Innovation, Science and Economic Canada will authorize the use of higher power RLAN devices (HPODs), both indoor and outdoor, in the 5150-5250 MHz frequency band under a licensed regime

Austin, TX and Washington D.C. – May 26, 2017 – Wi-Fi Alliance® applauds the Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada decision to modify the technical and policy framework for Radio Local Area Network (RLAN) devices operating in the 5150-5250 MHz band. The decision will allow higher power and outdoor RLAN devices to operate in the band and help alleviate congestion in other bands. Given the ever-growing importance of Wi-Fi® networks to deliver demanding services and applications, this decision will help meet existing spectrum demands and bring enhanced benefits to Canadian businesses and consumers.

About Wi-Fi Alliance®
www.wi-fi.org
Wi-Fi Alliance® is the worldwide network of companies that brings you Wi-Fi®. Members of our collaboration forum come together from across the Wi-Fi ecosystem with the shared vision to connect everyone and everything, everywhere, while providing the best possible user experience. Since 2000, Wi-Fi Alliance has certified more than 30,000 Wi-Fi products. The Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ seal of approval designates products with proven interoperability, backward compatibility, and the highest industry-standard security protections in place. Today, Wi-Fi carries more than half of the internet’s traffic in an ever-expanding variety of applications. Wi-Fi Alliance continues to drive the adoption and evolution of Wi-Fi, which billions of people rely on every day.

Media contacts:
Stephanie Burke
Highwire PR for Wi-Fi Alliance
wi-fi@highwirepr.com
+1-646-838-1190 ext. 48

Today, President Donald Trump renominated Chairman Ajit Pai for another term at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

Austin, TX and Washington D.C. – March 8, 2017 – “Wi-Fi Alliance® applauds the renomination of FCC Chairman Ajit Pai for another term. Chairman Pai demonstrates profound understanding of the importance of Wi-Fi® to consumers and the economy.  We look forward to continued engagement with the Chairman on issues related to Wi-Fi.”

About Wi-Fi Alliance®
www.wi-fi.org
Wi-Fi Alliance® is the worldwide network of companies that brings you Wi-Fi®. Members of our collaboration forum come together from across the Wi-Fi ecosystem with the shared vision to connect everyone and everything, everywhere, while providing the best possible user experience. Since 2000, Wi-Fi Alliance has certified more than 30,000 Wi-Fi products. The Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ seal of approval designates products with proven interoperability, backward compatibility, and the highest industry-standard security protections in place. Today, Wi-Fi carries more than half of the internet’s traffic in an ever-expanding variety of applications. Wi-Fi Alliance continues to drive the adoption and evolution of Wi-Fi, which billions of people rely on every day.

Media contacts:
Stephanie Burke
Highwire PR for Wi-Fi Alliance
wi-fi@highwirepr.com
+1-646-838-1190 ext. 48

Demand for Wi-Fi will exceed available unlicensed spectrum capacity

Austin, TX – February 27, 2017 – The increasing number of Wi-Fi® devices combined with growing demand for Wi-Fi connectivity are projected to exceed the existing available Wi-Fi spectrum capacity in the near future. Recognizing Wi-Fi as a critical piece of the global telecommunications infrastructure, Wi-Fi Alliance® commissioned the Wi-Fi Spectrum Needs Study to assess whether available spectrum resources will be sufficient to support Wi-Fi connectivity in the future. The study indicates that by 2020, Wi-Fi networks around the world will need access to significantly more mid-band spectrum than is currently available in the 5 GHz range to satisfy expected growth in Wi-Fi data traffic.

The Wi-Fi Spectrum Needs study undertakes a comprehensive analysis to determine the number of channels required to support Wi-Fi traffic by taking into consideration existing and future Wi-Fi device capabilities and deployment needs for business, residential and public locations. The study evaluates two demand scenarios: the expected traffic growth and the potential unexpected increase that may come from novel applications. Findings include:

• The ever growing number and diversity of Wi-Fi devices along with increased connection speeds and data traffic volumes will exceed the capacity of spectrum currently available in the 5 GHz band by 2020;
• Between 500 MHz and 1 GHz of additional spectrum in various world regions may be needed to support expected growth in Wi-Fi by 2020;
• If demand for Wi-Fi exceeds expected growth, then between 1.3 GHz and 1.8 GHz more spectrum may be required by 2025; and
• Wi-Fi spectrum needs to be sufficiently contiguous to support 160 MHz wide channels, which are required to support a growing number of bandwidth-intensive applications and to allow maximum Wi-Fi benefits to be attained.

