Wi-Fi Alliance Begins Certification Process For Short-Range Wireless Standard WiGig (802.11ad) (cnet.com)

The stars have finally aligned for WiGig, an ultra-fast, short-range wireless network. The Wi-Fi Alliance has launched a certification process for WiGig products, which it claims, can go as fast as 8Gbps. The technology was first announced in 2009, and it is based on IEEE 802.11ad standard that is supported by many new products. CNET adds:That speed is good enough to replace network cables today. And tomorrow, WiGig should be good for beaming high-resolution video from your phone to your 4K TV or linking a lightweight virtual-reality headset to its control computer. VR and its cousin, augmented reality, work better when you don't have a thick cable tethering your head to a PC. New speed is especially helpful when conventional wireless networks clog up. We're all streaming video at higher resolutions, hooking up new devices like cars and security cameras to the network, and getting phones for our kids. Another complication: Phones using newer mobile data networks can barge in on the same radio airwaves that Wi-Fi uses. Saturation of regular Wi-Fi radio channels "will create a demand for new spectrum to carry this traffic," said Yaron Kahana, manager of Intel's WiGig product line. "In three years we expect WiGig to be highly utilized for data transfer." WiGig and Wi-Fi both use unlicensed radio spectrum available without government permission -- 2.4 gigahertz and 5GHz in the case of Wi-Fi. Unlicensed spectrum is great, but airwaves are already often crowded. WiGig, though, uses the 60GHz band that's unlicensed but not so busy. You will want to check for WiGig sticker in the next gear you purchase.

Comments

Wifi replace fixed cabled systems no way!

[Joe_Dragon]

Wifi replace fixed cabled systems no way!

Why tie up limited air space when you have fixed systems that need power anyways and with POE your security cameras just need 1 cable and it makes it harder to jam them.

and 8 GIB max is that per AP when 1 device is getting all of the bandwidth? Will the AP have 10 GB-E ports? USB 3.1 wifi sticks? PCI-E X4 wifi cards? SFP ports?

or what about just wiring systems gig-e to an switch that can have GB-E 10 or even fiber up links.

Re:Wifi replace fixed cabled systems no way!

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

One application that could be rather useful, for this standard(or even ones that use spectrum with even worse distance issues) would be the possibility of reducing the number of delicate connectors for devices that are docked/undocked frequently.

It's hard to beat copper for transferring power(yes, the various wireless charging schemes do work; but efficiency isn't pretty); but, particularly for low voltage, modest current, DC applications where ensuring safety is less of a challenge; you can use simple, robust, cheap connectors.

Connectors for high speed data are less pleasant, requiring some balance between very careful construction to allow high speeds over a limited number of lines and densely packing a whole lot of signal lines into something that still has to survive hundreds to tens of thousands of mate/unmate cycles and hopefully doesn't attract grit, pocket fuzz, and so on.

If you have a very high speed wireless link, even one with lousy penetration and high attenuation in air; you can potentially replace a complex and delicate data connector with one radio-transparent spot on the device chassis and one on the dock: no hole in the chassis, no connector to get damaged or full of crud, no fiddly pins getting bent or corroded; and since the two radios are very close together(ideally in a known position) power levels can be fairly low; and interference and noise would be less troublesome.

Given the issues with atmospheric attenuation; never mind walls, these very-high-speed wifi systems get rather less interesting at greater distances(though yes, SFP ports are creeping into APs, and that's consumer trash, not even some enterprise thing); but if the price isn't too high I'd be delighted to never see another laptop docking station connector again.

More Channels, Please!

[BrendaEM]

Ever open a Wifi monitor, and just sit back and watch the congestion problems in city areas?

10 meter range with handoff to regular wifi

[raymorris]

For those curious what "short range" means in this case, about ten meters. So it could be used where you might otherwise use USB or perhaps HDMI. It's designed to hand off seamlessly to regular wifi, so your laptop could have a 6 Gbps connection at your desk which would switch to lower speeds as you carry it into the other room.

