Term explanation: What is WAPI? 2006-03-07 09:23:30 Source: IT Expert Network User Comment 1 Enter the forum
1. What is WAPI?
WAPI is the English abbreviation of WLAN Authentication and Privacy Infrastructure. It is a type of wireless transmission protocol like infrared, Bluetooth, GPRS, CDMA1X and other protocols. The only difference is that it is a transmission protocol in wireless local area network (WLAN). It is different from the current 802.11B transmission protocol. The protocols are relatively similar. So, why develop standards for transmission protocols? We know that different transmission protocols use different principles and implementation methods to transmit data packets between two or more electronic devices. Most of them are incompatible. If standards for wireless transmission protocols are not formulated, wireless electronic devices will The versatility will be greatly limited. For example, your laptop may be able to access wireless Internet in place A, but when it goes to place B, it may not be able to access wireless Internet due to inconsistent transmission protocols. If all If wireless products all use the same transmission protocol, then your laptop can easily access wireless Internet wherever there is a WLAN signal.
2. What is the difference between WAPI and the current 802.11B?
There are many wireless local area network (WLAN) transmission protocols, including 802.11A, 802.11B, 802.11G, etc. Among them, 802.11B is the most popular and popular, including the latest related computers of Centrino and Lenovo. Most wireless network products in China use the 802.11B transmission protocol, which is developed and certified by the American non-profit organization WI-FI, while WAPI is reviewed and approved by the IEEE Registration Authority authorized by ISO/IEC. , the two organizations belong to different institutions, and their nature is naturally different. The biggest difference is the different security encryption technologies: WAPI uses a security protocol called "Wireless LAN Authentication and Privacy Infrastructure (WAPI)", while 802.11B uses "Wired Enhanced Equivalent Privacy (WEP)" Security protocols.
3. Why does my country need to formulate WAPI standards?
1. For security reasons. We know that state secrets are the highest secrets. If they are leaked, they will directly harm the interests of the entire country and nation, and the consequences will be disastrous. But for wireless LAN, it is very fragile in terms of security, because most of the current wireless network products use 802.11B as the wireless transmission protocol. The advantage of this protocol is that the transmission rate can reach 11M, which is the same as the transmission speed of wired LAN. Similar, and the coverage range is 100 meters. But "there is no failure in success, and there is no failure in failure." It is its fast transmission speed and wide coverage that make it very vulnerable in terms of security. Because data is exposed in the air during transmission, it is easy for people with ulterior motives to intercept data packets. Although foreign manufacturers such as 3COM and Annet have developed a series of security solutions for 802.11B, in general they are not exhaustive. People do not want it, and its core technology is in the hands of people from other countries. Since they can formulate it, they must have a way to crack it. Therefore, in terms of security, it has become a major hidden danger for governments and commercial users to use WLAN. Since WAPI is controlled by the relevant departments of our country, the core technology of encryption is not afraid of foreigners using WLAN to steal national or commercial confidential information. Moreover, its encryption technology is more advanced than 802.11B. WAPI is approved by the Office of the National Cryptometry Management Committee. The elliptic curve cryptography algorithm of the public key system and the block cipher algorithm of the secret key system realize device identity authentication, link verification, access control and encryption protection of user information in wireless transmission state.
In addition, WAPI is divided into two types: single-point and centralized in terms of application mode, which can completely reverse the current situation of WLAN using multiple security mechanisms that coexist and are incompatible with each other, and fundamentally solve security and compatibility issues. Therefore, our country's mandatory requirement for relevant commercial organizations to implement WAPI standards can more effectively protect data security.
2. Out of interests. Our country is a developing country with a booming economy, and many products have huge room for development, especially high-tech products. However, in the past, our country has lost a lot of opportunities in high-tech products. Since there are very few independent core technologies and products with its own industry standards, it has resulted in a rather passive situation: DVDs have to be charged a large amount of patent fees by foreigners. GPRS, CDMA1X and other standards are all in the hands of foreigners. We can only obediently give a lot of money to others to buy other people's standards, while we are like workers who "work" for others. We can only go to Become a CEO and help people assemble products. Therefore, some people say that "first-rate companies sell standards, second-rate companies sell technology, and third-rate companies sell products."
