Business Services Industry

Major Players Drive New IEEE 802.11 Wireless LAN Standard Momentum

Business Wire, June 21, 1996

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 21, 1996--More than a dozen leading high-tech companies are supporting a new wireless network standard that promises to popularize the technology and drive down costs.

"A wireless LAN standard is required for wide-scale adoption of the technology, in order to address the customer needs of vendor interoperability and significantly reduce costs," said Dan Merriman, a director at the Giga Information Group, a market research firm in Cambridge, Mass.

The standard is currently being developed by the members of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE). IEEE is the professional body that defines data communications and networking standards, including Ethernet, the world's most common method for linking PCs to networks.

The new wireless standard, designated IEEE P802.11 by the institute, has gained wide support from a "who's who" of technology companies at the forefront of today's communications revolution including AMD, BreezeCOM, Digital Equipment Corporation, Digital Ocean, Harris Semiconductor, Lucent Technologies (formerly AT&T Corporation), National Datacomm Corp., Norand Corporation, Oki Semiconductor, Philips Semiconductors, Proxim, Pulse Engineering, Raytheon Electronics, Symbionics, Symbol Technologies Inc., Windata and Xircom.

All are currently developing products conforming to the standard, with the goal of seamless interoperability between each company's products.

"This official public support of the 802.11 by vendors is not only a commitment to make implementations within the framework of the standard, but also will facilitate the early availability of equipment, services and applications for their systems," said Sonina Velasquez of Tech Research, Mt. Laurel, N.J.

Wireless networks enable computer users in office buildings, factories, warehouses and other settings to roam about with portable computers and access the corporate network anytime, anyplace. The market potential appears enormous; Frost & Sullivan, a market research company, estimates nearly $2 billion in sales by the end of the decade. -0-

Note to Editors: AMD, the AMD logo and combinations thereof are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.

CONTACT: AMD

Doug Makishima, 408/749-4569

E-Mail: doug.makishima@amd.com

Dyan Chan, 408/749-2383

BreezeCOM

Nancy Teater, 415/321-0252

E-Mail: nrt@hamilton.com

Digital Equipment Corporation

Linda Pugliano, 508/486-6617

E-Mail: pugliano@delni.enet.dec.com

Digital Ocean