Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Signal Handoff Could Mean Roaming VoIP over WiFi

Posted by timothy on from the run-your-own-cloud dept.

wassup writes "According to this article in MIT tech review (and here), researchers at University of California San Diego have developed a technology called SyncScan that will reduce handoff delay in WiFi networks to a few milliseconds. VoIP roaming will be here soon!"

6 of 91 comments (clear)

  1. just wait... by jleq · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ... until the wireless providers find out. We will finally break the speed of light when all of their lawyers run crying to the FCC and FTC. "OmG, unfair competition!" This, combined with municipal wi-fi, could lead to a much less expensive wireless future for us all. Yay!

  2. Re:What about TCP/IP handoff? by jleq · · Score: 3, Insightful

    True... unless, of course, the access points are all on the same network (and therefore use the same DHCP server)

  3. "checks ... only at the precise times ..." by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The sync up is interesting.
    If you're on one of 11 channels and you spend 10ms every 100ms checking for a beacon on each of the other 10 channels it takes you one second to check 1/10 of the channel-beacon slots. So, after 10 seconds, you've got all slots nailed down to 10ms windows. Once you have all the slots you can update the signal strengths on the active channels once per second and discover any new beacon within 10 seconds.
    Yep, pretty cool....

  4. Why do people love wifi everywhere so much ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It's just one big LAN and easy pickings for 1337 kiddies with packet sniffers.

    And why would you want to join an untrusted network anyway ? So the admin of that network can keep nice juicy logs of everything you are doing ?

    Strange.

  5. Actually by bluGill · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Actually VOIP over WiFi is more likely to be useful in deserts and other remote areas because those who care can setup their own network. It might not be worthwhile for a cell phone company to put up a cell tower, but a farmer can put a WiFi station on his silo and get pretty good coverage of his ranch. Sure it won't have a large coverage areas, but it covers his needs.

  6. Re:Don't worry... by Saeger · · Score: 3, Insightful
    It's just greedy human nature. Machiavelli put it best 500 years ago:
    "Innovation makes enemies of all those who prospered under the old regime, and only lukewarm support is forthcoming from those who would prosper under the new."
    I've had that quote up on my wall for a number of years, since it helps to remind me how consistantly people -- and especially the cashcow status quo -- resist any disruptive change that shifts net benefit/power to a greater number of people.
    --
    Power to the Peaceful