Wi-Fi + WiGig Pushes 7 Gbps in 60 GHz Band

Wi-Fi operation in the 60 GHz frequency band could push data transfer rates up to 7 Gbps, more than 10 times faster than the highest 802.11n rate while maintaining compatibility with existing Wi-Fi devices. It is expected that a new class of tri-band devices will offer multi-gigabit wireless speeds while helping to ensure backward compatibility.


The Wi-Fi Alliance and the Wireless Gigabit Alliance (WiGig Alliance) have agreed to collaborate on a next-generation Wi-Fi Alliance certification program supporting Wi-Fi operation in the 60 GHz frequency band. This agreement further encourages the development of products supporting 60 GHz technology to expand existing Wi-Fi capabilities.


The WiGig Alliance has just published its unified wireless specification and kicked off an early adopter program for developers. The new WiGig spec supplements and extends the 802.11 Medium Access Control (MAC) layer. It offers support for beamforming, enabling robust communication at distances beyond 10 meters and a low-power mode is also supported. In addition, protocol adaptation layers are being developed to support specific system interfaces including data buses for PC peripherals and display interfaces for HDTVs, monitors and projectors.


Cisco has joined the WiGig Alliance Board of Directors, and Harman International, Peraso Technologies and Samsung Electro-Mechanics have also joined WiGig as contributing members.


"60 GHz device connectivity will be an exciting enhancement to the capabilities of today's Wi-Fi technologies. It will expand the utility of Wi-Fi, used by hundreds of millions of people every day," said Wi-Fi Alliance chief executive officer Edgar Figueroa. "From its inception, the WiGig specification was designed to work on a wide variety of devices, making it a compelling input as we begin to define our certification program for 60 GHz wireless."


"Now that our specification is complete and published, it's time to set our sights on driving a great user experience through interoperability and certification," said Dr. Ali Sadri, president and chairman of the WiGig Alliance. "We are happy to work with the Wi-Fi Alliance to extend multi-gigabit capabilities to the Wi-Fi technology portfolio."http://www.wi-fi.orghttp://www.wigig.org