Intel has demonstrated wireless docking using WiGig at the Intel Developers Forum. Also known as 802.11ad, the technology uses wireless speeds of up to 7Gbps to connect a monitor and various peripherals to a computer without the need for wires. Using the 60GHz band, it has a throughput multiple times that of 802.11ac and is backwards compatible with all current standards.
Panasonic is using a tablet with an integrated WiGig prototype radio to provide a proof-of-concept of the ultra high-speed wireless technology. With it, the company is showing off the ability of transmitting data at 1Gbps speeds over distances of up to three feet. Panasonic hopes to miniaturize the technology and have it available on an SD card when it ships actual products.
Wilocity, an Israeli-based company that is developing 60GHz multi-gigabit wireless chipsets for mobile devices, will show off some working prototypes at the CES show this January. Based on 802.11ad technology, it promises 7 gigabits per second transfer speeds over short distances. The first devices using the technology will be notebooks, ultrabooks, tablets and docking stations, said Wilocity VP of Marketing Mark Grodzinsky.
VESA chairman and WiGig board member Bruce Montag in an interview this weekend revealed that the 7Gbps WiGig standard for Wi-Fi should be ready in just over a year. He expected prototypes based on the ultra wideband, 60GHz technology to be ready in 2011 and shipping devices in 2012. TrustedReviews didn't get direct clues as to which companies and devices would be the first.
The WiGig Alliance and the VESA display group today said they were working together on developing a wireless DisplayPort standard. Both groups plan to share technology that would allow for "multi-gigabit" bandwidth and display quality as good as a wired DisplayPort connection over the air. The ultra wideband technology was considered good fit as the sheer headroom and architecture are good enough to both match the same quality as DisplayPort and scale to future versions.
A second ultra-fast wireless standard received an update on Monday as the WirelessHD Consortium put out the 1.1 version of its spec. The new version ups the bandwidth to a minimum 10Gbps and maximum 28Gbps; the extra speed renders it possible to send 3D and 4K video over wireless. Portability is now a major focus as well: it can stream uncompressed video between the source and a handheld such as a smartphone or a media player.
The WiGig Alliance today published early specs for its namesake format that hinted at a major leap for wireless networking. The short-range technology will work at up to 7Gbps, or more than 10 times faster than 802.11n Wi-Fi. It will also be backwards compatible and should run on the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands in addition to the 60GHz needed for full speed.
The WiGig Alliance on Thursday said it had completed the first specifcation for its 60GHz wireless technology. The self-titled WiGig format will use the ultra-dense format to transmit data at speeds well above Wi-Fi and beyond even the initial proposal, ranging between 1Gbps and 7Gbps. Consequently, it's 10-70 times faster than Wi-Fi and should permit features that aren't practical with current technology, such as providing DisplayPort, HDMI or even PCI Express data over the wireless link.
Efforts to solidify very high-speed, short-range wireless gained steam today with the creation of the WiGig Alliance (site active soon). The organization is meant to produce a common standard for sending data over a 60GHz link and to streamline developing computers, handheld devices and home theater equipment that can use the wireless link. The ultra wideband technology is fast enough to run about 10 times as quickly as an 802.11n connection -- effectively, 1Gbps -- and has the headroom to not just stream HD video but also to allow for previously impossible features like fast wireless displays and syncing entirely over the wireless connection.
