WiFi Alliance Hardens Interoperability Stance

The policy is effective immediately and threatens denial or loss of WiFi certification for products that disrupt or don't work with other WiFi-certified products. It comes on the heels of a complaint from Broadcom (Nasdaq: BRCM) over rival Atheros' specification, which supposedly caused disruption to Broadcom and other products.

WiFi Alliance Chairman Bill Carney said he could not comment on specific companies or complaints, but he told TechNewsWorld there have been complaints from time to time, such as problem reports regarding features that are not part of the WiFi standard or general interoperability problems, "which the WiFi Alliance always follows up on."

Products Evolve, Impact

Yankee Group research fellow Roberta Wiggins said the policy comes in response to a more crowded wireless market that is only going to get increasingly crowded going forward.

"There's a multitude of vendors developing products for an increasing array of devices," Wiggins told TechNewsWorld. "It's also getting into the consumer arena, and that creates a greater need for controlled certification and interoperability," he said.

The WiFi Alliance said that as wireless technology has evolved, the product "extensions" that companies add on can go beyond the IEEE 802.11 standard and WiFi certification requirements.

The Alliance said that typically the extensions are aimed at boosting speed or security, but since they can also adversely impact other products that are WiFi-certified, the new policy was necessary.

"There are a lot of vendors that are trying to differentiate their products beyond the standard," Carney said. "We've put these [requirements] in place to guide them through the process should there be complaints."

Testing for Interoperability

The WiFi Alliance said the new policy and regulations are designed to address situations where product extensions adversely affect the performance of other certified products.

"Products are eligible to become WiFi-certified provided they can pass the standard test suite and any extensions do not impair the ability of other certified products to operate as intended," WiFi Alliance Managing Director Frank Hanzlik said in a statement.

"If a product extension significantly impacts the ability of other WiFi-certified equipment to operate as intended, the Alliance may withhold or revoke certification," Hanzlik said. "We have taken this important step due to the WiFi Alliance's continued commitment to a positive consumer experience," he said.

Carney said that although the WiFi Alliance does not have any legal authority or control over industry, the group is using its certification control to ensure companies "adhere with what WiFi-certified stands for."

"What we're trying to do is provide a very clear path that they need to follow [to ensure interoperability] without interrupting WiFi innovation," he said.

New Testing Labs

The WiFi Alliance, indicating demand for certification is increasing, also announced it is adding several new laboratories to perform product testing for WiFi certification. The alliance said the introduction of new labs -- in addition to existing Agilent Technologies labs in Europe, Asia and North America -- will take place over several weeks beginning next month.

Carney, who said the alliance has about eight to 10 products up for WiFi certification every week, indicated that the figure continues to climb after a jump with the 802.11g standard last year.

"In general, we have more and more products from more and more member companies seeking WiFi certification," Carney said. "What this will do is make the process faster and more efficient."