The Gigabit Wireless Alliance, created last May by a dozen companies (such as Atheros, Broadcom, Dell, Intel, LG, Marvell, Mediatek, Microsoft, NEC, Nokia, Panasonic or Samsung), today announced it has finalized the specifications the Wireless Gigabit Ethernet (WiGig), a much faster version of WiFi that everyone knows.

7 Gbps, but a range of 10 meters

According to these specifications, the WiGig 1.0 reaches a maximum speed of about 7 Gbps and would use the 60 GHz band. This standard also incorporates much of the MAC layer of 802.11 while making specific extensions to optimize the transfer of certain types of data.

The WiGig place but did not direct competitor of the 802.11n WiFi: it retains the advantage of a much larger scope, the WiGig being limited to a distance of about 10 meters. The latter will therefore connect computers together, but also peripherals and mobile devices. The first devices compatible WiGig expected to appear next year.