In May 1991, the first Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) workshop on Wireless LANs was held at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, Massachusetts. The workshop was scheduled in coordination with a meeting of the IEEE 802.11 Wireless Access Methods and Physical Layer Standardization Committee for Wireless LAN, also held in Worcester. This seminal workshop was the first organized by the IEEE to address issues associated with wireless LANs. Its aim was to increase the awareness of then-current developments and future direction in the WLAN field, and to foster interaction among researchers, spectrum regulators, standardization organizations, leading manufacturers and end users .
Among the notable participants in the 1991 workshop were Charlie Bass, the co-founder of Ungermann-Bass and one of the pioneers of the commercial LAN industry; Mike Marcus, Chief engineer of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), who was responsible for release of the first unlicensed bands, energizing the evolution of the WLAN industry; Bruce Tuch, the designer of the first DSSS WLAN, which became the 802.11 standard; Tom Freeburg, designer of Motorola's Altair product operating at 18-19GHz; Vic Hayes, the first chairman of the IEEE 802.11; and Bob Heile, the future founder and the chair of the IEEE 802.15 standardization effort. This workshop was organized and chaired by Prof. Kaveh Pahlavan, who also chaired the second and third IEEE WLAN workshops in 1996 and 2001 . The historical trace of a number of wireless LAN innovations and standardization activities can be found in the proceeding of these workshops .