What is wifi direct | applications, advantages of wifi direct

This page explains basic functions of wifi direct. It mentions applications of wifi direct.It also mentions benefits or advantages of wifi direct.

WiFi direct means wifi point to point connection over WLAN link. It allows wifi compliant devices to communicate directly without the need of access point (AP) or router. The AP functionality is incorporated in the wifi direct compliant device itself. There are two types of wifi direct configurations viz. one to one (called P2P) and one to many as shown in the figure-1.

wifi direct configurations

Figure depicts one to one configuration between wifi direct phone and printer. Hence here user need not require laptop and he/she can directly print documents from phone to the printer. Here phone functions as group owner.

Figure depicts one to many configuration. As legacy wlan devices can also work with wifi direct, it is very easy to have all in one group. Here all devices need not be wifi direct compliant to operate together. One wifi direct certified device can act as group owner and allows any device to connect in this network without the use of wifi hotspot or wifi AP. Figure depicts how laptop is configured to connect with desktop, printer and camera.

A group is formed after the wifi direct connection is established. Once the group is formed then other devices can join the group as they can join with AP (Access Point). Joining can also be done using invitation by group owner or wifi direct device who have already joined the group. The decision to join or not to join lies with the invited device.

Benefits or advantages of wifi direct

Following are the benefits or advantages of wifi direct:
• No Access Point is needed.
• Any one device should be wifi direct compliant to establish connection/group.
• Simple network set up compare to normal wifi setup.
• No internet connection is needed to transfer data between devices. This is done without the need of wifi hotspot.
• Mobile phones, cameras, printers, PCs, Game console devices can connect directly to transfer content and share the applications between them.
• It can establish wifi direct connection as easy as touch of a button.
• It can transfer data at the same speed of WLAN compliant devices.

WiFi Technology RELATED LINKS

WLAN tutorial
What is wlan?
WLAN standards-11a,11b,11g,11n,11ac
11a WLAN Physical layer
11b WLAN Physical layer
11n WLAN Physical layer
WLAN 802.11-ac
WLAN 802.11-ad
Difference between 11a,11b,11g,11n
WLAN router providers
WLAN providers

What is Difference between

FIR filter Vs. IIR filter
difference between FDM and OFDM
Difference between SC-FDMA and OFDM
Difference between SISO and MIMO
Difference between TDD and FDD
Difference between 802.11 standards viz.11-a,11-b,11-g and 11-n
OFDM vs OFDMA
CDMA vs GSM
Bluetooth vs zigbee

RF and Wireless Terminologies