Wi-Fi looks set to play a growing role in mobile networks even as LTE and other new cellular technologies with higher capacity are deployed.
若干网络供应商正在使用本周的移动世界大会，作为旨在使运营商的Wi-Fi网络更快更易于使用的硬件和软件的Launchpad。虽然正在引入IEEE 802.11n标准的增强版本，但是在移动运营商装备中，公司也是揭示运营商的软件，以便自动将其用户从蜂窝到Wi-Fi网络转移到Wi-Fi网络。
蜂窝公司已经提供了客户在咖啡馆，餐馆和零售店的Wi-Fi热点使用几年。在美国，例如，AT＆T在2008年获得了热点运营商Wayport，现在有大约20,000个热点。T-Mobile USA还拥有广泛的热点网络，verizon无线提供许多。AT＆T最近开始了equipping larger areas, such as New York's Times Square, with outdoor Wi-Fi.
These networks can give subscribers a place to get faster Internet access while getting handsets off the cellular network. Femtocells, the small cellular base stations being deployed in homes and some outdoor areas,are another alternative。但随着越来越多of smartphones and cellular-equipped tablets in consumers' hands, nearly all of which have Wi-Fi built in, Wi-Fi infrastructure is expected to become even more important.
新的承运人Wi-Fi技术正在击中市场，因为移动运营商开始将其蜂窝网络升级到提供更多速度和容量本身的新一代设备。世界各地的许多运营商都已部署或已致力于推出LTE（长期演进），而一些人使用WiMAX等，其他人转向HSPA +（高速数据包接入加），这是一个可以提供可比增压的3G技术速度。但是，尽管这些收益，但对Wi-Fi的需求预计将继续增长。
“LTE不会是那里的所有移动流量的答案，”当前分析的分析师Daryl Sourthar表示。“运营商将不得不查看多条路线来让用户进入互联网。”他将移动网络与一个州际公路进行比较，在那里添加以缓解充血的车道往往会迅速变得堵塞。正如一个完整的交通系统需要侧面道路和公共交通，许多移动网络都需要Wi-Fi，硕士说。
在星期一，Cisco introduced its first line of IEEE 802.11n access points for outdoor service-provider networks，Aironet 1550系列户外无线接入点系列。上周，Atheros Communications和Marvell都是unveiled chips for mobile phones, being shown at MWC, that can use a form of 802.11n with two streams of packets。
主要芯片制造商（包括Atheros）已经为智能手机提供单流1x1芯片。11N在思科接入点线中也可提供2×2 MIMO（多个，多个，多个输出），虽然11N将理论Wi-Fi速度提升到150米的BPS（每秒比特），但也可以在Cisco接入点线中提供2x2 MIMO技术高达300米的BPS。这只是一种理论速度，但艾瑟洛斯声称其新芯片将能够在现实世界中达到170米的BPS。
即使在使用所谓的4G技术的当前网络上，这比移动运营商提供更多的吞吐量。例如，Verizon表示平均用户可以在其LTE网络上获得5米BPS和12M BPS。MIMO还可以扩展Wi-Fi网络的范围，允许更大的热点或更少的接入点服务于相同的区域。
Doubling the capacity of a given hotspot with 2x2 MIMO increases the chances that, for example, a large number of people in one area could watch video on their phones via their Slingbox at home, said Farpoint Group analyst Craig Mathias. "Your ability to do what you want to, when you want to do it, goes up," Mathias said.
但是，在可能的情况下，将蜂窝订户接到Wi-Fi网络的实际突破可能会自动将它们放在那里，消除在某些情况下的发现和登录进程非常复杂。思科，诺基亚西门子网络，Ruckus无线和其他供应商使用MWC来引入无缝融合蜂窝和Wi-Fi基础设施的产品。
Nokia Siemens designed its Smart WLAN Connectivity Solution to handle functions such as authentication, policy control and traffic managementfor both cellular and Wi-Fi networks. That can simplify management for service providers and allow subscribers to roam onto hotspots as easily as they go from one cell to the next. Cisco's new access points include the company's Next Generation Hotspot technology, which is designed for carriers to automatically log subscribers on to Wi-Fi networks and set up encrypted connections.
Ruckus无线推出其Ruckus无线服务网关, which can interface with existing systems used in cellular networks for client authentication and policies. The gateway can automatically configure client devices for access to Wi-Fi networks at the time of service activation, so the users don't have to sign on every time they use services at hotspots, according to the company. Ruckus also unveiled an element management system designed to let carriers centrally manage tens of thousands of Ruckus access points and hundreds of thousands of Wi-Fi clients.
The new roaming mechanisms play into the way carriers are now deploying Wi-Fi, interspersing it with cellular coverage, said Dell'Oro Group analyst Loren Shalinsky.
"They can actually have an area of coverage that has both wireless LAN and the cellular network," Shalinsky said. In these environments, the key is to be able to steer phones smoothly to the most appropriate network at a given time and location, he said. The new tools should make that easier for carriers, Shalinsky said.
他补充说，更好地管理Wi-Fi网络也可以增强运营商的服务和商业模式。在过去，发现热点并登录到他们的用户只是出于开放的互联网，即使热点是提供的载波，Shalinsky表示。
"Your service provider didn't really know what you were doing with your phone anymore," he said. Lacking that insight, they couldn't tailor services to subscribers' needs at hotspots. More information could mean, for example, better location-based services, even though new forms of targeted advertising might come along with that, Shalinsky said. "They're trying to provide a service that you want."
分析师表示，这种集成的蜂窝和Wi-Fi经验的最大挑战是通过运营商实施。
“他们正在取得进展，”J.Gong Associates的分析师Jack Gold说。“实际上是一个难以做到的。”他说，运营商正在努力努力将用户转移，而不会在没有中断而不中断。
"The switching isn't that hard, but if you've got a half-second lag in there ... people notice that, and they don't like it," Gold said.
随着实施工作的继续，很明显，蜂窝设备将继续挖掘到Wi-Fi中。
"Here we are, improving the capacity and the overall performance of cellular, and yet the vendors of components and the handset manufacturers still feel that Wi-Fi is a requirement," Farpoint's Mathias said. "I think that's very telling."
斯蒂芬·劳森covers mobile, storage and networking technologies forIDG新闻服务。Follow Stephen on Twitter at@sdlawsonmedia。斯蒂芬的电子邮件地址是stephen_lawson@idg.com