Industry association the Wi-Fi Alliance has unveiled its two-pronged certification programme to ensure products featuring both the current and final versions of the IEEE 802.11n standards are certified
Products that include features from the draft IEEE 802.11n specification will be tested and certified for interoperability from next year, according to the industry association.
The standard is unlikely to be officially approved before early 2008, but interoperability certification is needed in anticipation of increased device availability before that timeframe. Today, there are already many devices on the market that make use of features from the draft.
In the second and final phase of the certification programme, the alliance aims to ensure compatibility between those products certified to the interim standards and those certified against the final standard.
"While we are committed to supporting a full 802.11n standard when it is available, pre-standard products are reaching a level of maturity and there is enough market uptake that a certification program makes sense for the industry."
Analysts agree that the phased approach will ensure that users can benefit from the technology before the standard matures in 2008.
