By Aaron Tan
Monday, June 19 2006 05:10 PM
URL: http://www.zdnetasia.com/communicasia/2006/0,39057962,39368848,00.htm

You have to hand it to the folks from wireless industry for their yawn-inducing list of protocols and standards.

Not only do their specifications run a long list of mind-boggling digits prefixed 802, they leave people wondering about the relationship between teeth and short-range connections.

To help you unscramble the sea of wireless brouhaha, here's a list of explanations for common jargon in an increasingly wire-free world.

Bluetooth
A short-range wireless technology commonly used by cellphone users to connect headsets to their device. It is also used by handheld owners to move data between various devices and the PC.

The technology was introduced by Ericsson in 1994, and now governed by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group which was set up in February 1998. Because the technology is designed to connect different devices, it was named after Danish King Harald "Bluetooth" Blatand who was known for uniting the warring factions of Denmark and Norway.

IEEE 802.11a/b/g
Conjured up by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the 802.11 family of standards refers to wireless network connectivity options that vary according to access speeds and frequency bandwidths.

802.11a provides connection speeds of up to 54Mbps (megabits per second), and because it operates in the less crowded 5GHz bandwidth, there is less interference and users enjoy better connection quality. The drawback: shorter coverage range compared to the "b" and "g" standards.

The 802.11b standard offers speeds of only 11Mbps and operates in the 2.4GHz bandwidth, which is also used by digital cordless phones and some wireless loudspeakers. While it covers a wider area than the "a" standard, it is easily subject to interference.

802.11g is a beefed up version of the "b" standard, operating on the same 2.4GHz bandwidth with speeds of up to 54Mbps.

Because the "b" and "g" standards are compatible, a "g" wireless router can accept connections from devices equipped with the slower "b" wireless network cards.

Wireless Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax)
As its name suggests, this wireless broadband technology operates in the microwave spectrum of between 2GHz to 66GHz, providing access speeds of up to 2Mbps today.

Most WiMax service providers are typically required to apply for a spectrum license from their local government. This rule is an exception if they are riding on unlicensed spectrums, which can be anything between 2GHz to 11GHz in most countries.

WiMax is governed by IEEE specifications, namely the 802.16d and 802.16e standards.

The 802.16d standard is known as fixed WiMax, which does not support mobility--so it cannot provide seamless connection from one access point to another. Its use is primarily restricted to last mile connections, especially in areas under-served by existing Internet service providers. Almost all WiMax deployments in the world today are based on fixed WiMax.

Mobile WiMax is defined by the 'e' standard, such as 802.16e, which was only ratified last December. The specification allows users to move from across access points within the coverage area, without

losing their connections. There have been arguments that mobile WiMax might make 3G (Third-Generation) cellphone networks obsolete, but that remains to be seen.

Third-Generation (3G)
There are several 3G technology standards in the world, but the most common one used today is W-CDMA, or wideband code division multiple access. Developed by Japan's NTT DoCoMo, the standard was later included into the GSM family. It allows cellphone users to make video calls and watch streaming videos at speeds of up to 384Kbps (kilobits per second).

EV-DO, or 1x Evolution-Data Optimized, is the 3G technology used by CDMA operators in Korea, Japan and the United States, among other non-GSM service providers. It was developed by U.S.-based Qualcomm in 1999.

In a bid to be independent of Western technology, China, too, developed its own 3G standard called TD-SCDMA (time division-synchronous code division multiple access). In January this year, the Chinese government gave the thumbs up for its home-grown technology and declared it ready to be incorporated into cellphones. Lured by the world's largest cellphone market, foreign telecoms players such as Siemens are backing the 3G standard.

EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution)
Also known as 2.75G, the technology is a leg up over the older GPRS (general packet radio service) technology. It offers access speeds of up to 240Kbps, compared to about 80Kbps for GPRS.

Some operators, such as Hong Kong's Peoples, have found the technology good enough to provide data services similarly available on 3G networks.

Other operators in the region with EDGE networks include Smart in the Philippines, DiGi and Maxis in Malaysia, DTAC in Thailand and AirTel in India.

HSDPA (high speed downlink packet access)
Touted as the successor of 3G, this technology is an upgrade of W-CDMA networks, where access speeds can be boosted to about 1.4Mbps. In the Asia-Pacific region, China, South Korea, Japan, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and Australia, are among the countries which plan to roll out HSDPA networks, or are in the midst of doing so.

Hardware makers such as Intel, Lenovo and Samsung have already committed to developing HSDPA-enabled devices. WiMax connectivity, however, will only be commercially available in portable devices in 2009.