PC Magazine - 2009 04.pdf - Libertad Zero - Blog

More documents

Recommendations

Info

802.11-based products for interoperability—has two task groups working on these instant peer-to-peer (P2P) communications. The first group is looking to improve the existing ad hoc protocol, according to Kelly Davis-Felner, marketing director for the Alliance. The second is developing a “soft AP,” software that makes a client device like a laptop appear and work as an infrastructure AP. That way, multiple devices can connect to it directly. The soft AP approach may be getting an assist, since Intel is backing it. At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January, the company—whose Wi-Fi chips power a huge number of laptops—showed off a soft AP under the name My Wi-Fi. The software ran on laptops with Intel Centrino 2 chipsets, making each laptop the center of a personal area network connecting as many as eight Wi-Fi devices at once. The laptop maintained a separate connection to a real AP, however, so it could, for example, share an Internet connection with all attached devices. Reports say My Wi-Fi also can be used to connect peripherals, even audio receivers for streaming from the laptop. Key for both Alliance groups is making sure these P2P connections are secured using Wi-Fi Protected Setup, the simple, one-button security configuration created by the Wi-Fi Alliance to improve on Wi- Fi Protected Access (WPA2), which is in turn based on the IEEE 802.11i specification. The layers upon layers of support in this arena are mind-boggling. Why two groups? The Alliance doesn’t know which technology the industry will prefer. It doesn’t even have a name for this enhanced P2P connection yet. Another consideration: Who would use it? Davis- Felner believes consumers would like it for quicker content transfers, file synchronization, and more, and that big corporate enterprises could expect it to help with direct connections to peripherals like printers and projectors. “Enterprise IT people should feel comfortable with it,” she says. IEEE: More Speed (Eventually) The IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) may be the most democratic organizational body ever conceived—sometimes to a fault. Every member gets a say, which is partly why, almost 38 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION APRIL 2009 five years after debates began on the initial proposal, the “High Throughput” standard for wireless networks—better known as 802.11n—is still not ratified. In fact, it’s unlikely to be ratified by the IEEE’s 802.11 Working Group for another year. 802.11n is done enough, however, and that’s why there are plenty of 11n-based Wi-Fi products on store shelves, satisfying those who need increased speed and range. So tabling that discussion, what might the IEEE have up its sleeves for after 11n? Plenty, it turns out. Let’s be clear on the terms. Within the IEEE there are working groups for all types of technologies. Wireless LAN (WLAN) just happens to go by the name 802.11, whereas Ethernet goes by 802.3. Within each working group are task groups, usually identified by a letter, such as the “n” of 802.11n; these groups are actively working on technology specifications to amend the original. Before a task group can exist, it is a study group, wherein members toss around the idea and see if anyone even cares enough to pursue it. Then there’s balloting, editing, and changes, ad infinitum—sometimes for years. The reason 11n has been so important for so long is because it’s about increases: more throughput and better range on wire- WI-FI ThroughpuT: WhaT’S avaIlablE NoW Specification throughput frequency compatibility 802.11b 11 mbps 2.4 ghz Works with 802.11g 802.11g 54 mbps 2.4 ghz Works with 802.11b 802.11a 54 mbps 5 ghz Works with 802.11n 802.11n ranges from 150 to 600 mbps either 2.4 ghz or 5 ghz Works with 802.11a, b, or g less networks—boosts that everyone wants. Thus it’s no surprise that not one but two task groups were spawned from the “Very High Throughput” study group—there’s TGac and TGad. The TG is for Task Group; these may eventually translate to 802.11ac or 802.11ad, if they go anywhere. According to Bruce Kraemer, chair of the 802.11 Working Group, TGac “might double what we have now” for WLAN speed by increasing the total data throughput available to a cluster of users in a relatively dense environment. It won’t do much for an individual, but the difference for a large number of users could be significant, possibly in a business or even in a cluster of users at an airport hot spot. TGad is a whole different beast, as it will venture into radio-band frequencies new to Wi-Fi: the 60-GHz spectrum. Like the 2.4-GHz and 5-GHz frequencies used today, 60-GHz is unlicensed by the Federal Communications Commission, so anyone can use it. (Wikipedia says 60-GHz is useful for short-range data links of 1.7km (1.06 miles) with throughput of up to 2.5 gigabits per second.) Kraemer says while “ac might go to a 2-to-1 increase, ‘ad’ could bring a data-rate increase of 10 to 1.” However, using new spectrum means an entirely new radio technology, so