IEEE To Take WiMax Speeds Up More Than a Notch

The IEEE is working on a new fixed and mobile broadband wireless access standard that aims to increase speeds to 1 Gbps.

802.16m (http://www.ieee802.org/16/tgm/index.html), which was approved as a referenced project late last year, is focused on creating a standard vendors can use to improve product performance to support future advanced application requirements.Products built to the standard also will interoperate with 802.16e-compatible Mobile WiMAX gear. According to a filing on the IEEE's Web site, work on the standard will continue through 2009.

Industry watchers say they don't expect to see products created to this standard commercially available until at least 2010.

The filing says 802.16m will meet the International Telecommunication Union's (ITU) standards for 4G, which may prompt the convergence of multiple standards and the development of new wireless services.

Although some industry watchers question the momentum of WiMax itself as 3G standards pick up steam, they say the idea of higher-speed version of the standard could give the spec some much needed-competitive energy.