IEEE – Defining Our World
The IEEE reads as eye-triple-e. The name was historically the acronym for the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, Inc. but today, its scope goes beyond electrical and electronics to cover related areas and is thus, simply referred to by its name, eye-triple-e. The IEEE is a non-profit organization that was formed and incorporated in New York, USA in 1963 with the merging of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIRE) founded in 1884 and the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE) founded in 1912. This effectively puts the IEEE as having its roots in 1883, making the organization celebrate its 126th anniversary this year.
Organizational Focus
The history of the IEEE is precisely the history of electricity-based technologies of the 20th century that were given due recognition by various societies like the AIRE and IRE. With the merging and the advance of electronics at that time, the IEEE's constitutional by-laws emerged to define precisely what the organization is for. It defines its purpose as “scientific and educational, directed toward the advancement of the theory and practice of electrical, electronics, communication and computer engineering, as well as computer science, the allied branches of engineering and the related arts and sciences."
In pursuing these purpose, the IEEE has evolved into a global enforcer of industrial standards over a wide range of professional disciplines like power, biomedical technologies, information technologies, telecommunications, consumer electronics, aerospace, transportation and nanotechnology, among the major ones. To this end it is the IEEE Standards Association that takes care of the promulgating the standards of the IEEE.
The IEEE also functions as a leading publisher of scientific and engineering journals as well as a conference organizer on its areas of expertise. It publishes about 30% of the world’s printed and online materials on electrical and electronics engineering as well as computer sciences and related derivative fields with well in excess of 100 peer-reviewed scientific and engineering journals.
Wi-Fi
Surfing on the Road with Wi-Fi
Local wireless internet access has become synonymous with the term WiFi. If you want to go browsing online with your laptop, netbook or mobile handset suitably equipped with WiFi, you go to the mall or café that is said to be “hotspot.” That means it’s has a local area network with a broadband connection to any Internet Service provider and an access device that broadcasts a radio frequency spectrum allowed for WiFi operation.
If your mobile handset detects this, it can tune into it an get into a handshake protocol to initiate an internet session provided the access is not restricted. Otherwise, your handset or laptop will prompt your for a password.
Some people may have mistakenly understood WiFi to mean “Wireless fidelity” from the more familiar term HiFi which meant High Fidelity in stereo systems. It doesn’t really stand for any specific phrase. Wi-Fi is just a trademarked term to stand for the IEEE 802.11x. wireless networking standard.
A Technical Definition
WiFi has come to stand for the slew of wireless LAN standards defined by the WiFi Alliance, the organization that has the trademark rights to the term which is technical defined as any "wireless local area network (WLAN) products that are based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers' (IEEE) 802.11 standards." In its early days, WiFi referred only to the 802.11b standard using 2.4Ghz spectrum.
But over the years, the WiFi Alliance has used the term as an umbrella for all WLAN products using any of the IEEE 802.11 telecommunications standard that includes 802.11a dual band all the way to its variants. These days, you see WLAN specification on mobile handsets with the WiFi 802.11 b/g specified on it. This particular Wi-Fi variant enjoys popular support from various mobile device makers.
They include video game consoles, PDAs and mobile phones as well as netbooks and laptops. Any gadget with the “WiFi Certified” label indicates it has passed the WiFi Alliance certification and can access any similarly certified WiFi access point. The certification indicates what frequency it can recognize, usually 2.5Ghz for 802.11b,g,n and 5Ghz for 802.11a.
WiMax
WiMax stands for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access. It is a wireless telecommunication technology based on the IEEE 802.16 standard that defines the use of data transmission modes in the 3 Mbps broadband range for mobile and portable internet access.
Its range and bandwidth make WiMax suited for local portable or mobile wireless data connectivity such as WiFi internet hotspots one finds in many popular sites like malls and cafes. It also allows telephone carriers to provide a wireless option to the last mile broadband solution for DSL line coverage.
Emergencies Using WiMax
The 2004 tsunami disaster in Aceh, Indonesia used WiMAX technology to help amateur radio to get in touch with the outside world as all telecommunication networks had been demolished by the tidal waves. WiMax allows the world to see the utter devastation on Aceh and helped restore communication with the survivors.
Intel donated WiMax facilities to the US government agencies involved in the relief operations after hurricane Katrina’s devastating fury that left much of the telecommunications infrastructure inoperable in the affected areas. WiMax augmented VoIP and satellite uplinks re-establish communication in these areas.
An Alternative to WiFi?
Not really. WiFi is based on the IEEE 802.11 b/g telecommunication specification standards while WiMax is based on the IEEE 802.16e standards. They are both operating on a wireless local data connectivity with broadband speeds with the latter having higher speeds and wider local coverage which make it more a competitor of the HSPA standards. Between the two, the WiFi standards are easier to implement as they cover only a limited area and have enjoyed a larger following with mobile handsets making it as part of their handset’s standard local data connectivity feature.
Sprint Nextel has venture into it as early as 2006 with a $5 Billion WiMax build-out that has yet to see fruition. In mid 2008, a major industry project involving Google, Intel, and Comcast under Sprint with Time Warner behind pooled their resources to form the company Clearwire which will operate in the 120 MHz spectrum. The deal has yet to bear any concrete benefit for its participants and with new technologies already in the horizon, it is unclear how the WiMax initiative is headed.
