Many of us are familiar with 802.11a, b and g wireless technologies which are being widely used for wireless connectivity. Apart from these, some have also shifted to 802.11n which is an improved version with higher data bandwidth and MIMO (Multiple-In Multiple-Out) technology. Though these offer wider network coverage along with higher data transmission, they also draw huge power during continuous wireless data transmission. Seeing that the current technology is not very eco-friendly, the IEEE community has drafted a new Wi-Fi standard that focuses mainly on reducing the power wastage and maintaining a green environment.
Work on this standard initially started in 2004 and is expected to be completed by 2010, but some main features like power saving have already been defined. One of the attractive features of this standard include a Wireless Network Management Sleep Mode that will enable a wireless device to have a longer hibernate duration, which in turn will save more power. Besides putting the wireless device into idle mode, the protocol can also wake up any 802.11v compatible device through “Wake on WLAN” without any user’s interference.
Apart from these, there will be new station management features that will increase network performance and strengthen security. The only thing which concerns is that it shouldn’t be too long for the industry to come out with an 802.11v enabled device.
