As the number of products with embedded Wi-Fi connectivity multiplies, the test engine methodology provides vendors with a scalable testing approach. Originally targeted at application-specific devices, the approach can be used for all Wi-Fi products. The benefits of this new methodology include:

• a standard approach that simplifies device implementation and can be used by different vendor platforms;
• a standard platform to run the certification test, which can reduce the cost to certify at a Wi-Fi Alliance authorized test lab;
• the ability to run the same test that will be run at the lab, enabling reliable “pre-certification;“
• fully automated certification test that multiple SKUs to be tested simultaneously in unattended mode.

In addition, while the test engine provides a standard interface and methodology to facilitate the implementation and automation of the Wi-Fi certification testing process, the same methodology can also be applied to performance testing. The net result is a methodology that is expected to be cost effective and efficient for vendors and test labs to implement. The new approach meets the challenges of testing the growing number of Wi-Fi-enabled devices and will enable continued proliferation of interoperable, Wi-Fi Certified products.

1. “Wi-Fi Certified Makes it Wi-Fi,” Wi-Fi Alliance, September 2006.

Charles Wright is the chief scientist at Azimuth Systems. He has 20 years of experience in digital communications and signal processing. Wright was involved with early 802.11a development, and is the chair of the 802.11 Task Group T, which is writing a recommended practice for evaluating 802.11 wireless performance. He earned his Ph.D. and BSEE from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and his MSEE from the University of Southern California.

Jeff Abramowitz is the vice president of marketing for Azimuth Systems. He joined Azimuth in August of 2005 from Broadcom, where he was the senior director of marketing responsible for its Wi-Fi marketing and business development. Abramowitz has 20 years of experience in the wireless industry; the last 11 years have been marketing Wi-Fi systems and semiconductors. He received a BSME from the University of Pennsylvania, a MSEE from MIT and an MBA from Stanford's Graduate School of Business.

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