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Qualcomm and Wilocity cram 802.11ac and 802.11ad into single tri-band design
Qualcomm and Wilocity are teaming up at CES to deliver what they claim is the world's first tri-band WiFi solution that combines 802.11ac and 802.11ad. The new QCA9006 line (available in two different formfactors) is a natural evolution of the AR9004TB chipset, which married 802.11n to the WiGig standard. The newest reference design uses 60GHz, 5GHz and 2.4GHz radios to achieve both high speeds and broad compatibility. Sadly, there's no immediate plans for such a cutting edge wireless chip to make its way into a shipping product. Though, CES is just getting started, so there's always a chance some other company could deliver us a pleasant surprise. Check out the PR after the break.
Qualcomm unleashes tri-band WiFi and new mobile wireless chipset
Qualcomm might be all juiced up about getting its Snapdragon processor in 250 upcoming devices, but that doesn't mean the company has forgotten its wireless roots. The San Diego-based chip maker announced that its partnership with Wilocity has finally bore fruit in the form of the AR9004TB chipset. This tri-band wireless setup adds 60GHz WiGig to the usual 2.4 and 5GHz dual-band 802.11n formula for "multi-gigabit in-room performance." Though far from finalized, the 802.11ad standard being pushed by the WiGig alliance should be able to hit speeds of 5Gbps -- more than enough to blast several HD video streams around your home. It also packs Bluetooth 4.0 for your less bandwidth intensive (and more battery sensitive) computing needs. Going smaller scale, Qualcomm also unveiled the WCN3660, a wireless chipset to complement its Snapdragon CPU in smartphones and tablets. Inside this sliver of silicon is a dual-band Wi-Fi radio, Bluetooth 4.0, and an FM radio. It also supports Wi-Fi Display (not to be confused with WiDi) for beaming video to a WiFi-enabled TV or monitor. Head on after the break for more PR than you can shake an antenna at.
Atheros and Wilocity embrace 'tri-band' wireless wares, 60GHz wireless PCIe
The amount of dual-band products (you know, those that support both 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands) is slowly growing, but already a pair of companies are thinking about the next big thing: tri-band. Atheros and Wilocity have both been eying that 60GHz stuff that the WiGig Alliance is pushing around these days, and now they're announcing a collaboration to "build tri-band wireless solutions that combine the ubiquity and coverage of WiFi with the multi-gigabit performance of the Wireless Gigabit Alliance's 60GHz technology." The new gear would enable all sorts of backwards compatibility, and while there aren't too many details being shared just yet on exactly what kind of kit is in the pipeline, we do know of one particular tidbit. That tidbit, of course, is wireless PCI Express, or wPCIe. Developed by Wilocity, this black magic would essentially enable PCIe devices to be docked outside of the desktop and have their signals beamed to a receiver card within the desktop. Think external graphics, storage arrays, etc., all sans cabling. It's being reported that wPCIe can push data at up to 5Gbps, and if all goes to plan, the spec should scale easily to 7Gbps. Be sure to give the links below a visit for a deeper dive, and get ready to give that SFF machine you've often overlooked... well, another look.
Heavily-backed WiGig Alliance to stream everything over 60GHz
Yes folks, we're back to the drawing board. Again. With a litany of wireless technologies floundering about and struggling to find real traction in the market, a cadre of market powerhouses have joined up to take wireless streaming to the next level -- or so they say, anyway. The newly formed WiGig Alliance aims to use unlicensed 60GHz waves in order to stream just about anything you can think of: HD video, images, phone contacts, instant messages, audio, etc. This "unified" approach differs from most other alternatives, which generally pick one niche (1080p video, for instance) and stick to it. If the more than 15 technology firms have their collective druthers, the WiGig specification will find its way into everything from set-top-boxes to telephones to home stereos, ready and willing to stream to other WiGig-enabled devices at a moment's notice. The group consists of household names such as Microsoft, LG, Dell, Samsung, Marvell, Nokia, NEC, Intel and Broadcom (just to name a few), and when we spoke to executives about the announcement, they told us that plans were to have the specification available to member organizations in Q4 of this year. The sad part is that this likely means we won't see shipping products with the WiGig logo for another year after that -- if we're lucky. We can't argue that some stability would be nice in this volatile sector; after all, we've been waiting for promising products like Belkin's FlyWire to ship for well over a year. The execs we spoke with couldn't speak on behalf of the partner firms in terms of what WiGig products were looming on the horizon, but as we alluded to earlier, the playing field is wide open. Honestly, we'd love for this to take off and finally give high-bandwidth wireless applications the support it needs to flourish, but as we've seen over the past few years, the road ahead ain't an easy one to walk. The full release is after the break.
