Cisco rounds 'em up for WLAN interoperability

Cisco today announced a no cost licensing program dubbed "Cisco Compatible Extensions" that enables interoperability of non-Cisco WLAN devices with Cisco's Aironet WLAN infrastructure. The agreement licenses some of Cisco's WLAN client technology to 802.11 silicon suppliers. Licensees then incorporate the Cisco technology into reference designs that WLAN OEM and ODMs use to design and manufacture the end products.

WLAN client manufacturers will need to join the Cisco program and submit their products to an independent test lab for compatibility testing. Products passing the test suite will be allowed to display the "Cisco Compatible" logo. Cisco's program is primarily focused on promoting their solutions for WEP enhancement , authentication , and Virtual LAN (VLAN) formation, and isn't intended to displace the Wi-Fi Alliance's "Wi-Fi" interoperability testing. On the contrary, one of the requirements of Cisco's program is that submitted products also be Wi-Fi compliant .

The first version of the Cisco Compatible Extensions includes compliance with the Cisco Wireless Security Suite, and compatibility with Cisco's scheme for assigning wireless LAN clients to virtual LANs (VLANs). (Cisco's WLAN Security Suite includes Cisco LEAP and MAC address authentication, as well as Message Integrity Check (MIC) and per packet keying WEP enhancements.)

Version 2, which is expected to be released sometime in April will add the requirements of PEAP 802.1X authentication, Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA), and new Cisco enhancements aimed at improving roaming performance and wireless LAN management.

Cisco's announcement said WLAN chip makers Agere Systems, Atheros, Atmel, Intel, Intersil, Marvell and Texas Instruments, and computing giants HP and IBM had already signed on to the program. "Lead Collaborator" Intel's Centrino Mobile Technology was also listed as "plan[ning] to incorporate Cisco Compatibility for next generation notebook PCs".

Atheros said in a separate announcement that their multi-mode PC Card design, based on its AR5001X chipset, was the first to receive Cisco Compatible Extensions approval.