“Over the years, the Wi-Fi industry has developed innovative solutions to overcome bandwidth limitations and regulatory constraints to deliver wireless connectivity to billions of users,” said Alex Roytblat, Senior Director of Worldwide Regulatory Affairs at Wi-Fi Alliance. “As demonstrated by the Spectrum Needs Study, we have now reached the point where, simply put, more unlicensed spectrum needs to be available… and soon.”

Nearly two decades ago when Wi-Fi was a nascent technology, a limited amount of mid-band spectrum was made available for unlicensed use. Now, more than eight billion Wi-Fi devices are in use around the world, and that number is expected to reach nearly 12 billion by 2020. Users have come to rely on Wi-Fi  as the primary means for internet access, in part because it is often their most affordable option and in part because Wi-Fi offers performance that is well suited for current and emerging applications.

“Every day users rely on Wi-Fi to make their lives better. People use Wi-Fi to connect with one another, to learn, to work, and even to manage a range of autonomous smart devices” said Edgar Figueroa, president and CEO of Wi-Fi Alliance. “The exponential increase in reliance on Wi-Fi warrants additional spectrum allocation to meet Wi-Fi users’ needs for years to come.”

To access the full study, please visit: http://www.wi-fi.org/file/wi-fi-spectrum-needs-study.

About Wi-Fi Alliance®
www.wi-fi.org
Wi-Fi Alliance® is the worldwide network of companies that brings you Wi-Fi®. Members of our collaboration forum come together from across the Wi-Fi ecosystem with the shared vision to connect everyone and everything, everywhere, while providing the best possible user experience. Since 2000, Wi-Fi Alliance has certified more than 30,000 Wi-Fi products. The Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ seal of approval designates products with proven interoperability, backward compatibility, and the highest industry-standard security protections in place. Today, Wi-Fi carries more than half of the internet’s traffic in an ever-expanding variety of applications. Wi-Fi Alliance continues to drive the adoption and evolution of Wi-Fi, which billions of people rely on every day.

Media contacts:
Stephanie Burke
Highwire PR for Wi-Fi Alliance
wi-fi@highwirepr.com
+1-646-838-1190 ext. 48

Wi-Fi feature delivers indoor navigation, asset tracking, and network management

Austin, Texas, February 22, 2017 – Wi-Fi® now includes advanced capabilities that bring location determination indoors to meet growing market demand for mobile location-based services. Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Location™ brings the same great user experience indoors as is expected from outdoor location-based services (LBS), and enables the creation of new, feature-rich applications and services that will benefit many markets including enterprise, retail, manufacturing, and healthcare.

Wi-Fi Location™, based on the Fine Timing Measurement (FTM) protocol from IEEE 802.11-2016, delivers meter-level accuracy for indoor device location data. This standardized approach for precisely determining location opens new opportunities for mobile services. By leveraging the ubiquity of Wi-Fi networks, Wi-Fi Location delivers position data without the need to deploy a separate or proprietary network infrastructure. Wi-Fi Location supports indoor navigation, asset tracking, network management, emergency services, and other LBS without the sacrifices often associated with indoor use.

“Wi-Fi is ubiquitous in smartphones and in network deployments around the world, giving it unparalleled reach for indoor location-based applications,” said Samuel McLaughlin, research analyst, ABI Research. “Wi-Fi Location accuracy opens new opportunities for consumer and business applications, filling a gap left by the unavailability of GPS indoors.”  

Wi-Fi Location delivers its inherent accuracy by determining the distance between two Wi-Fi devices – such as an Access Point (AP) and smartphone – by measuring the time that it takes for the wireless signal to travel from one device to the other. Until now, devices typically determined indoor location by measuring signal strength which has limited accuracy, or fingerprinting which is more difficult to maintain. Meter-level accuracy enabled with Wi-Fi Location brings new levels of precision to indoor location, helping to drive a wide variety of applications and services and contributing to a mobile location-based services market which is set to reach nearly $35 billion by 2020. Wi-Fi Location expands the feature set enabled by Wi-Fi devices, bringing value to service providers, mobile device users, and venue operators alike.

“Location-based services enhance the mobile experience, and Wi-Fi Location provides the indoor accuracy necessary to deliver a range of enhanced services, such as navigation and asset tracking,” said Edgar Figueroa, president and CEO of Wi-Fi Alliance. “A Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ solution broadens the ecosystem and scenarios in which location-based services can be used.”

