WiGig coming to Samsung devices

Wireless Gigabit Alliance member Samsung is readying multigigabit per second Wi-Fi devices, the company announced overnight, using millimetre-wave transmissions and advanced beam-forming technology.

Known as WiGig, the 802.11ad standard transmits in the unlicensed 60GHz frequency band for high performance up to 4.6 gigabits per second in Samsung's designs, while remaining backwards compatible with the previous 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi standards.

Compared to today's 802.11ac which provides a maximum throughput of 867 megabits per second per stream under ideal conditions, 802.11ad devices can reach speeds as fast as 7 gigabit/s.

The high frequency used for WiGig results in path loss and poor wall and floor penetration of the signal, leading to shorter reach than existing Wi-Fi.

Samsung said it has solved these issues with millimetre-wave circuit design, improved transmission technology and a wide-coverage beam-shaping aerials. This, the company said, would make WiGig commercially viable in retail devices.

The Korean company said it plans to incorporate WiGig into a wide range of products that include audio-visual equipment, medical devices, and communications kit.

Several other companies such as Qualcomm and its subsidiary Wilocity are working on bringing out WiGig devices for high-speed short range connectivity of networked devices.

Intel is also throwing its hat into the WiGig ring. The US company demonstrated WiGig circuits last year and showed off a wireless docking system that Intel said can be used to replace cables between devices at its September 2014 developer forum in the United States.