Greener wi-fi, coming your way
A new wireless standard is set to introduce power saving features that will “green up” wi-fi networks. That’s according to wireless expert Matthew Gast, principal engineer at Trapeze Networks and chair of the Wi-Fi Alliance wireless network management and security technical taks groups.
Known by the catchy name of 802.11v, the IEEE standard will include:
- Wireless Network Management Sleep Mode: a further extension to base 802.11 power savings that will allow for longer power-off times for 802.11 radios. It will be used in conjunction with new Traffic Filtering Service to enable access points to deliver only specified frame types.
- “Wake on WLAN” capabilities that let network managers “wake up” wireless computers and other appliances.
- Proxy ARP that will let an access point respond to ARP requests enabling stations to power down for longer periods.
- TIM Broadcast that will distribute traffic indication maps so stations do not need to receive every beacon frame.
The IEEE standards group is set to have a final version of 802.11v ready in 2010.
More in the press release here.
