No hardware changes will be needed, Figueroa says. Equipment or chipmakers will deploy the Wi-Fi Direct protocols as firmware upgrades to some existing products, but more likely as updated radio chips with the protocols burned in. The protocols will enable Wi-Fi radios to discover each other, negotiate links and set them up. The connections can be one-to-one, or a group of wireless devices can connect at the same time.

Devices certified for Wi-Fi Direct will have the same performance and range as existing radios, according to the Alliance.

One vendor promising to support the new spec is , which creates low-power Wi-Fi silicon and firmware to enable wireless devices to create a short-range PAN around your laptop's Wi-Fi radio. In a statement, the company says its technology will leverage Wi-Fi Direct to create a true PAN that can best Bluetooth in terms of power and throughput.

The final Wi-Fi Direct document will be ready before the end of this year, with products expected to be certified for it by about mid-2010.