The first Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Location products which comprise the test bed for interoperability certification are:

• Broadcom 802.11ac Acculocate Access Point 
• Intel® Dual Band Wireless-AC 8260
• Marvell AP-8964 802.11ac 4x4 Wave2 Concurrent Dual Band Access Point
• Mediatek MT663X 802.11abgn/ac Ref. STA
• Qualcomm IPQ4018 802.11ac 2-stream Dual-band, Dual-concurrent Router
• Qualcomm IPQ8065 802.11ac 4-stream Dual-band, Dual-concurrent Router
• Qualcomm Snapdragon™ 820 Development Kit
• Realtek RTL8812BU

For more information, please download our whitepaper or visit: www.wi-fi.org/wi-fi-location.

About Wi-Fi Alliance®
www.wi-fi.org
Wi-Fi Alliance® is the worldwide network of companies that brings you Wi-Fi®. Members of our collaboration forum come together from across the Wi-Fi ecosystem with the shared vision to connect everyone and everything, everywhere, while providing the best possible user experience. Since 2000, Wi-Fi Alliance has certified more than 30,000 Wi-Fi products. The Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ seal of approval designates products with proven interoperability, backward compatibility, and the highest industry-standard security protections in place. Today, Wi-Fi carries more than half of the internet’s traffic in an ever-expanding variety of applications. Wi-Fi Alliance continues to drive the adoption and evolution of Wi-Fi, which billions of people rely on every day.

Media contacts:
Stephanie Burke
Highwire PR for Wi-Fi Alliance
wi-fi@highwirepr.com
+1-646-838-1190 ext. 48

Austin, TX and Washington D.C – January 24, 2017 – This week, President Donald Trump designated Commissioner Ajit Pai as the new Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. Wi-Fi Alliance® congratulates Chairman Pai on his appointment, and is encouraged by Chairman Pai’s commitment to reviving investment and growth of the communications sector.

Users rely more than ever on Wi-Fi® usage and it is therefore critical that adequate unlicensed spectrum remains available. Chairman Pai understands the value Wi-Fi brings to Americans’ daily lives, and has called on the FCC to expand availability of unlicensed spectrum in the 5 GHz band to help boost speeds, eliminate congestion, and enable future innovation. Additionally, Chairman Pai recognizes the value of the 60 GHz band for meeting the needs of users who increasingly demand high-bandwidth applications, and understands the value of WiGig® in spurring innovation for years to come.

Wi-Fi Alliance promotes Wi-Fi connectivity for billions of users worldwide and looks forward to working closely with Chairman Pai on unlicensed spectrum availability and innovation.

About Wi-Fi Alliance®
www.wi-fi.org
Wi-Fi Alliance® is the worldwide network of companies that brings you Wi-Fi®. Members of our collaboration forum come together from across the Wi-Fi ecosystem with the shared vision to connect everyone and everything, everywhere, while providing the best possible user experience. Since 2000, Wi-Fi Alliance has certified more than 30,000 Wi-Fi products. The Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ seal of approval designates products with proven interoperability, backward compatibility, and the highest industry-standard security protections in place. Today, Wi-Fi carries more than half of the internet’s traffic in an ever-expanding variety of applications. Wi-Fi Alliance continues to drive the adoption and evolution of Wi-Fi, which billions of people rely on every day.

Media contacts:
Rachel Nemeth
ML Strategies for Wi-Fi Alliance
RSNemeth@mlstrategies.com
+1-202-434-7485

Washington, D.C. – January 11, 2017 – On January 10, 2017, Senators Deb Fischer (R-NE), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Cory Gardner (R-CO), and Brian Schatz (D-HI) reintroduced the Developing Innovation and Growing the Internet of Things (DIGIT) Act which aims to ensure appropriate spectrum planning and interagency coordination to support the Internet of Things (IoT). The IoT has the potential to generate trillions of dollars of economic activity around the world, and Wi-Fi Alliance® applauds the bipartisan effort on the DIGIT Act to support the growing IoT sector.

The bill directs the Secretary of Commerce to convene a working group of Federal stakeholders for the purpose of providing recommendations and a report to Congress related to IoT. This working group may include representatives from within the Department of Commerce as well as the Department of Homeland Security, Department of Transportation, Office of Management and Budget, National Science Foundation, Department of Energy, Federal Communications Commission, Federal Trade Commission, and Office of Science and Technology Policy. In addition, the working group will consult with non-governmental stakeholders including subject matter experts representing industrial sectors that are engaged in and can benefit from IoT, including technology, academia, agriculture, manufacturing, and healthcare.

