One of the most crucial technologies to come out of the last decade has been Wi-Fi. Each upgrade every few years proves anew how invaluable it is in connecting computers and other devices to one another.
And the next generation of Wi-Fi could change everything.
Called WiGig — a format being developed by the Wi-Fi Alliance (which has overseen Wi-Fi since the start) and the Wireless Gigabit Alliance offshoot, the Los Angeles Times reports — its goal is to build a standard that beams data at least 10 times as fast as the Wi-Fi we have today: a true gigabit networking format that works without wires. Seven gigabits per second has been thrown around as a target speed.
That kind of performance has been unthinkable using currently available technology and wireless bandwidth.
To make it all happen, WiGig squats on a new chunk of spectrum at 60GHz, far from the 2.4 and 5GHz bands that today’s Wi-Fi gear currently occupies. This means WiGig equipment will require a different radio than current Wi-Fi gear, though most WiGig equipment will include the older radios as well so it can talk to existing Wi-Fi networks, much like your Blu-ray player can still play DVDs and CDs.
But WiGig isn’t designed just for computers and to make your YouTube video downloads go faster. Its intention is to rid us of all the cables we’ve been saddled with in other applications. That means cutting the cords from your cable box and Blu-ray player to your television — as WiGig would have more than enough bandwidth to handle high-definition video playback — and not just in the living room, but potentially throughout the house, enabling, say, a video server that lived in the basement and beamed programming everywhere.
Little additional information on WiGig is currently available, namely on pricing and a real release schedule. The specification was theoretically done in late 2009, and the WiGig Alliance is now opening its doors for its “adopter program,” but a detailed timeline for the availability of WiGig products is a question mark for now.
I want one!
— Christopher Null is a technology writer for Yahoo! News.
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