But now the opportunity has come. WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) is an emerging new thing in our country and is developing rapidly. Judging from the sales of Centrino notebook computers with integrated wireless modules, it seems to be good. The author conducted a survey on notebook computers on a well-known product shopping guide website and found that Centrino notebooks have the largest variety, reaching 14 pages, followed by P4-M. , is 10 pages, P-M is 3 pages, and P4 is 2 pages. However, there are currently only more than 800 wireless LAN hotspots in my country. Although there are not many users using WLAN, the growth rate is relatively fast. Therefore, the market potential of WLAN in my country is huge. Our country is now formulating its own WLAN transmission protocol standards, which will achieve great economic benefits in the long run. In addition, as of now, some companies in our country have also gained a lot of benefits because of WAPI, because the WAPI standard encryption technology that all wireless LAN devices sold in China must comply with has been transferred to Lenovo and Huawei for free. , Neusoft, etc. This means that if the products of foreign manufacturers want to enter China, they must cooperate with these 11 manufacturers before they have a chance.
4. What benefits will WAPI bring to individual users?
For individual users, the biggest benefit from the emergence of WAPI is to make their laptops more secure, because WLAN is completely exposed in the air when transmitting data, and the signal coverage is wide. If security is not good, legitimate users' data can easily be intercepted and cracked by illegal users. At the same time, illegal users can also disguise themselves as legitimate users and use network resources together with legitimate users, causing losses to the interests of legitimate users. Take North America as an example. WLAN based on 802.11B is very popular there. Many computer experts try to use cans to intercept and crack the wireless signals of legitimate users, thereby achieving the purpose of free and unlimited sharing of network resources of legitimate users. What's even more frightening is that illegal users can also use WLAN to steal data from legitimate users' laptops, causing them large or small losses (if information such as account numbers and passwords are stolen, the consequences It’s more serious).
In addition, interconnection between devices is an issue that operators must consider. Currently, although many manufacturers' products claim to have passed Wi-Fi compatibility tests, the security solutions proposed and adopted by each manufacturer are different. For example, Allnet (AT-WR2411 wireless network card) provides a multi-level security system, including spread spectrum coding and encryption technology. Secure information passes 40 and 128-bit Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) encryption methods; and 3Com's wireless If the network card is used with the 3Com 11 Mbps Wireless LAN Access Point 6000, it can use advanced dynamic secure link technology. This technology is different from the shared key scheme. It will automatically generate a 128-bit key for each session. Encryption key.
In this way, due to the lack of unified security solution standards, different WLAN devices cannot communicate with each other when security functions are enabled. This will make the operator's equipment management extremely complex and require the development of different user management functions for different security solutions, resulting in operational and Maintenance costs are greatly increased, which is not conducive to investment protection. Users are unable to roam between different security APs (Access Points), which reduces customer satisfaction and often causes problems with user device compatibility.
5. Does WAPI comply with WTO regulations?
The answer is yes. An important agreement of the World Trade Organization, the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (WTO/TBT), stipulates that WTO member states may modify or modify their laws and regulations for legitimate national safety, health, environmental protection and other legitimate purposes on the premise of complying with the relevant standards and international guidelines of the WTO General Agreement. Formulate the country's new technical regulations, standards and other related documents. As we all know, WAPI is designed to enhance the security of wireless networks and comply with the above-mentioned WTO rules.
6. How much impact has my country’s introduction of the WAPI standard had on the world?
my country officially released WAPI on May 12, 2003. In order to let the industry know about the new standards that China is about to implement, eight ministries and commissions including the Ministry of Information Industry and the National Standards Administration jointly held a conference in Beijing in July 2003. A massive publicity and promotion activity, that promotion activity should be said to be rare in the history of establishing national standards. But at that time, not much attention was paid to this new standard, especially the multinational companies that were closely related to this standard. It was not until recently that WAPI received widespread attention. The reason is of course that multinational companies did not pay enough attention to Chinese standards. However, I didn't take it as the same thing. It wasn't until WAPI, which was related to my huge interests, was about to be enforced, that I really felt the pressure, and then I really paid attention.
The reason WAPI really attracted widespread attention was the announcements issued twice by China's three major government functional departments in just five days: On November 26, China's state-owned General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, in conjunction with the National Standardization The Management Committee issued the "Announcement on the Implementation of the Mandatory National Standard for Wireless LAN (WAPI, author's note)"; on December 1, the National Certification and Accreditation Administration responded to the previous announcement, "Effective from June 1, 2004, the Wireless LAN products implement compulsory certification."
