Despite the good evolution in recent years of industry standards that allow a device to seamlessly and securely connect to Wi-Fi hotspots broadcasting in unlicensed spectrum, there are still shortcomings around making QoS metrics on Wi-Fi technology. Therefore, current dissemination of multi-standards will not be sufficient for improved Quality of Experience to the user and do not facilitate implementation; the seamless connection does not insure a quality connection for browsing or maintain a Wi-Fi call and often the user may be forced to switch to a different network.
This white paper addresses these and outlines the importance of industry standards to address the following topics:
• QoS metrics prioritization so they can be used as a means to communicate the quality of a deployed Wi-Fi venue.
• QoS metrics monitoring in a deployed Wi-Fi network by using standardized mechanisms
• QoS metrics communication to connecting device, allowing the device to learn about the Wi-Fi network before it decides to conn
• QoS Service prioritization so traffic can be prioritized for an improved quality experience.
• Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) identification and standardization as commonly agreed by the Operator community.
• Security mechanisms, assuring exchanged information is protected.
“Wi-Fi is increasingly becoming a key pillar to deliver wireless services, the ecosystem players, not only Operators but also Cities, Municipalities and Venues, have turned their attention to the need to implement Wi-Fi standards to start addressing Quality of Service delivery according to a set of consensual metrics and KPIs. WBA members believe this is also a step towards enabling Always Best Connected experience when Wi-Fi and cellular may be at stake to enable the connection. In this context, WBA decided to put together this white paper, and welcome industry partners who want to deliver Quality of Service on Wi-Fi to provide any inputs to the upcoming standardization work,” said Shrikant Shenwai, CEO of the Wireless Broadband Alliance.
Looking forward on the standardization steps, WBA will also champion the development of end-to-end QoS trials, leveraging on the vast experience with Next Generation Hotspots (NGH) trials, helping to prove the concept and closing existing gaps to deliver truly QoE to the end user on Wi-Fi and other unlicensed spectrum technologies.
The full white paper, entitled ‘Quality of Service on Carrier Grade Wi-Fi’, is available to download here.
About the Wireless Broadband Alliance
Founded in 2003, the mission of the Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) is to accelerate global leadership for enabling of wireless services that are seamless, secure and interoperable. Building on our heritage of Next Generation Hotspot (NGH) and carrier Wi-Fi, WBA will continue to drive and support the adoption of Next Generation Wireless services across the entire public Wi-Fi ecosystem, including IoT, Converged Services, Smart Cities, 5G, etc. Today, membership includes major fixed operators such as BT, Comcast and Charter Communications; seven of the top 10 mobile operator groups (by revenue) and leading technology companies such as Cisco, Microsoft, Huawei Technologies, Google and Intel.
The WBA Board includes AT&T, Boingo Wireless, BT, China Telecom, Cisco Systems, Comcast, Intel, KT Corporation, Liberty Global, NTT DOCOMO, Orange and Ruckus Wireless. For a complete list of current WBA members, please click here.
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