The IEEE 802.11i subcommittee recently signed off on the standard, according to a statement from Trapeze Networks, which was attributed to Dan Harkins, a software engineer at the wireless LAN equipment vendor. Harkins was a co-author of several portions of the specification.

The specification adds the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) protocol to 802.11, which forms the basis of Wi-Fi wireless LAN technologies. AES is said to be a stronger form of encryption than is found in the current Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) mechanism, and is the security standard for wireless networks that carry US government information.

The Wi-Fi Alliance says it plans to certify products for 802.11i support beginning in September.