Why did ITaP select the IEEE 802.11b/g standard for PAL, rather than any of the other competing wireless technologies?
802.11b/g is a proven, award-winning technology that is widely available on the market today. While other wireless standards promise superior performance in comparison, many of these are either still in development or are just entering production, and so are not yet suitable for deployment on the sort of scale that PAL requires. As wireless networking technology continues to advance, ITaP will of course look for ways to improve PAL’s performance and usability. Because of the popularity of 802.11b/g wireless networking, developers of other technologies are making every effort to ensure backwards compatibility or dual-mode interoperability between 802.11b/g devices and their own. Therefore, when PAL is upgraded to a next-generation wireless technology base, the network will remain accessible to users with 802.11b/g-compatible devices, allowing them to migrate to the newer technology at their own pace.