On December 4, the Wall Street Journal reported that "China's wireless technology encryption standards have caused panic in the industry," which has since caused more and more panic reports in the media.
On December 9, Paul Nikolich - the former wireless network international standard setter IEEE802 and chairman of the Metropolitan Area Network Standards Committee - sent a message to Li Zhonghai, director of the China Standardization Administration, and Wang Xudong, minister of the Ministry of Information Industry. A letter came in, warning that "the enforcement of the new standard will have a great impact on the wireless network product market, splitting the global market into two; and restricting the sales of products based on the 802.11 standard in China will It will narrow the range of choices for users when purchasing products, thereby increasing the cost of wireless network equipment."
Unlike multinational companies that remained silent in July, European manufacturers such as Philips, Langton Global, and Thomson have turned to China. The government expressed goodwill and stated that it "will understand and support China's new national WLAN standards" and said it would launch products that meet the standards as soon as possible. Meanwhile, Dell got busy. "Dell is studying new standards." A senior official of Dell China said that it is expected that when the six-month grace period ends, the company will suspend shipments of products affected by this policy to China.
In addition, according to Dennis Eaton, chairman of the Wi-fi Alliance, the Wi-fi Alliance has also sent representatives to contact multiple departments of the Chinese government, and they are working on how to understand the new standard. and conduct preliminary discussions on how the Chinese government plans to implement the new standards.
7. What resistance did WAPI encounter during the promotion process?
The United States is the largest supplier of wireless network products. Most of the brands of wireless network products currently sold in the Chinese market are American, such as the familiar 3COM, Cisco, Trend, Avaya, etc. Therefore, the implementation of the WAPI standard will have the greatest impact on the interests of the United States. Because according to the standards, foreign network equipment suppliers must obtain a WAPI protocol license through a production cooperation agreement with one of the 11 Chinese companies designated by the Chinese government (including Lenovo, Huawei, etc.), and competing with foreign network equipment manufacturers Chinese domestic companies do not need to obtain a WAPI license like foreign companies. Therefore, if foreign network equipment suppliers cannot find partners in China, they may be shut out of the WLAN product market in mainland China, which is very disadvantageous for foreign (mainly the United States) network equipment suppliers. situation. Therefore, my country's launch of WAPI has encountered the greatest resistance from the United States. The United States not only sent people to lobby China to abandon this standard, but its government also intervened in this debate.
But will our country make compromises because of this? The author thinks "no", because we have missed many opportunities to dominate the high-tech field. Now, WLAN is a very good and big opportunity. If our country misses it again, it will be really difficult to "turn around". date, and we have suffered enough from not having our own standards and core technologies in the past. Therefore, the author believes that not only will our country not give up this standard, but it is also foreseeable that there will be more and more similar standards. Because China has become stronger.
8. Will WAPI make your Centrino notebook no longer "Centrino"?
Everyone knows that Intel’s Centrino notebooks have the advantages of low power efficiency and wireless Internet access without basically reducing performance. However, Intel did not use low power efficiency as the main selling point in its promotion, but instead used low power efficiency as its main selling point. Its wireless function is the main selling point, and the slogan "Wireless is unlimited" is used, and a huge amount of US$300 million is spent to promote this "selling point". However, before this, notebook and PDA manufacturers have already It integrates wireless network functions into its products by equipping them with inexpensive wireless network cards and corresponding chipsets. Intel ignored this fact and adopted the approach of forcing manufacturers to use its "Centrino" chips instead of providing wireless chipsets to manufacturers to promote its wireless business.
So, is the performance of Centrino's wireless modules really superior to third-party products provided by professional wireless manufacturers? The answer is obvious. As Sanders, chairman of AMD and chairman of the American Semiconductor Association, pointedly pointed out, the fundamental purpose of "Centrino" is to confuse "real innovation" and try to control all components of the PC architecture, and continue to impose inferior technology in the future. To partners and users. It can be seen that Intel obviously made this "bet" because of the huge potential market of my country's wireless LAN.
Currently, Centrino notebooks have been widely sold in my country. The WAPI standard is not compatible with the 802.11B used by Centrino. The introduction of the WAPI standard will undoubtedly have a huge impact on the sales of Centrino notebooks. Although Intel representatives noted that Centrino technology for notebook computers can comply with this regulation within the deadline because its Centrino products can continue to be shipped through June, and that we are engaging with the industry and the Chinese government to learn more about new product requirements during the transition period. . But how can Intel solve this problem? No answer yet.
