Wi-Fi Alliance(R) and WiGig(TM) Alliance to
Cooperate on Expansion of Wi-Fi Technologies
Liaison agreement will enable technology sharing for program
development
AUSTIN, Texas and TOKYO/PRNewswire/ -- The Wi-Fi Alliance
and the Wireless Gigabit Alliance (WiGig Alliance) today announced a
cooperation agreement for multi-gigabit wireless networking. The Wi-Fi
Alliance and the WiGig Alliance will share technology specifications for
the development of a next-generation Wi-Fi Alliance certification
program supporting Wi-Fi® operation in the 60 GHz frequency band. This
agreement further encourages the development of products supporting 60
GHz technology to expand existing Wi-Fi capabilities.
Device connectivity in the 60 GHz band will complement the current
family of Wi-Fi technologies. Targeted primarily for applications that
require gigabit speeds, 60 GHz products are expected to be used in a
wide range of high-performance devices. A significant portion, if not
all, of these devices are expected to also support traditional Wi-Fi
networking in the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands.
"60 GHz device connectivity will be an exciting enhancement to the
capabilities of today's Wi-Fi technologies. It will expand the utility
of Wi-Fi, used by hundreds of millions of people every day," said Wi-Fi
Alliance chief executive officer Edgar Figueroa. "From its inception,
the WiGig specification was designed to work on a wide variety of
devices, making it a compelling input as we begin to define our
certification program for 60 GHz wireless."
"Now that our specification is complete and published, it's time to
set our sights on driving a great user experience through
interoperability and certification," said Dr. Ali Sadri, president and
chairman of the WiGig Alliance. "We are happy to work with the Wi-Fi
Alliance to extend multi-gigabit capabilities to the Wi-Fi technology
portfolio."
The WiGig Alliance, which shares many member companies in common with
the Wi-Fi Alliance, was formed to unify the next generation of
multi-gigabit wireless products by encouraging the adoption and
widespread use of 60 GHz wireless technology worldwide.
The WiGig specification defines protocols to deliver data transfer
rates measured in gigabits rather than megabits and supports a new range
of applications and usages. The specification also defines procedures
to enable WiGig compliant devices to hand over sessions to operate in
the 2.4 or 5 GHz band. It is expected that a new class of tri-band Wi-Fi
CERTIFIED(TM) devices will offer multi-gigabit wireless speeds while
helping to ensure backward compatibility.
"There is no question that this agreement will enable 60 GHz
technology to form an important part of the high-performance future for
wireless networking," said Phil Solis, practice director for Wireless
Connectivity at ABI Research. "By cooperating, the groups have set a
course for interoperability and backward compatibility that will
accelerate the adoption and usefulness of multi-gigabit wireless
networking."
For more information, visit www.wi-fi.org and www.wigig.org.
About the Wi-Fi Alliance
The Wi-Fi Alliance is a global non-profit industry association of
hundreds of leading companies devoted to the proliferation of Wi-Fi
technology across devices and market segments. With technology
development, market building, and regulatory programs, the Wi-Fi
Alliance has enabled widespread adoption of Wi-Fi worldwide.
The Wi-Fi CERTIFIED(TM) program was launched in March 2000. It
provides a widely-recognized designation of interoperability and
quality, and it helps to ensure that Wi-Fi enabled products deliver the
best user experience. The Wi-Fi Alliance has completed more than 7,000
product certifications to date, encouraging the expanded use of Wi-Fi
products and services in new and established markets.
Wi-Fi®, Wi-Fi Alliance®, WMM®, Wi-Fi Protected Access® (WPA), the
Wi-Fi CERTIFIED logo, the Wi-Fi logo, the Wi-Fi ZONE logo, and the Wi-Fi
Protected Setup logo are registered trademarks of the Wi-Fi Alliance;
Wi-Fi CERTIFIED(TM), Wi-Fi Direct(TM), Wi-Fi Protected Setup(TM), Wi-Fi
Multimedia(TM), and the Wi-Fi Alliance logo are trademarks of the Wi-Fi
Alliance.
About the WiGig Alliance
The WiGig Alliance was formed to establish a global ecosystem of,
high-speed and easy-to-use wireless devices that work together
seamlessly to connect people in the digital age. WiGig technology
enables multi-gigabit wireless communications among consumer
electronics, handheld devices and PCs, and drives industry convergence
to a single radio using the readily available, unlicensed 60 GHz
spectrum. The organization brings together the world's leading
manufacturers of semiconductors, personal computers, consumer
electronics and handheld devices. For more information, please visit
www.wigig.org.
Wireless Gigabit Alliance and WiGig are trademarks of the Wireless
Gigabit Alliance.
Source: Wi-Fi Alliance; WiGig Alliance
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