First products Wi-Fi CERTIFIED(TM) for Voice-Personal announced
AUSTIN, Texas, June 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Driven by the growing popularity
of Wi-Fi(R) technology and voice over IP (VoIP), the Wi-Fi industry has
developed a new certification program for voice-capable Wi-Fi devices in
home and small office environments. Today, the Wi-Fi Alliance announced the
Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Voice-Personal program as well as some of the first
products that have achieved this certification. This groundbreaking new
certification program extends beyond interoperability testing to test the
performance of products and help ensure that they deliver good voice
quality over the Wi-Fi link.
"Wi-Fi enabled devices are increasingly used for data and also
multimedia applications," said Edgar Figueroa, executive director of the
Wi-Fi Alliance. "Our certification programs deliver interoperability and
quality of service between Wi-Fi CERTIFIED devices. Now, the Voice-Personal
program goes to the next level, helping to ensure good voice quality for
calls made over a Wi-Fi network."
Estimates from analyst firms forecast shipments of Wi-Fi/cellular
converged phones to number between 250 and 350 million units in 2011. In a
converged Wi-Fi/cellular phone, Wi-Fi connectivity can offer significant
throughput to support bandwidth-intensive applications. By allowing
subscribers to utilize Wi-Fi for voice as well as data on converged phones,
carriers can manage licensed spectrum resources better, as subscribers make
and receive calls using a combination of licensed and unlicensed Wi-Fi
spectrum. Additionally, voice over the Wi-Fi network can mean improved
indoor coverage
"We are seeing increasing expectations from wireless subscribers that
handsets include Wi-Fi technology to handle both voice and data, and
carriers are responding in kind with an interesting array of offerings
combining Wi-Fi and cellular service," said Victoria Fodale, manager,
Market Data/Intelligence for In-Stat. "Delivering a high-quality user
experience with voice over Wi-Fi will be critical to the success of
converged service offerings, so the Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Voice-Personal testing
program is an important step for the industry."
Voice over Wi-Fi is typically used within mixed voice and data
environments, in which multiple data streams compete for the available
network resources. Products that successfully achieve Voice-Personal
certification prioritize voice communication over data, audio, or video
traffic, and also have met strict performance levels for key metrics that
ensure a quality experience in voice applications: packet loss, latency and
jitter.
The following are among some of the first devices to become Wi-Fi
CERTIFIED Voice-Personal:
-- Broadcom(R) BCM94704AGR High Performance Dual-Band (2.4/5 GHz)
Router Reference Design
-- Cisco Systems Aironet 1250 Series Access Point (AIR-AP1252AG )
-- Cisco Systems Aironet 1200 Series Access Point (AIR-AP1231G with
AIR- RM21A)
-- DSP Group Expeditor Reference Design (with XpandR 1.01 software)
-- Intel(R) Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN
-- Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection
-- Meru Networks AP200
-- Redpine Signals Lite-Fi(TM) TGn SDIO
Products Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Voice-Personal have also passed tests for core
interoperability (802.11a/b/g or 802.11n draft 2.0) and Wi-Fi Protected
Access(TM) 2 (WPA2(TM)) for the strong security protections, as well as
Wi-Fi Multimedia(TM) (WMM(R)) for quality of service and WMM Power Save
(access points only). Users should look for both access points and client
devices that are Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Voice-Personal to ensure optimal voice
quality when making calls over a Wi-Fi network.
A list of all products Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Voice-Personal, as well as a
free white paper which describes the program in detail, is available at
http://www.wi-fi.org.
About the Wi-Fi Alliance
The Wi-Fi Alliance is a global, non-profit industry association of more
than 300 member companies devoted to promoting the growth of wireless Local
Area Networks (WLANs). With the aim of enhancing the user experience for
wireless portable, mobile, and home entertainment devices, the Wi-Fi
Alliance's testing and certification programs help ensure the
interoperability of WLAN products based on the IEEE 802.11 specification.
Since the introduction of the Wi-Fi Alliance's certification program in
March 2000, more than 4,500 products have been designated as Wi-Fi
CERTIFIED(TM), encouraging the expanded use of Wi-Fi products and services
across the consumer and enterprise markets.
Wi-Fi(R), Wi-Fi Alliance(R), WMM(R), the Wi-Fi CERTIFIED logo, the
Wi-Fi logo, and the Wi-Fi ZONE logo are registered trademarks of the Wi-Fi
Alliance; Wi-Fi CERTIFIED(TM), Wi-Fi Protected Setup(TM), Wi-Fi Protected
Access (WPA)(TM), Wi-Fi Multimedia(TM), and the Wi-Fi Alliance logo are
trademarks of the Wi-Fi Alliance.
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