Abstract
The deadline for mandatory adoption of the WAPI standard ratified by the Chinese government to address the deficiencies of WEP draws near. After June 1st 2003 WLAN devices without WAPI certification will be barred from production, import, or sale in China. Overtures on the part of Wi-Fi alliance members such as Broadcom and Intel have been aired, indicating the difficulty of compliance. Such players will be suspending WLAN chip shipments to China, which stands to impact performance of brand-name WLAN equipment vendors in the Chinese market. Similarly, Centrino-equipped notebook PC sales to China will be affected.
Leveraging the potential of the country's domestic market, the Chinese government is continually working to set standards to cultivate domestic industry. Following forays into Linux, TD-SCDMA (Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access), and EVD (Enhanced Versatile Disk), WAPI is a new result of similar thinking, with the goal of cultivating the Chinese WLAN chip industry.
Putting aside the debate over the superiority of WAPI or 802.11i, the generational transition between 802.11a and 802.11g is dependant on PHY (Physical Layer) transmission standards. Whether 802.11i or WAPI, any software security standard only plays a supporting role to the necessary chip hardware architecture.
Unlike TD-SCDMA, which could be counted among the 3G air interface specifications, WAPI is merely a security standard rather than a transmission standard. WAPI thus cannot play a leading role in WLAN devices. If WAPI is not used for Wi-Fi test cases, WAPI will be only one country's test specification.
In the conflict between WAPI and international chipmakers, both sides remain recalcitrant. However, the market keeps no enemies, and after the saber rattling, both sides will be looking for solutions to substitute or compromise, perhaps even cooperate. However, if the stalemate persists, business will still need to be done and face may still need to be saved, opening the possibility that a third party, IEEE, may include WAPI in its draft for 802.11i.