Wi-Fi® has proven itself as a leading technology for connecting devices to the internet, and plays a critical role in connecting a variety of IoT devices. The federal policies proposed in the DIGIT Act will help foster Wi-Fi’s growth in the IoT. Wi-Fi Alliance looks forward to the opportunity to contribute to the efforts of stakeholders in developing policy recommendations in support of IoT.

About Wi-Fi Alliance®
www.wi-fi.org
Wi-Fi Alliance® is the worldwide network of companies that brings you Wi-Fi®. Members of our collaboration forum come together from across the Wi-Fi ecosystem with the shared vision to connect everyone and everything, everywhere, while providing the best possible user experience. Since 2000, Wi-Fi Alliance has certified more than 30,000 Wi-Fi products. The Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ seal of approval designates products with proven interoperability, backward compatibility, and the highest industry-standard security protections in place. Today, Wi-Fi carries more than half of the internet’s traffic in an ever-expanding variety of applications. Wi-Fi Alliance continues to drive the adoption and evolution of Wi-Fi, which billions of people rely on every day.

Media contacts:
Rachel Nemeth
ML Strategies for Wi-Fi Alliance
RSNemeth@mlstrategies.com
+1-202-434-7485

New Wi-Fi capability enables accurately timed audio, video, and data output across Wi-Fi networks

Las Vegas, NV – January 5, 2017 – With a variety of high-fidelity, home cinema, and wireless entertainment devices expected to debut at #CES2017, Wi-Fi Alliance® introduces Wi-Fi CERTIFIED TimeSync™ to deliver precise time synchronization between multiple Wi-Fi® devices. Wi-Fi TimeSync™ is a new Wi-Fi feature for use cases where accurate coordination and synchronization between multiple Wi-Fi devices are critical to high-quality performance, including high-fidelity audio playback through multiple wireless speakers and immersive, multimedia home theater experiences. Home entertainment will be a key application for Wi-Fi TimeSync, but many industrial, healthcare, automotive, and IoT applications will also benefit from more tightly coupled coordination between Wi-Fi devices.  

Wi-Fi TimeSync provides sub-microsecond clock synchronization between devices, benefitting scenarios including high-fidelity audio streaming to multiple speakers or multi-screen video experiences in automotive infotainment. Wi-Fi TimeSync enables device vendors to deliver a seamless experience across a variety of components. The result is a wireless rendering—free from jitter, drift, or echo—that delivers precise video, audio, and data output. Devices can use Wi-Fi TimeSync to support wireless in-room, multichannel audio and video capabilities, and deliver high-performance device synchronization across the user’s entire Wi-Fi coverage area.

“Increasing demand for today's high-performance wireless audio/video products has made it more important for multiple devices to operate with precision timing," said Christian Kim, senior analyst, IHS Markit. “Time synchronized Wi-Fi connectivity will help drive the audio/video technology market by enabling unrestricted mobility with high-quality performance.” Mobile devices have reinvigorated the wireless audio market, which is forecast to reach 267 million units in 2018. With an average of nearly eight connected devices per home, there is increasing demand for whole-home networked audio and video systems. Forthcoming Wi-Fi Alliance programs in 2017 will deliver an elevated experience in home networks to provide a high-performance foundation for scalable, whole-home networked audio solutions. Wi-Fi TimeSync will build on the latest Wi-Fi Alliance technologies, bringing enhanced capabilities to the Wi-Fi Alliance portfolio.

“Wi-Fi is becoming ubiquitous in an increasing number of device categories as it expands from an internet connectivity tool into a dependable enabler of high-quality, wireless entertainment experiences,” said Edgar Figueroa, president and CEO of Wi-Fi Alliance. “Wi-Fi TimeSync enables interconnectivity between various rich, media components and also entire systems. This enhanced capability will create an excellent, fully-synchronized media experience with Wi-Fi devices.” 

Wi-Fi Alliance expects major Wi-Fi consumer electronics device vendors to announce many wireless home audio/video and entertainment innovations at #CES2017. For more information, please visit: www.wi-fi.org/wi-fi-timesync.

