New WiFi standards support mesh networks & promise higher data rates

Stuart Corner
Tuesday, 11 October 2011 17:35

Business IT - Networking

The IEEE has published two important new standards for WiFi mesh networking and peer-to-peer communication between WiFi devices. It says the latter could produce a 10 fold increase in the data rate between connected devices.

The two standards are IEEE 802.11z Wireless LAN: Extensions to Direct Link Setup and IEEE 802.11s

WiFi devices operating to the IEEE 802.11 standard are usually connected to an access point in a star topology. Data moving from one of the clients to another is transferred though the access point. The 802.11z amendment defines mechanisms that allow devices to set up direct links with each other while also remaining associated with the access point. These mechanisms are referred to as Tunnelled Direct Link Setup (TDLS). Under the new standard a direct link is set up automatically, without need for user intervention, while the connection with the AP is maintained.

The standard is applied to client devices only; so new WiFi devices supporting the standard will be able to implement direct communication even when connected to old access points.

According to the IEEE, the new standard provides a number of significant benefits. "IEEE 802.11z reduces the number of times a packet gets transmitted over the air from two to one. The shorter transmission times on TDLS direct links will provide power savings as well. If client devices are capable of operating at data rates or in frequency bands not supported by the access point they can do so'¦

"Client-to-client transmissions will often occur at much higher data rates [resulting] in shorter transmission times and client device power savings'¦TDLS also allows the use of enhanced capabilities that may not be supported by the access point, so the connection speed between the devices will typically be much faster via a TDLS direct link."

Th IEEE says: "Depending on the specific situation, a 10-fold increase of the data rate between the devices is well within the realm of possibilities with TDLS. In addition, eliminating the hop through the AP significantly reduces the latency of the connection between the client devices."

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