New WiGig technology to revolutionize wireless in the home, tech experts say

Emerging WiGig technology will eliminate the need for wires to complete short-range, high-speed file transfers and change the way consumers move videos and other large files between devices, technology experts say. The new technology, now being developed by international organization the WiGig Alliance, will offer short-range, wireless data transfers at speeds of up to 7 Gbps, Ali Sadri, the organization’s president, said in an interview. He said that is substantially faster than typical WiFi connections. “Right now, we’re transmitting up to 4 Gbps. WiFi transmits at a maximum of 1 Gbps, so we’re about four or five faster,” he said. Sadri said the new wireless technology—which will also provide for high-speed wireless Internet access at home or in buildings—will allow consumers to do away with a wide range of wires and adapters now used to transfer files from one device to another within homes and offices. High-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) cables, device docking stations, USB cables and flash drives are some of the wires and devices the technology can replace, he said. He said interference on the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands, now used for WiFi, is a primary reason why those bands cannot be used to transfer large data files at the same speed as WiGig. Sadri said the new specification uses the 60 GHz spectrum band, now available for unlicensed use in Canada, the U.S., and other countries. That band supports wider channels, faster data transfers, and has less interference, he said. Duncan Stewart, director for technology, media and telecom at Deloitte Canada, said the 60 GHz band is challenging to use for wireless communications because it does not carry signals over long distances or through objects and walls. “Wireless frequencies that propagate relatively well at 5 GHz, in terms of walls and so forth, can be stopped by tissue paper at 60 GHz,” he said. “A magazine would certainly stop it.” In a whitepaper posted on the WiGig Alliance website, the organization said it is addressing what Stewart described as a “line of sight issue” by using a technology called “beamforming,” which improves wireless signals through the use of directional antennas. Sadri said beamforming, or the use of narrow, signal beams, will allow consumers to use several WiGig-enabled devices in a single room without interfering with each other. He said this is a priority for the organization because more consumers are using multiple devices in their homes simultaneously. Donovan Wallace, vice-president of engineering at Ottawa-based WiFi solutions company Edgewater Wireless Systems Inc., said WiGig would be suited to consumers who want to stream Blu-Ray movie files directly to their TVs or move high-definition movies and other large media files onto their mobile devices over their home wireless network. “Say you want to connect your tablet into your home network and you want to do a massive download: it’s possible through WiGig,” he said. Internet service and Internet-protocol TV providers that adopt the new technology early could appeal to consumers by offering WiGig-enabled routers. “There are carriers that provide routers and smart devices for use in peoples’ homes that act as a router or a wireless device that they manage. Possibly they could leverage WiGig to be able to deliver Blu-Ray directly to a WiGig-enabled TV,” Wallace said. “They could add that to their peripherals that they offer to the consumer.” Stewart said the technology will ease mobile carriers’ networks because it supports “an accelerated move of more and more data in the home, or in the enterprise, off of cellular frequencies.” He said this move off mobile networks will be important because fourth-generation LTE services, which are increasingly used for mobile connections, do not carry well through walls or objects. “As a result of this specific property of LTE … more and more we’re going to be forced to move our phones and our tablets over to WiFi standards, whether it’s the current ones or ,” Stewart said. Sadri said the rollout of WiGig is “absolutely a revolution” that will create “a new set of standards and expectations for the future use of wireless technology.” He said the availability of fast, multiple wireless data transfers at the same time, will encourage tech companies to develop new, innovative applications for the technology. “We have just set the bar so high it will introduce a revolutionary impact on the whole wireless ecosystem,” he said. “Give the capabilities to innovators, I think they will come up with revolutionary products.” Stewart said the development of WiGig is a good thing for consumers and network operators but that the technology is an “evolution, not revolution.” “There are ongoing improvements in wireless performance … this is a process that will continue for years to decades,” he said. “From my perspective, WiGig is a good thing and a positive thing, but it’s just more of the same.” Sadri said the new WiGig standard will be available by late 2013 or early 2014 at the earliest. The technology will be in “practically all WiFi chip-sets” by 2016, he said, “and that’s when I think the majority of the volume will kick in.” nkyonka@thewirereport.ca

New WiGig technology to revolutionize wireless in the home, tech experts say

News | October 24, 2012

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New WiGig technology to revolutionize wireless in the home, tech experts say

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