“Gibson Brands applauds the announcement of Wi-Fi TimeSync, a revolutionary technology which Gibson contributed to as a member of the Wi-Fi Alliance and will bring superior audio performance and operating simplicity to our customers globally without the need for wires.” – Henry Juszkiewicz, chairman and CEO of Gibson Brands

“Wi-Fi TimeSync marks an important milestone for extending Wi-Fi technology into the heart of the audio/video ecosystem, enabling synchronized multi-room, multi-zone solutions. Marvell has been privileged to participate and contribute to this critical advancement and be at the forefront of this technology with built-in support across our product lines, addressing the growing demand for wireless multimedia in the home and automotive space,” – Kevin Tang, AVP of Marketing, Wireless Connectivity business unit at Marvell Semiconductor, Inc

Information based on IHS Markit, Technology Group, High Performance Wireless Intelligence Service. Information is not an endorsement of Wi-Fi Alliance. Any reliance on these results is at the third party's own risk. Visit www.technology.ihs.com for more details.

About Wi-Fi Alliance®
www.wi-fi.org
Wi-Fi Alliance® is the worldwide network of companies that brings you Wi-Fi®. Members of our collaboration forum come together from across the Wi-Fi ecosystem with the shared vision to connect everyone and everything, everywhere, while providing the best possible user experience. Since 2000, Wi-Fi Alliance has certified more than 30,000 Wi-Fi products. The Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ seal of approval designates products with proven interoperability, backward compatibility, and the highest industry-standard security protections in place. Today, Wi-Fi carries more than half of the internet’s traffic in an ever-expanding variety of applications. Wi-Fi Alliance continues to drive the adoption and evolution of Wi-Fi, which billions of people rely on every day.

Media contacts:
Elliott Suthers
Highwire PR for Wi-Fi Alliance
wi-fi@highwirepr.com
+1-415-963-4174 ext. 6

Simplified Wi-Fi, high-performance products, and IoT innovation coming this year

Las Vegas, NV, January 4, 2017 – Wi-Fi Alliance® developed a list of predictions for 2017 that demonstrate the expanding role of Wi-Fi® as a high-performance technology and an enabler of new innovations. With more than three billion Wi-Fi device shipments expected in 2017 and more than eight billion devices currently in use around the world, Wi-Fi continues to have a major impact on everything from home networking to Augmented/Virtual Reality (AR/VR) and the Internet of Things (IoT). As more people around the world rely on Wi-Fi each day for productivity and access to data, Wi-Fi is also playing a more prominent role in our expanding communications infrastructure. 

1. Wi-Fi simplifies wireless networking.

There is a shift toward Self-Organizing Networks (SONs) and other solutions that help simplify Wi-Fi networking and optimize overall network performance to provide the best user experience. New products will “self-organize”, bringing a more seamless user experience to homes and offices, and helping to automate the management and optimization of Wi-Fi networks. More products like Orbi and Google's Wi-Fi solution will emerge that balance performance with convenient network setup. New home buyers will soon benefit from professionally designed, pre-installed Wi-Fi networks that will deliver whole-home coverage and exceptional Wi-Fi performance. Managed network operators will also benefit from a new designation that makes it easier than ever to select carrier-grade devices that provide superior connectivity in Wi-Fi networks while taking complexity out of purchase decisions.

2. High-performance Wi-Fi products with new features and technologies will hit the shelves.

Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ ac products are hitting the shelves and users will see benefits from new Wave 2 features, including MU-MIMO, that enable more devices to operate simultaneously on the same network without sacrificing performance. With WiGig® on the verge of a breakout year in 2017, we will soon see flagship smartphones incorporating WiGig, along with a variety of announcements about new laptops, tri-band Access Points (APs) and other products supporting the technology. Products will incorporate sub-microsecond device clock synchronization, bringing to reality completely in-sync systems for homes, automotive, healthcare, and industrial environments. With more products from multiple vendors hitting the market every year, the Wi-Fi CERTIFIED logo is more important than ever in assuring users that their favorite high-performance products will interoperate across brands.

3. Wi-Fi Location will gain momentum.

New Wi-Fi Location technology that enables accuracy to one meter will become broadly available in Wi-Fi chipsets in 2017. Wi-Fi Location will work in a range of environments, including indoors and urban canyons, and enable a variety of new location-usages without the need for additional, location-specific infrastructure. This improved Wi-Fi capability will bring new opportunities for location-based data and services to retail spaces, entertainment venues, manufacturing facilities, and the healthcare industry.

