Wi-Fi has made an important leap in connecting devices anywhere, anytime - with or without a traditional network available. The Wi-Fi Alliance today announced that it has begun certifying products capable of making device-to-device connections, designating those products Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Wi-Fi Direct.
Wi-Fi Direct devices meet an important consumer need: directly connecting devices for applications such as content sharing, synching, printing, and gaming anywhere with ease.
"We designed Wi-Fi Direct to unleash a wide variety of applications which require device connections, but do not need the internet or even a traditional network," said Edgar Figueroa, CEO of the Wi-Fi Alliance. "Wi-Fi Direct empowers users to connect devices - when, where and how they want to, and our certification program delivers products that work well together, regardless of the brand."
Wi-Fi Direct-certified devices can connect with older Wi-Fi CERTIFIED devices, enabling a vast range of devices already in use to connect with products implementing Wi-Fi Direct from the certification program's inception. Wi-Fi Direct products can work on 802.11 a, g and n Wi-Fi standards. Users can match Wi-Fi Direct products just like any other Wi-Fi CERTIFIED products. All Wi-Fi Direct devices operate in the 2.4 GHz frequency band and can connect to 802.11g and some 802.11n devices. In addition, some Wi-Fi Direct devices work in the 5 GHz frequency band to connect to 802.11a and some 802.11n. Many devices operate in both frequency bands.
Wi-Fi Direct devices include a push-button set up mechanism, employ the latest WPA2 security protections, and bring typical Wi-Fi throughput and range. Wi-Fi Direct-certified devices can support Wi-Fi CERTIFIED n technology as well as older forms of Wi-Fi.
The first products to be designated Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Wi-Fi Direct, and which form the test suite for the certification program are:
* Atheros XSPAN Dual-band 802.11n PCIe Mini Card (AR928x)
* Broadcom BCM43224 Dual-Band 802.11n 2x2 MIMO PCIe Half Mini Card
* Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6200
* Ralink MIMObility 802.11n 2x2 PCIe Half Mini Card
* Realtek RTL8192CE-VA4 HM92C00 PCIe mini card
In addition, the Cisco 2106 Wireless LAN Controller and Cisco Aironet 1240 Series Access Points are used in the certification test suite.