Essay on 802.11 and 802.16 Wireless Ethernet

802.11 Standard: An Introduction
802.11 is a group of specifications developed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc. (IEEE) for wireless local area networks (WLANs). These specifications define an over-the-air interface between a wireless client and a base station, or between two or more wireless clients. More popularly, 802.11 is known as Wi-Fi and is beginning to take the world by storm. Tens of millions of Wi-Fi devices have been sold. That includes the majority of notebook computers sold. Most notebooks today have 802.11 capabilities. Wi-Fi sprang into existence as a result of a decision in 1985 by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to open several bands of the wireless spectrum for use without a government license. These so-called "garbage bands" were already allocated to equipment such as microwave ovens that use radio waves to heat food. To operate in these bands though, devices would be required to use "spread spectrum" technology. This technology spreads a radio signal out over a wide range of frequencies making the signal less susceptible to interference and difficult to intercept.
In 1990, a new IEEE committee called 802.11 was set up to look into getting a standard started. It wasn't until 1997 though, some 8 or 9 years later that this new standard was published (though pre-standard devices were already shipping).

Two variants were approved over the next two years — 802.11b which operates in the Industry, Medical and Scientific (ISM) band of 2.4 GHz and 802.11a which operates in the Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure bands of 5.3 GHz and 5.8 GHz.

Wi-Fi's popularity really took off with the development of high-speed broadband Internet access in the home. It was and remains the easiest way to share a broadband link between several computers spread over a home. The growth of hotspots, free and fee-based public access points, have added to Wi-Fi's popularity.................

ESSAYS ON TECHNOLOGY