4. Wi-Fi is a platform for IoT innovation.

Wi-Fi is the Internet platform of choice, making it an ideal connectivity platform for the Internet of Things. In 2017, Wi-Fi will introduce standards-based features to bring greater power efficiency to Wi-Fi CERTIFIED devices. According to Wall Street Journal, the killer app for IoT is services rather than “things,” and others agree the most successful IoT products will be accompanied by some related service. Wi-Fi will continue to evolve to provide a building block for IoT services, allowing companies to easily innovate over Wi-Fi and making it easier for companies to ensure there are strong security protections in place even at the service or application level. In 2017, Wi-Fi Alliance will collaborate more closely with other organizations, helping to unlock massive opportunity in the IoT space.

5. Wi-Fi improves the AR/VR experience for the masses.

The Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality (AR/VR) markets are forecast to reach $120 billion by 2020. In 2016, there were multiple announcements for a variety of headsets and platforms promising to bring more realistic VR experiences to the masses. With Wi-Fi CERTIFIED WiGig™ now commercially available, device vendors will take advantage of multi-gigabit speeds, low latency, and extremely high throughput to provide a more immersive, wireless VR experience without sacrificing wired-grade performance. As WiGig technology adoption in VR devices increases, VR will become a truly viable technology within reach of the average consumer for both gaming and more “practical” scenarios including education. Sports fans will soon benefit from Wi-Fi enabled AR experiences to help better identify players and associate pertinent stats or information through phones or glasses. 

6. Wi-Fi cements its place as a critical component in communications infrastructure.

Wi-Fi technologies available today, including WiGig, will play a role in providing foundational elements for addressing many emerging 5G use cases to help meet increasing speed, bandwidth, capacity, and latency demands. Forthcoming Wi-Fi technologies will be even more critical to enable 5G scenarios, which require high capacity and/or very low latency. More than half of all data traffic already flows over Wi-Fi, and convergence between Wi-Fi and other licensed technologies will be discussed in more detail as it relates to the impact 5G and the overall future of wireless communication.

7. Cities and stadiums get major Wi-Fi upgrades.

In 2017, we will see expanded rollouts of LinkNYC to new boroughs and cities, as well as new initiatives to bring high-speed Wi-Fi to and schools and municipalities to help bridge the digital divide. More municipal Wi-Fi initiatives will feature Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Passpoint®, and roaming agreements will bring seamless, secure Wi-Fi access to hundreds of hotspots and homespots. Wi-Fi will enable innovative technologies such as waste & recycling solutions and solar powered benches that will help further develop Smart Cities by transforming regular fixtures with data. NFL and professional sports teams will put Wi-Fi at the heart of their fan experience, and we’ll see increasing partnerships with networking providers to bring the most advanced Wi-Fi CERTIFIED ac Wave 2 features to  stadiums and provide the highest quality Wi-Fi experience to fans.

About Wi-Fi Alliance®
www.wi-fi.org
Wi-Fi Alliance® is the worldwide network of companies that brings you Wi-Fi®. Members of our collaboration forum come together from across the Wi-Fi ecosystem with the shared vision to connect everyone and everything, everywhere, while providing the best possible user experience. Since 2000, Wi-Fi Alliance has certified more than 30,000 Wi-Fi products. The Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ seal of approval designates products with proven interoperability, backward compatibility, and the highest industry-standard security protections in place. Today, Wi-Fi carries more than half of the internet’s traffic in an ever-expanding variety of applications. Wi-Fi Alliance continues to drive the adoption and evolution of Wi-Fi, which billions of people rely on every day.

Media contacts:
Elliott Suthers
Highwire PR for Wi-Fi Alliance
wi-fi@highwirepr.com
+1-415-963-4174 ext. 6

New certification designation advances connectivity experience for Wi-Fi users

Austin, Texas, November 14, 2016 – Wi-Fi Alliance® announces Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Vantage™, an ongoing evolution of Wi-Fi® devices delivering an enhanced user experience in managed Wi-Fi networks. Now, and in the future, Wi-Fi Vantage™ makes it easier than ever for users to select devices that provide superior connectivity in Wi-Fi networks including airports, stadiums, offices, campuses, and home networks.

Wi-Fi Vantage builds on foundational technologies, such as Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ ac and Passpoint™ now, and subsequent releases will include support for advanced Wi-Fi CERTIFIED features for addressing challenging network environments. Wi-Fi Vantage will continually evolve to deliver improved device performance, faster speeds, and reduced network interference and network connection times. Wi-Fi Vantage networks will optimize use of unlicensed spectrum to deliver an enhanced Wi-Fi experience, even in dense environments and under heavy user demand.  

