The Beacon

Welcome to The Beacon!

by
Edgar Figueroa

Wi-Fi® is continually evolving, and Wi-Fi Alliance® is fortunate to be at the center of this dynamic, exciting industry. Our more than 550 member companies across the globe represent a diverse industry mix, ranging from carriers to device manufacturers and everything in between. These members are shaping the future of Wi-Fi technology, bringing the innovation and thought leadership that continues to drive new Wi-Fi applications and products.

With that in mind, we are excited to introduce The Beacon, a blog built to provide a platform for these visionary leaders to provide their insights on industry trends, hot technology topics, emerging markets, and real-world technology applications. We have some excellent contributions in the pipeline, and we hope you’ll agree that the blog is appropriately named as a prominent location to celebrate innovation in our industry.

Over the next few months, we’ll have a variety of contributed articles, postings, infographics, and videos focusing on a flagship program for 2013 – Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ ac. Looking further ahead, we will provide The Beacon readers with a look at other exciting developments in our industry, and we plan to generate discussion on current and emerging Wi-Fi Alliance programs, as well as broader industry trends.

Please share The Beacon with colleagues and let us know what you think by participating in the comments. We look forward to hearing from you!

The statements and opinions by each Wi-Fi Alliance member and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not reflect the opinions or views of Wi-Fi Alliance or any other member. Wi-Fi Alliance is not responsible for the accuracy of any of the information provided by any member in posting to or commenting on this blog. Concerns should be directed to info@wi-fi.org.

Submitted by Gunnar Forsgre… on Sun, 08/18/2013 - 08:45

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Hello I have a question regarding the RF spectrum and otherwise legal aspect of implementing a chip that transmit only the beacon (SSID) part of the Wifi protocol; Is it somehow legal to operate a specific beacon circuit that speak in the same RF band as WiFi certified devices but where its only task i to sends out an SSID that is identified by the Wifi chips as such ? Such a simplified circuit seem attractive to deploy in volume as low cost position indication transmitters, where a full Wifi circuit might be impractical to deploy in volume due to cost and really functionality overkill. Feedback appreciated.

Wi-Fi Alliance is not involved in regulatory testing of Wi-Fi devices. We are an industry collaboration forum developing technology and certification programs that ensure interoperability among Wi-Fi enabled products to deliver the best user experience. If you have specific questions related to interoperability testing and product certification, please let us know.

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Edgar Figueroa

Wi-Fi Alliance

President and Chief Executive Officer

As president and CEO of Wi-Fi Alliance, Edgar has led an unprecedented period of growth for Wi-Fi®. Under Edgar’s leadership, Wi-Fi Alliance has grown to more than 800 member companies, maintained an aggressive development roadmap, and adopted a vision of “Connecting everyone and everything, everywhere.” Edgar forged numerous strategic partnerships to facilitate penetration of Wi-Fi into established and emerging markets. Edgar also defined the Wi-Fi Alliance Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ program development framework, and guided the launch of several generations of interoperable Wi-Fi programs that have proliferated Wi-Fi into mass markets such as mobile and consumer electronics.

Prior to Wi-Fi Alliance, Edgar was at Ridgeway Systems & Software (now Cisco). He was instrumental in delivering the industry’s first session border controller, and the H.460.18 and H.460.19 International Telecommunications Union standards for secure network traversal. Before Ridgeway, Edgar held product management and engineering roles at 3M Company.

Edgar is a veteran of the United States Navy, where he served in a fighter pilot training squadron and received numerous awards including Sailor of the Year. He has taught at the University of Texas at Austin, Austin Community College, and various community programs in Austin Texas. In 2009, he was inducted into the Hispanic Scholarship Fund Alumni Hall of Fame.

Edgar is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin. He holds a Masters in Technology Commercialization, and undergraduate degrees with honors in Mechanical Engineering and Mathematics.

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