Wireless Gigabit Alliance

WiGig Alliance Logo

The Wireless Gigabit Alliance^[1] (WiGig) was a trade association that developed and promoted the adoption of multi-gigabit speed wireless communications technology operating over the unlicensed 60 GHz frequency band. The alliance was subsumed by the Wi-Fi Alliance in March 2013.^[2]

The formation of the WiGig alliance to promote the IEEE 802.11ad protocol was announced in May 2009.^{[3][4][5][6][7]} The completed version 1.0 WiGig specification was announced in December 2009.^{[8][9][10][11][12]} In May 2010, WiGig announced the publication of its specification, the opening of its Adopter Program, and the liaison agreement with the Wi-Fi Alliance to cooperate on the expansion of Wi-Fi technologies.^[13][14] In June 2011, WiGig announced the release of its certification-ready version 1.1 specification.^[13]

The WiGig specification allows devices to communicate without wires at multi-gigabit speeds. It enables high performance wireless data, display and audio applications that supplement the capabilities of previous wireless LAN devices. WiGig tri-band enabled devices, which operate in the 2.4, 5 and 60 GHz bands, deliver data transfer rates up to 7 Gbit/s, about as fast as an 8 antenna 802.11ac transmission, and nearly 50 times faster than the highest 802.11n rate, while maintaining compatibility with existing Wi-Fi devices. The 60 GHz signal cannot typically penetrate walls but can propagate off reflections from walls, ceilings, floors and objects using beamforming built into the WiGig system. When roaming away from the main room the protocol can switch to make use of the other lower bands at a much lower rate, but which propagate through walls.^[15][16]

Members

Among the companies that comprise the board of directors are:

Contributor members include:

Ali Sadri is the president and chairman of the board of WiGig Alliance and he also the founded the movement. Sadri directs all activities throughout the alliance, from leading the board of directors to providing support for the technical working groups.^{[citation needed]}

History

The Wireless gigabit alliance set about its task for creating faster and more efficient communications technology in 2007.^{[citation needed]} Their idea was to set about creating wirelessly interconnected home entertainment and office devices, like PCs, tablets, smartphones and displays, entirely removing the need for wires. They also wanted devices to be constantly connected and ready to transfer. Thus eliminating the need to have both a laptop and a tablet, as a device could connect straight to a display. The alliance In May 2009 the alliance announced something, and WiGig 1.0, announced in December of the same year. In 2010 WiGig and the Wi-Fi alliance announced a cooperation agreement. The agreement combined 60 GHz with traditional Wi-Fi networking that extended the range at slower speeds and helped signals to go through walls to cover entire homes. On November 3, 2010, the WiGig Alliance and the Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) announced an association to define the next generation standard wireless display technology. VESA and WiGig Alliance agreed to share technology specifications to develop multi-gigabit wireless Display Port capabilities. In 2011 the WiGig Coalition struck a deal with HDMI Licencing, LLC, adding the universal video jack to its marketing. The official standard was published by the Standards Association of the IEEE in December 2012 as IEEE 802.11ad-2012 as an amendment to the overall IEEE 802.11 standard family.^[19]

After more than two years of collaboration, in January 2013 the Wireless Gigabit Alliance announced it would merge with the Wi-Fi Alliance. The merger was finalized in March.^[2] Although no longer a separate organization, the WiGig technology kept its name, with the Wi-Fi Alliance planning to jointly certify both devices in late 2013.

On September 9, 2013, a statement revealed that the WiGig protocol would be used in a new wireless version of USB through a deal between the Wi-Fi Alliance and the USB Implementers Forum. The Wireless USB standard would use existing USB 2.0 and 3.0 drivers. The Wi-Fi alliance transferred WiGig wireless transmission technology to the USB Implementers Forum as it is expected that WiGig certified products will implement USB functionality.^{[citation needed]}

Specification

The WiGig MAC and PHY Specification, version 1.1 includes the following capabilities:^[13][20]

• Supports data transmission rates up to 7 Gbit/s – more than ten times faster than the highest 802.11n rate
• Supplements and extends the 802.11 Media Access Control (MAC) layer and is backward compatible with the IEEE 802.11 standard
• Physical layer enables low power and high performance WiGig devices, guaranteeing interoperability and communication at gigabit rates
• Protocol adaptation layers are being developed to support specific system interfaces including data buses for PC peripherals and display interfaces for HDTVs, monitors and projectors
• Support for beamforming, enabling robust communication at distances beyond 10 meters. The beams can move within the coverage area through modification of the transmission phase of individual antenna elements, which is called phase array antenna beamforming.
• Widely used advanced security and power management for WiGig devices

Applications

On November 3, 2010, WiGig Alliance announced the WiGig version 1.0 A/V and I/O protocol adaptation layer (PAL) specifications.^[13] The application specifications have been developed to support specific system interfaces including extensions for PC peripherals and display interfaces for HDTVs, monitors and projectors.

WiGig Display Extension

• Supports wireless transmission of audio/visual data
• Enables wireless DisplayPort and other display interfaces that include the High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection 2.0 feature.
• Offers key A/V applications, such as the transmission of lightly compressed or uncompressed video from a computer or digital camera to an HDTV, monitor or projector

WiGig Bus Extension and WiGig Serial Extension. The WiGig Bus Extension (WBE) was available to members in 2011.^[21]

• Define high-performance wireless implementations of widely used computer interfaces over 60 GHz
• Enable multi-gigabit wireless connectivity between any two devices, such as connection to storage and other high-speed peripherals

Liaisons

On May 10, 2010, the Wi-Fi Alliance and WiGig Alliance announced a cooperation agreement for multi-gigabit wireless networking. The Wi-Fi Alliance and the WiGig Alliance shared technology specifications for the development of a Wi-Fi Alliance certification program supporting Wi-Fi operation in the 60 GHz frequency band.^[22][23][24]

On November 3, 2010, the WiGig Alliance and the Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) announced a liaison for standard wireless display technology. VESA and WiGig Alliance agreed to share technology specifications to develop multi-gigabit wireless DisplayPort capabilities and create a certification program for wireless DisplayPort products.^[25]

On June 28, 2011, the WiGig Alliance announced becoming an Adopter of HDMI Licensing, LLC to further provide WiGig Display Extension (WDE) support for HDMI mapping. WDE is the only 60 GHz specification that defines a framework to connect to DisplayPort monitors and HDMI TVs, enabling applications such as the wireless transmission of compressed or uncompressed video.^[13][26]

Competition

WiGig competes with WirelessHD in some applications. WirelessHD transmits in the same 60 GHz band used by WiGig.

See also

• Bluetooth
• IEEE 802.15
• Media Agnostic USB
• Ultra-wideband (UWB)
• Wireless Home Digital Interface (WHDI)
• Wireless USB
• ZigBee

References

External links

• Wireless Gigabit Alliance – official site
• IEEE 802.11ad Tutorial
• IEEE Std 802.11ad access entry page
• WiGig Certification Program Launched - Get Your Devices WiGig Certified