmapsBusiness Prospects and Application Roadmaps22

Emerging Wi-Fi Standards- Impact AnalysisEmerging Wi-Fi Standards- Impact Analysis33

Future TrendsFuture Trends44

8

Applications of Wi-Fi

VoIP Over Wi-Fi

Location Tracking

Embedded Systems

Mobility

.....Multimedia Networking

Applications of Wi-FiApplications of Wi-Fi

9

AHP- Prioritization of Hot Wi-Fi Application Sectors

Prioritization of Hot Wi-Fi Application Sectors (3-5 years)

Market Growth Potential

Estimated Future

Demand

MobilityEmbedded

Systems

Stakeholder Contention

Number of

Stakeholders

Stakeholder

Initiatives

Wireless VideoDelivery

Market

Investments

TechnologicalAspects

Criticality of

Challenges

Competing

Technologies

10

Market Growth Potential

Stakeholder Contention

Technology Aspects

Level 0

Estimated Future

Demand

Market Investments

No of Stakeholders

Stakeholder Initiatives

Criticality of Challenges

Competing Technologies

Level 1

Mobility

Video Delivery

Embedded Networking

Alternatives

54%

16%

30% 43%

11%4%

12%

10%

20%

55%

23%

22%

Le

ve

l o

Le

ve

l 1

Alt

ern

ati

ve

s

Insights- Prioritization of Hot Wi-Fi Application Sectors

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Wi-Fi- Deployment Roadmap

Consumer Electronics

2010 2011

Mobile Devices

2012 2013

Embedded Systems

Access Points and Laptops

2009

12

Agenda

Overview of Wi-Fi and the 802.11n standardOverview of Wi-Fi and the 802.11n standard11

Emerging Wi-Fi Standards- Impact AnalysisEmerging Wi-Fi Standards- Impact Analysis33

Future TrendsFuture Trends44

Business Prospects and Application RoadmapsBusiness Prospects and Application Roadmaps22

13

Impact of Standards on Applications

Applications of 802.11

2012 and

beyond

2011

2011

2010

2009

2009

Year

Very High Throughput

Audio/Video Delivery

Mesh Networking

Power Efficiency

Security

Throughput-Efficiency

Objective

802.11n

Multimedia Networking

802.11ac

802.11ad

802.11aa

802.11s

802.11v

802.11w

Location Tracking

Embedded Systems

Mobile Connectivity

802.11 Standard

Strong WeakModerately

StrongModerate

Moderately

Weak

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Agenda

Overview of Wi-Fi and the 802.11n standardOverview of Wi-Fi and the 802.11n standard11

Business Prospects and Application RoadmapsBusiness Prospects and Application Roadmaps22

Emerging Wi-Fi Standards- Impact AnalysisEmerging Wi-Fi Standards- Impact Analysis33

Future TrendsFuture Trends44

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Future Trends

� Wi-Fi is anticipated to become one of the foundations of the connected home.

� The multimedia home networking scene expected to be dominated by 11n in the near-term, before being taken over by 60 GHz technologies

� The upsurge in use of smartphones is expected to revive the buzz around Municipal Wi-Fi.

� Wi-Fi has the potential to replace competing RFID technologies for RTLS

� In-flight Wi-Fi is expected to be a key-value add in the airline industry.

� Bluetooth 3.0 – Integration of Bluetooth and 802.11 technologies.

� Mobile devices with Wi-Fi peering capability are expected to hit the market in 2010.

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