Wi-Fi patent claims - here we go again

Australia's government-backed research body, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) has, for a long long time, been battling with the major Wi-Fi vendors over patents it holds in OFDM technology.

OFDM is integral to 802.11a/g and, now 802.11n, the high-speed, high-bandwidth etc etc latest version of the Wi-Fi standard that is notoriously yet to be set in stone by the IEEE. Now it looks like that process might be held up, because CSIRO are back, and apparently refusing to promise not to sue those who use its patented technology in their products.

The Wi-Fi industry has done a sterling job of blithely ignoring CSIRO and its claims up until now, but with last year's upholding of the patents in a US federal court, perhaps the tide will turn.

Either way, the standardisation process for 802.11n could very well be delayed. Again. Stay tuned - the IEEE will have a statement about this mess later this week...

(Credit to the Reg for picking up on the internal IEEE memo about this)