there will be no backward compatibility with existing Wi-Fi. When can we expect to see 11ac or 11ad? Not for a while; in a year or more they might be out of the initial discussion stage. Of course, there’s a lot more cooking than just those two potential amendments. There’s also 802.11s, a mesh-networking specification that’s been on the drawing board since September 2003. (It probably won’t be final until September 2010.) Laptops and other devices with 11s support will function as mesh points (or MPs) and form links with each other, allowing packets of data to skip from device to device across the network as needed. Mesh has been around for a while in many proprietary forms, and is important not only because it can extend a network’s range but also because it has self-configuring abilities: Mesh devices can move about without impacting overall performance. In such a network, data will hop around from mesh point to mesh point along the shortest path to where it needs to go. Actual 11s is already in use in at least one product: the One Laptop per Child project’s XO laptop uses it to communicate with XS school servers, in some tests over distances as great as 2km (1.2 miles) with 802.11s data hops from device to device. 802.11u will provide a Wi-Fi device with methods of connecting securely to a network, based on the external network’s type. For example, if you have access to the cellular connection that provides Internet access to the Wi-Fi router on a bus, 11u will keep that connection secure. It will also allow a Wi-Fi device to discover more information about that external network, such as whether it’s free of charge or not. 11u could be published by March 2010. Finally, 802.11z “Direct Link Setup” is the 802.11 Working Group’s take on
ThE FuTurE oF 802.11: SpECS oN ThE DraWINg boarD Specification type DeScription expecteD publication Date 802.11ac throughput categorized as a “very high throughput” specification, 801.11ac would increase throughput over 802.11n by a ratio of 2 to 1. its spectrum would be 5 ghz. 802.11ad throughput also a “very high throughput” specification, 802.11ad would increase throughput 10 to 1 over 802.11n. it would reside on the 60-ghz spectrum. 802.11s mesh networking this specification would allow devices such as cell phones or laptops to serve as mesh points, forming wireless links with each other. 802.11u Security Known as “interworking with external networks,” this specification would enable secure connections for Wi-fi devices based on the security protocols of the external network the device is using, whether that network is cellular, ethernet, uWb, or something else. 802.11z ad hoc networking this “direct link setup” specification allows two Wi-fi devices to securely connect to each other in peer-topeer mode by using the security credentials of a larger network’s access point. improving ad hoc connections, at least for business users. Entirely unrelated to what the Wi-Fi Alliance is doing for device-todevice communication, it allows two laptops that would normally communicate on a secure network to form an exclusive P2P connection. This happens only after they’ve authenticated security credentials through an AP. It’s a super-secure ad hoc that requires the right security setup. Zigbee and Z-Wave: home Control and More Another 802 Working Group with growing impact at home is 802.15. It’s a standard for wireless personal area networks (WPAN) using very-low-power radios to send small amounts of data. Bluetooth is one kind of WPAN; it’s based on 802.15.1. Some industry groups have for years been using another version, 802.15.4, to bring wireless home automation and control to homes. Coupled with Wi-Fi, these WPANs can create an ecosystem that stretches from your laptop all the way to your light switches. The ZigBee and Z-Wave standards are two of the most prominent uses for 802.15.4. An industry alliance with many partners has formed to push each technology. Both enable intelligent mesh networking, so the more devices added to a WPAN the better. Eventually, every light switch, thermostat, and motor in your home could have a chip that lets it communicate, and you would control them all from a single interface, whether a remote, an LCD panel on a wall, or your laptop. Recently utility companies have taken notice of these technologies. In fact, several are integrating ZigBee technology into meters for electricity, gas, and water. If meters could talk via ZigBee to a home router or gateway with Internet access, customers would gain access to real-time rate information and utilities could automatically read meters without sending someone out in a truck. The potential for saving money is tremendous. Of the 80 million meters that need replacing, the ZigBee Alliance won contracts to be in at least one- third of them in 2008; the Alliance thinks that number will grow through 2009. ZigBee has a lead with the utility companies, but Z-Wave (owned by Sigma Designs) is still in the fight for your home automation. At CES this year, Z-Wave partners demonstrated energy management systems to help both utilities and consumers, as well