Wireless LAN Interoperability Forum

The Wireless LAN Interoperability Forum (WLIF) was a non-profit industry organization founded in 1996 to promote and certify wireless LAN products. It was active from about 1996 through 1998 and disbanded in 2001.[1]

History

The organization was announced on May 20, 1996, chaired by Chris Gladwin of Zenith Data Systems. It first based its technology on the RangeLAN2 products licensed by Proxim Wireless, which were originally developed around 1994.[1][2][3] The RangeLAN2 name was later changed to OpenAir, and IEEE 802.11 standards were later mentioned, although the Wi-Fi Alliance controlled the trademark for those protocols. In 1998 Mike Jones of Intermec Technologies was its chairman and its membership included: AMP (now part of Tyco Electronics), Citadel, Cruise Technologies, Data General, Fujitsu Personal Systems, Hand Held Products, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, IDWare, Intermec Technologies, Kansai, Kinetic Computer, LXE, MaxTech, Mitsubishi Electronics America, Monarch Marketing Systems (subsidiary of Paxar, then part of Avery Dennison), Motorola, NEC Computer Systems Division, Percon (formerly a division of PSC Inc., later IntelliTrack), Proxim Wireless and Sharp Corporation.[4] Hand Held Products (later Honeywell) marketed Dolphin RF devices to extend Ethernet[5] and a barcode scanner.[6]

The protocol operated in the 2.4 GHz ISM band and used frequency hopping with 0.8 and 1.6 Mbit/s bit rates via 2 or 4 bits per symbol frequency-shift keying modulation.[7]

References

  1. 1 2 "Mobile data network industry leaders form Wireless LAN Interoperability Forum". Press release. May 20, 1996. Archived from the original on April 27, 1999. Retrieved September 14, 2013.
  2. ↑ J.K. Peterson, ed. (2010). Fiber Optics Illustrated Dictionary. CRC Press. p. 1014.
  3. ↑ "RangeLAN2 7100 ISA Card". ARC Electronics. Retrieved September 14, 2013.
  4. ↑ "Wireless LAN Interoperability Forum Membership Grows to Further Interoperability of Wireless LAN Standards". Press release. September 14, 1998. Archived from the original on April 22, 1999. Retrieved September 14, 2013.
  5. ↑ "Honeywell Dolphin RF Access Points". RACO Industries. Retrieved September 14, 2013.
  6. ↑ "Dolphin™ RF Getting Started" (PDF). Product manual. August 3, 1998. Retrieved September 14, 2013.
  7. ↑ Jean Tourrilhes (August 3, 2000). "Some Wireless LAN standards". Linux Wireless LAN Howto. Retrieved September 14, 2013.
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