Wireless Gigabit Alliance Eyes Unlicensed 60 GHz

The Wireless Gigabit Alliance (WiGig) plans to develop standardized short-range wireless technology to beam everything - data, video, and more - using unlicensed 60 GHz frequencies.

Short-range wideband wireless technologies have been a dream of both computing fans and entertainment aficionados for some time, and while technologies like UWB and WHDI have hit the marketplace, they tend to aim at niches (like high-definition video) rather than offering a comprehensive solution. To that end, the Wireless Gigabit Alliance (WiGig) has announced plans to develop a standardized short-range wideband technology using unlicensed spectrum in the 60 GHz range—that’s a high of a lot higher than the frequencies being used by things like cordless phones and current wireless streaming solutions. The WiGig doesn’t just have its eyes on video and home theaters: it sees the technology being used to hook together PCs, TVs, phones, mobile media players, and more.

The WiGig consortium (their site should be up soon) has not released any details of the performance their system might deliver, save to say the technology will deliver bandwidth “ten times faster than today’s WLANs.” The organization is promising to have a specification completed by the end of 2009, which means initial products with the technology won’t appear until 2010 at the earliest. WiGig members include Dell, Intel, Microsoft, Nokia, Samsung, LG, and Panasonic, along with chipmakers like Atheros, Broadcom, and Marvell.

Technologists have mulled usig radio frequency communications in the 60 GHz band for years, but hav generally avoided it because the high frequencies don’t propagate well through air. WiGig technology may only have a range of a few yards and may be limited to line-of-sight—don’t expect this stuff to work well through walls or floors.