So, will your Centrino laptop be useless after June next year? The answer is no. Because the state stipulates that the production, sale, and import of non-WAPI wireless network products will be prohibited after June next year, but it does not prohibit the use of these products. Currently, most wireless network products still use the same 802.11B protocol as Centrino.
The WAPI standard has only just begun to be implemented. It is estimated that it will take at least a year from development to launch of WAPI products, and most WLAN hotspots are not expected to replace existing equipment with WAPI products at once. Therefore, the author believes that even if Intel If the WAPI problem is not solved well, your Centrino notebook will still be able to use its wireless Internet function normally for at least the next year and a half.
9. WAPI is coming, which laptops should you not buy?
1. Try to buy non-Centrino laptops. Because Centrino laptops use the 802.11B wireless transmission protocol, this wireless transmission protocol is incompatible with the WAPI wireless transmission protocol that is mandatory for all commercial organizations in our country. In other words, when all wireless network equipment in our country adopts After adopting WAPI transmission protocol, Centrino notebook computers may not be able to achieve wireless Internet access. Therefore, the author does not recommend that consumers purchase Centrino notebook computers before Intel has solved the problem with WAPI.
Of course, if you have a soft spot for Centrino technology, the author recommends that you buy a Pentium M laptop with Centrino technology processor and chipset (855 series), so that you can get Centrino The advantages of low power efficiency, low heat generation and power saving of notebook computers are not limited by its wireless Internet transmission protocol, and they are also cheaper in price.
2. Try not to buy a laptop with a wireless LAN card. Currently, there are usually two types of laptops with wireless network cards on the market: one with a wireless LAN network card, which generally uses the 802.11B transmission protocol, and the other with a wireless WAN card, which generally uses GPRS. Wireless transmission protocol. For the first type of laptop computer with a wireless network card, I do not recommend buying it because they also use the 802.11B wireless transmission protocol. This wireless transmission protocol is the same as the wireless transmission protocol used by Centrino laptops. Therefore, it is recommended to buy it. This laptop with a wireless card has the same consequences as buying a Centrino laptop.
As for the second type of laptop computer with a wireless WAN card, it is not affected by WAPI, because GPRS is the transmission protocol of wireless WAN, and the wireless LAN transmission protocol are two different concepts. There will also be a big difference in usage. Unlike wireless LAN, wireless WAN requires users to set up their own network or use it when there is a WLAN hotspot. It is generally provided by wireless communication providers with signals and services. For example, GPRS is provided by China Mobile in my country. GPRS has a wide coverage, and its signal can be received in most cities in my country, but the transmission rate is relatively slow, similar to the speed of ordinary 56K MODEM Internet access.
10. WAPI is coming, how should you use your laptop?
Since WAPI is not compatible with the current mainstream 802.11B protocol wireless network equipment (such as AP, wireless router, etc.), the author recommends that you try not to set up a wireless LAN during this period, but wait first. For a period of time, see if the existing wireless network equipment suppliers can solve the problem of compatibility with WAPI well, because if they cannot solve it, the wireless network equipment you buy now will become waste after a period of use, which is very unfortunate. Good deal.
11. Is WAPI overly "coddled" to domestic enterprises?
We know that the current industry standards in the world are generally formulated by enterprises or other non-governmental organizations. For example, the USB standard we are familiar with is formulated by Intel, Bluetooth is formulated by Ericsson, and 802.11B is formulated by non-profit organizations. WI-FI organizes the formulation and certification. Therefore, it can be said that the formulation of industrial standards should be a market behavior rather than a national behavior. Now our country uses policies to enforce implementation and allows related domestic enterprises to enjoy some benefits. Therefore, , some people are worried that WAPI will cause the government to pamper China's high-tech enterprises, causing these enterprises to be unwilling to make progress and lose the motivation and pressure to compete, which will eventually lead to the regression or stagnation of China's WLAN industry. . The author believes that such concerns are reasonable, but they are somewhat unfounded.
Because our country's enterprises are currently very weak compared to large multinational companies such as Microsoft and Intel. If we directly engage in one-on-one transactions with them, it will be difficult to win. It is necessary and necessary for the government to provide certain support policies. important. WAPI is just a standard and will not have a very big impact on the development of enterprises. Chinese enterprises do not benefit very much from it, so there is no talk of "spoiling" and "protection".