Hypochondriacs

[sjbe]

I also expect that people who are EM-sensitive, entering a room with one of these devices could feel like walking into a giant microwave oven..

I imagine you mean people who are hypochondriacs since "EM-sensitivity" is a psychiatric illness, not a physical one.

Re:Hypochondriacs

[Sir Holo]

I also expect that people who are EM-sensitive, entering a room with one of these devices could feel like walking into a giant microwave oven..

I imagine you mean people who are hypochondriacs since "EM-sensitivity" is a psychiatric illness, not a physical one.

I suffer from EM sensitivity. Particularly in the range of 1 to 13 micrometers (called infra-red; it makes my skin feel hot).

I am also sensitive to microwave EM radiation. I am preparing a home test to prove this – cutting a hole in the front of my microwave oven to defeat its interlock, and just stick my hand in for a good 60 seconds. I anticipate that the resulting burn (or cooking smell) will be proof enough of my sensitivity.

I even suffer EM sensitivity to the so-called 'visible light range'. When a large magnifying glass is used to focus "light" onto my skin, it burns.

I have been told that I am also sensitive to EM radiation in the ultraviolet range, and in the x-ray range, of wavelengths, but don't really feel immediate effects. From those, it's mostly monthly dosimeter reports. . .

VR, huh?

[vadim_t]

Let's see.

2160 * 1200 (Oculus Rift CV1) 3 bytes per pixel * 8 bit depth * 90 FPS (Oculus Rift required spec) = 5.5 Gbps.

3840 * 2160 (4K) * 3 bytes per pixel * 8 bit depth * 90 FPS (Oculus Rift required spec) = 17.9 Gbps. At 60 FPS that drops to 11.9 Gbps. To fit in 8 Gbps you have to drop the framerate to 40FPS, which isn't really good for VR.

Yeah, it works for the CV1. But anyone who's used one knows that a higher resolution is badly needed, so obviously the next iteration will have to be better. I've been hearing talk of 8K not being enough for ideal performance.

Re: For VR headsets?

[WarJolt]

There was only a slight increase in cancer in rats. It's hilarious watching those rats flip out as they go over the roller coaster.

Doesn't go through walls

[rahvin112]

Only problem is it can not penetrate walls making it essentially line of sight.

Delusions

[sjbe]

Except that I know a guy (well.. have talked to him a few times in the past) that swears his skin starts crawling if someone has a phone in their pocket when they come talk to him. Of course, the last time I talked to him was before cellphones were common...

I just see it as another manifestation of whatever causes people to have delusional parasitosis. It's probably the same class of mental illness we find in people who (wrongly) think they have MSG or gluten sensitivities too.

I figure who am I to say what bothers a person.

I don't doubt that their brain is doing evil things to them. I worry about the ones that can't wrap their heads around the fact that it's almost certainly all in their head. I think they have a real illness and need real help, just not the with the disease they think they need help with.

It's a great technology

[sldunn]

802.11ad works in the 60GHz spectrum. This makes it perfect for in room network access and giving PAN functionality via WiFi Direct. Spectrum reuse for this band is insanely good.

Why? 60GHz is heavily attenuated by just about everything. If it's in room, you'll get decent coverage either through directly through LOS, or slightly attenuated by multipath. But it won't go through the walls too well, and it gets attenuated pretty quickly even by the atmosphere.

Check out this. https://transition.fcc.gov/bur...

But isn't this bad? Well, if you are hoping to drop a single 802.11ad access point in a building, and hoping to get whole office coverage.

But, if your 802.11 in the 2.4GHz and 5GHz spectrum are saturated, you can drop an 802.11ad AP into conference rooms, or places people use a ton of bandwidth, and offload it. Oh, and one more thing. Pretty much every implementation of 802.11ad that I've seen makes heavy use of either an array of highly directional antennas or beamforming. This just helps out more with spectrum re-use, and non-interference between different 802.11ad devices in proximity.