Wireless Gigabit Alliance forms to promote 60 GHz wireless technology
There's a new alliance to promote new 60 GHz wireless technology (10x faster than today's wireless LANs), and 15 big names are behind the effort. Commercial applications have potential for the industrial space.
High-tech future
| WiGig Alliance is creating a unified 60 GHz specification, expected to drive an interoperable ecosystem of easy-to-use, high speed, low power wireless products. |
San Jose, CA – More than 15 technology companies announced the Wireless Gigabit (WiGig) Alliance, an organization formed to establish a unified specification for 60 Gigahertz (GHz) wireless technologies. The widespread availability and use of digital multimedia content has created an ever-increasing need for faster wireless connectivity that current wireless standards cannot support.
This has fueled demand for a single technology that can support instantaneous file transfers, wireless display and docking, and streaming high definition media on a variety of devices. To meet this demand, the WiGig Alliance, announced May 7, is developing a 60 GHz wireless technology that provides the optimal way to connect consumer electronics, handheld devices and personal computers. While initial target markets mentioned are entertainment, computing, and communications, consumer technologies continue to move into the industrial space.
The WiGig specification will allow devices to communicate without wires at gigabit speeds within a typical room; the group’s vision is to create a global ecosystem of interoperable products based on this specification, which will unify the next generation of devices at speeds more than 10 times faster than today’s wireless LANs.
Bringing together a diverse group of leading wireless semiconductor, PC, consumer electronics and handheld device manufacturers, WiGig Alliance is creating a unified 60 GHz specification that meets the performance and energy efficiency requirements of many types of wireless devices and applications globally. This will drive an interoperable ecosystem of easy-to-use, high speed, low power wireless products.
Among the companies on the board of directors are:
Atheros Communications, Inc.
Broadcom Corporation
Dell Inc.
Intel Corporation
LG Electronics Inc.
Marvell International Ltd.
MediaTek Inc.
Microsoft Corp.
NEC Corporation
Nokia Corporation
Panasonic Corporation
Samsung Electronics Co.
Wilocity
The group welcomes new members and expects the WiGig specification to be available to member companies in fourth-quarter 2009.
WiGig Alliance members are defining a unified specification that leverages the unlicensed 60 GHz spectrum to provide "unprecedented wireless performance." The group says this technology is being designed to address the specific requirements of various platforms, to coexist with future 60 GHz solutions and complement millions of Wi-Fi devices already in use around the world. Wireless docking, display and entertainment, without performance compromise, will become a reality with gigabit-speed wireless I/O and eliminate the unsightly cables that clutter homes and offices.
“We’re now at the point where the last barrier to wireless being able to do everything that wire can has fallen,” said Craig Mathias, a Principal with the wireless and mobile advisory firm, Farpoint Group. “In both the residence and the enterprise, more capacity and throughput are always desirable. WiGig Alliance is going to deliver technology that will have an enormous impact on connectivity and mobility, information technology, consumer electronics, and many other applications.”
www.WirelessGigabitAlliance.org/specifications
– Edited by Mark T. Hoske , editor in chief
Control Engineering News Desk, www.controleng.com
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