“For more than 15 years, Wi-Fi has delighted users, and now Wi-Fi Vantage products provide users an even better Wi-Fi experience when they connect devices at hotels, airports, and other crowded environments,” said Edgar Figueroa, president and CEO of Wi-Fi Alliance. “The future evolution of Wi-Fi Vantage offers users simple identification of new generations of devices incorporating the latest technology for managed network access and connectivity.”

Wi-Fi Vantage complements today’s Wi-Fi, identifying technologies in the Wi-Fi CERTIFIED portfolio that together will provide the best possible user experience in managed networks.  Seamless, secure authentication and network connection, paired with auto-selection of preferred networks and the ability for more devices to operate simultaneously on the same network without sacrificing performance offers users an elevated experience in dynamic environments. As new Wi-Fi technologies are introduced, users will continue to benefit from the improved efficiency and reliability offered by Wi-Fi Vantage devices and networks.

Wi-Fi Vantage devices range from smart phones, tablets and laptops to network access points. Over 100 devices have received certification for Wi-Fi Vantage. A full list of certified devices may be found in the Wi-Fi Alliance Product Finder: http://www.wi-fi.org/wi-fi-vantage-products.

For more details on Wi-Fi Vantage, visit https://www.wi-fi.org/discover-wi-fi/wi-fi-vantage.

About Wi-Fi Alliance®
www.wi-fi.org
Wi-Fi Alliance® is the worldwide network of companies that brings you Wi-Fi®. Members of our collaboration forum come together from across the Wi-Fi ecosystem with the shared vision to connect everyone and everything, everywhere, while providing the best possible user experience. Since 2000, Wi-Fi Alliance has certified more than 30,000 Wi-Fi products. The Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ seal of approval designates products with proven interoperability, backward compatibility, and the highest industry-standard security protections in place. Today, Wi-Fi carries more than half of the internet’s traffic in an ever-expanding variety of applications. Wi-Fi Alliance continues to drive the adoption and evolution of Wi-Fi, which billions of people rely on every day.

Media contacts:
Elliott Suthers
Highwire PR for Wi-Fi Alliance
wi-fi@highwirepr.com
+1-415-963-4174 ext. 6

60 GHz technology brings unprecedented throughput to Wi-Fi networking and device-to device applications

Austin, Texas, October 24, 2016 – Wi-Fi Alliance® certification for products based on the 802.11ad standard, known as Wi-Fi CERTIFIED WiGig™, brings multi-vendor interoperability needed to proliferate WiGig® devices. WiGig operates in 60 GHz spectrum, which is less congested and complements existing Wi-Fi operating in 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz, to enable multi-gigabit performance for a range of applications such as wireless docking, augmented reality/virtual reality, multimedia streaming, gaming, and networking applications.

WiGig uses wider channels in 60 GHz to transmit data efficiently at multi-gigabit per second speeds and with low latency at distances of up to ten meters. WiGig devices use beamforming to focus a directed signal between devices, to eliminate interference from nearby devices and to enable high performance even in dense 60 GHz environments. Wider channels enable WiGig devices to achieve data rates of up to 8 Gbps, allowing users to download an HD movie in a few seconds. This level of performance is critical to delivering a wired-grade experience for a variety of in-room and outdoor line-of-sight scenarios.

“Wi-Fi Alliance certification has a strong history of accelerating broad technology adoption across the industry, and we expect 2017 to be a breakout year for WiGig on the heels of Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ program availability,” said Phil Solis, Research Director, ABI Research. “The ecosystem for WiGig spans the mobile, PC, and consumer electronics industries across the consumer, enterprise, and service provider markets. Devices will leverage the brand and ubiquity of Wi-Fi for continued momentum across these industries.”

Wi-Fi CERTIFIED WiGig is a strong complement to Wi-Fi CERTIFIED ac. WiGig delivers benefits for existing networks, and enables a diverse range of new wireless experiences, including scenarios envisioned for 5G. Multi-band Wi-Fi CERTIFIED products supporting 2.4, 5, and 60 GHz allow handoff between frequency bands, selecting the most appropriate band and data rate for the application and surrounding environmental conditions. WiGig devices will range from smartphones, portable PCs, tablets, and access points, to home entertainment and consumer electronics. ABI Research forecasts 180 million WiGig chipsets will ship to the smartphone market in 2017, with smartphone chipsets accounting for almost half of the 1.5 billion total market shipments in 2021. As part of the Wi-Fi ecosystem, WiGig delivers the highest level of security, and multi-band devices will interoperate with more than eight billion deployed Wi-Fi products.

