Wireless fight cuts off standards

Wireless developer Proxim today kicked off legal proceedings against all other manufacturers of 802.11b radio Lan cards.

Analysts told vnunet.com that the spat, over alleged patent infringements, will radically shake up the industry by sparking a round of in-fighting over which standards will dominate the burgeoning wireless market.

The development comes a week after Intel dumped support for Proxim's Home RF wireless standard in favour of the competing 802.11b standard, also known as Wi-Fi. On the back of Intel's move Proxim's shares tumbled 40 per cent on the Nasdaq index.

Michael Wall, wireless research analyst for Frost and Sullivan, said the move may well have been pre-meditated "as Proxim, a one-time market leader, makes a last ditch attempt to get some revenue".

According to Wall, Proxim is holding an ever decreasing market share as companies supporting 802.11b start cleaning up. "It was a mistake to back Home RF," he said. "802.11b will be the biggest WLan frequency."

Wall added that because members of the IEEE development forum are contributing patented technology, there has been and will be more in-fighting over which standards to use, and more legal proceedings over patent breaches.

A statement from Proxim claims that the action is to "extend its effort to protect its patented, direct sequence wireless networking technology". The company has requested that the International Trade Commission (ITC) "stop the importation of products that infringe Proxim's patented wireless networking technology".

Some of the companies affected include 3Com, Cisco, Intersil, SMC Networks, Symbol, Wayport, Acer and D-Link.

Kevin Negus, vice president of business development at Proxim, said: "Our goal in taking these actions is simply to receive fair compensation for the use of our valuable intellectual property."