Compatibility between 802.16 and 802.11

Hi,

Are 802.16 devices downward compatible with 802.11 devices?

My initial thought was below:
802.16 and 802.11 are completely different standards. So it is not
required for WiMax(802.16) products to support WiFi (802.11). However
there may be products that may provide some sort of bridging
functionality between the two.

Is the above correct?
All comments appreciated.
Shashank

On 24 May 2005 09:14:44 -0700, (E-Mail Removed) wrote:

>Are 802.16 devices downward compatible with 802.11 devices?

No. Not even close. There's talk of using SDR (software defined
radio) methods to create a universal client radio for laptops and
PDA's, but at this time, it's science fiction. Note that it can be
done.

>My initial thought was below:
>802.16 and 802.11 are completely different standards. So it is not
>required for WiMax(802.16) products to support WiFi (802.11).

802.11b/g has a considerable number of inefficiencies (mostly timing)
that 802.16 solves. Re-introducing these inefficiencies, on the same
frequencies, is both expensive and clumsy. Most of the WiMax stuff
will move to the new 3.6Ghz band anyway, where there's no 802.11, so
compatibility may not be as important as perhaps in a laptop or PDA
that needs to talk to both.

>However
>there may be products that may provide some sort of bridging
>functionality between the two.

Ethernet to Ethernet should work just fine. You might wanna throw in
Bluetooth, IrDA, and various fiber optic interfaces for a truely
universal conglomeration.

Question: What problem are you trying to solve?


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