Electronic devices today are untethered and always connected, and wireless networks have enabled this free flow of information. John O’Sullivan details the developments leading up to the establishment of the wireless network standard 802.11a, which is more commonly known as Wi-Fi.
In the early 1990s, a few computing visionaries were starting to paint a picture of portable screens and intelligent assistants. I was taken by their vision, as were others including my collaborators David Skellern and Craig Mudge. At that time, it was the early days of portable computing, with large laptops and networking. It was several years before the World Wide Web became a dominant force, but e-mail and easy access to networked data were making an impression in research environments. The idea of cutting the wires, and creating a wireless network with speed equal to the best cabled networks, rapidly gained traction and support within CSIRO (the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation), an Australian research agency. Bob Frater, Denis Redfern and Dennis Cooper were fervent supporters and funding was granted to set up a small group to develop a high-speed wireless network.
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