Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1066130
January/February 2019 I 9 Unimportant to the everyday consumer, though crucial in the business of designing wireless systems, is the fact that Wi-Fi and 802.11 wireless standards are not necessarily the same. Wi-Fi is a branding and interoperability certification effort by an alliance of industry-leading companies around the world known as the Wi-Fi Alliance. The 802.11 family of standards are international wireless standards developed by IEEE, which are sometimes laboratory certified by and promoted by the Wi-Fi Alliance. The wireless designer working with wireless systems should understand that not all 802.11 standards or devices are Wi-Fi certified. However, having this certification offers additional assurances for interoperability and compatibility between manufacturers. Another major organization helping to shape this wireless world is the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and its work on the International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT) Systems and Specifications. Most importantly today, the ITU via IMT-2020 is outlining the requirements for 5G cellular as shown in Figure 1. The ITU also defined the industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) radio bands, which are unlicensed radio bands intended for purposes other than telecommunications. However, they are used for many of the technologies defined by the IEEE, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and those discussed in the remaining sections of this article. The FCC is the regulatory body in the U.S. that deals with licensing and frequency coordination. There are other regulatory bodies around the world that may need to be contacted for licensed wireless requirements outside of the U.S. The FCC manages the ISM bands in the U.S. and established the Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (U-NII) radio bands, another unlicensed part of the spectrum. The FCC defined the U-NII bands, but others developed the specifications for technologies that use them. Furthermore, the FCC must also be included in licensing and frequency coordination with some of the microwave/millimeter wave technologies that do not fall under ISM/U-NII rules. As shown in Table 1, the IEEE may have far more different activities, but the work of the ITU could result in it becoming the bigger player. IEEE 802.11n is technically obsolete, but it is still likely the most common Wi-Fi platform around the world today. FIGURE 1: IMT for 2020 and beyond is setting the stage for 5G that is emerging around the world. Source: ITU; ITU towards IMT for 2020 and beyond. (a) – five day meeting, (b) – focus meeting on Evaluation (Technology) Note: While not expecting to change, details may be adjusted if warranted. Report Technology trends (M.2320) Report IMT feasibility above 6 GHz (M.2376) Recommendation Vision of IMT beyond 2020 (M.2083) Modification of Res. 56/57 and new Res. 65 Technical Performance Requirements Requirements, Evaluation Criteria, & Submission Templates Circular Letters & Addendum Background & Process (IMT-2020/1,2) Proposals IMT-2020 Evaluation Consensus Outcome & Decision IMT-2020 Specifications Workshop Evaluation criteria & method