as the usual home controls— picture your ADT monitoring panel doing much more than just sounding the alarm. One of the cooler items: lock maker Schlage is adding Z-Wave remote access to its wares, so you could someday use your cell phone to lock all your doors at night. Or imagine doing that with the same universal remote you use for your TV. Will ZigBee and Z-Wave overlap with Wi-Fi? They do today, but if you have either 802.15.4 technology, it likely came as a value-added feature from your broadband provider, which supplied a residential gateway/router with WPAN tech built in. Telcos desperately want to horn in on that security market, and they know that ZigBee or Z-Wave can help, giving them another reason to charge customers extra per month and letting them up-sell you on new products for that wireless ecosystem—everything from water-spill monitors to window alarms to thermostats. Both groups think that you’ll soon be able to walk into Best Buy and get a router from a name brand that includes both Wi-Fi and ZigBee or Z-Wave. 802.15.4 may appear soon in your phone, too, to provide extra telecom services. Korea and some European countries are doing this already. And ZigBee is pursuing a personal health strategy, using devices like the phone to monitor people’s health status in a non-invasive way. DlNa: linking More Devices Another interesting networking story to come out of CES this year was the Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA), a fiveyear-old consortium of industry companies that’s only now getting serious attention. The interest centered on news of full sup- 2012 2012 September 2010 march 2010 January 2010 port in the upcoming Windows 7 operating system. This move puts Windows 7 devices at the heart of an ecosystem of DLNAapproved consumer electronics. According to DLNA president Scott Smyers, a senior VP for early supporter Sony, DLNA certification is all about interoperability. DLNA itself is based on Universal Plug and Play (UPnP), but that protocol only goes so far when handling discovery between network nodes and providing access. DLNA is the layer that makes sure streaming-media formats can work across nodes and providing “link protection” for commercial content using yet another standard: DTCP-IP, or Digital Transmission Content Protection over IP, which will someday prevent copyprotected digital content on a home network from going out over the Internet. DLNA has been tied closely to other networking standards, such as Wi-Fi and MoCA (Multimedia over Coax, for networking across coaxial cable). In fact, if a networking product aims for DLNA certification, and it uses wireless 802.11, it must be certified for interoperability by the Wi-Fi Alliance before the DLNA will give it a seal of approval. There are 240 DLNA member companies, and scores of products at CES had the logo. To date, the DLNA has certified 4,000 products, including computers, printers, HDTVs, stereo equipment, DVRs, and digital picture frames. Windows 7 may be the catalyst needed to get DLNA off the ground. Windows 7 users will be able to right-click a media file and send it instantly to any DLNA player device on the network. That already sounds like a step up from finding files using Windows Media Center. That said, will DLNA support make it to all Media Center hardware? The PlayStation 3 is DLNA-ready, like most Sony products, but Smyers is not sure whether DLNA is coming to the Xbox 360. That’s a question for Microsoft. Adding the support via a software upgrade can only help the Xbox communicate with Windows 7 computers of the future, so it seems like a no-brainer. APRIL 2009 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION 39
Page 2 and 3: To order your space saving iOne- GX
Page 4 and 5: Editor-in-ChiEf, pC magazinE nEtwor
Page 6 and 7: Feed Debate Over Digital Edition I
Page 8 and 9: home showed up on Street View. The
Page 10 and 11: Best of the Internet yourFoNTs This
Page 12 and 13: Pacific Image Electronics Memor-eas
Page 14 and 15: DESKTOPS LAPTOPS DISPLAYS first loo
Page 16 and 17: 14 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION APRI
Page 18 and 19: Samsung LN46A850 $2,599.99 list l l
Page 20 and 21: first looks Consumer eleCtroniCs Qu
Page 22 and 23: Quicken Home & Business 2009 Easier
Page 24 and 25: Apple iLife ’09 $79 direct L l l
Page 26 and 27: Skype 4.0 Video Chat Keeps Getting
Page 28 and 29: Every business has its share of buz
Page 30 and 31: The biggest flaw in Apple’s near-
Page 32 and 33: 30 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION APRI
Page 34 and 35: New Wireless Routers Add Speed, Dro
Page 36 and 37: The Best Network Media Devices Bloc
Page 38 and 39: them scan for the SSID (BobsWireles
Page 42 and 43: Solutions problems solved this issu
Page 44 and 45: Last month we tackled the question,
Page 46 and 47: OpenOffice.org 3.0 costs absolutely
Page 48 and 49: Mobile Device Security Measures Eve
Page 50 and 51: SOluTIONS Tips Useful tidbits from
Page 52: Desktops mainstream Hp pavilion eli

PC Magazine - 2009 04.pdf - Libertad Zero - Blog

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?