“Wi-Fi has delighted users for more than 15 years, and WiGig now gives users even higher performance in a rich variety of applications unleashing an unparalleled Wi-Fi experience,” said Edgar Figueroa, president and CEO of Wi-Fi Alliance. “WiGig further expands the Wi-Fi CERTIFIED portfolio into 60 GHz, and will augment existing and developing Wi-Fi programs and technologies. “

The first Wi-Fi CERTIFIED WiGig products which comprise the test bed for interoperability certification are:

• Dell® Latitude™ E7450/70
• Intel® Tri-Band Wireless
• Peraso 60GHz USB Adapter Reference Design Kit
• Qualcomm® Technologies 802.11ad Wi-Fi client and router solution (based on the QCA9500 chipset)
• Socionext™ 802.11ad Reference Adapter

For more information, please visit: http://www.wi-fi.org/discover-wi-fi/wi-fi-certified-wigig

Industry response to WiGig:

"Today's launch of the certification program is a key milestone in the development and market deployment of WiGig technology. Our customers can be confident that products carrying this globally recognized stamp of approval meet industry standards of security and interoperability, and in partnership with us they are able to quickly bring to market a wide-range of exciting products." – Mark Barrett, CMO at Blu Wireless Technology, a global leader in WiGig Intellectual Property licensing

“WiGig is an exciting technology that is critical in a connected world with new and emerging use cases. As a leader in WiGig, Intel believes the Wi-Fi CERTIFIED WiGig certification program is a critical milestone to drive broader technology adoption across many different industries.” – Yaniv Garty, Vice President of the Platform Engineering Group and General Manager of Wireless Connectivity Solutions, Intel

“The announcement of Wi-Fi CERTIFIED WiGig is a major step in the adoption of 60 GHz IEEE 802.11ad products. With its multi-gigabit per second speeds, WiGig will not only enhance existing wireless applications such as networking, media streaming and wireless broadband but also bring wireless connectivity to a range of demanding applications including gaming and VR. Peraso is proud of our engineering team’s dedication to the interoperability test program and pleased to have its RD-W110 USB Adapter Reference Design selected for the Wi-Fi CERTIFIED WiGig test bed.” – Brad Lynch, Senior Vice President, Product Development, Peraso Technologies, Inc.

“Qualcomm Technologies is a strong believer in the power of 802.11ad to empower a new class of services and transform experiences by making multi-gigabit Wi-Fi a reality. As an early 802.11ad pioneer, Qualcomm powered some of the world's first 11ad devices, and will now enable a robust ecosystem of mobile, computing, networking and other products. We are proud to have played an important role in the development and launch of this Wi-Fi CERTIFIED WiGig program, in partnership with Wi-Fi Alliance, and are confident this milestone will accelerate commercial adoption.” – Rahul Patel, senior vice president and general manager, connectivity, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.

“The Wi-Fi CERTIFIED WiGig certification program is a very important milestone for this wireless arena. We are proud to participate in this program launch with our testbed reference device. Customers will be able to enjoy a wide variety of applications using WiGig, an ultra-fast wireless communication technology. We will provide new user experiences by our RF-CMOS technology based devices.” – Koichi Yamashita, Senior Vice President, IoT and Graphics Solution BU, Socionext, Inc.

About Wi-Fi Alliance®
www.wi-fi.org
Wi-Fi Alliance® is the worldwide network of companies that brings you Wi-Fi®. Members of our collaboration forum come together from across the Wi-Fi ecosystem with the shared vision to connect everyone and everything, everywhere, while providing the best possible user experience. Since 2000, Wi-Fi Alliance has certified more than 30,000 Wi-Fi products. The Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ seal of approval designates products with proven interoperability, backward compatibility, and the highest industry-standard security protections in place. Today, Wi-Fi carries more than half of the internet’s traffic in an ever-expanding variety of applications. Wi-Fi Alliance continues to drive the adoption and evolution of Wi-Fi, which billions of people rely on every day.

Media contacts:
Elliott Suthers
Highwire PR for Wi-Fi Alliance
wi-fi@highwirepr.com
+1-415-963-4174 ext. 6