White Paper

Defining the Future of Multi-Gigabit

Wireless Communications

July 2010
WiGig | Defining the Future of Multi-Gigabit Wireless Communications 2

Introduction Specification Overview

The widespread availability and use of digital The WiGig specification includes key features to
multimedia content has created a need for faster maximize performance, minimize implementation
wireless connectivity that current commercial standards complexity and cost, enable compatibility with existing
cannot support. This has driven demand for a single Wi-Fi and provide advanced security. Key features
standard that can support advanced applications include:
such as wireless display and docking, as well as more • Support for data transmission rates up to 7 Gbps;
established usages such as network access. all devices based on the WiGig specification will be
capable of gigabit data transfer rates
The Wireless Gigabit (WiGig) Alliance was formed to • Designed from the ground up to support low-power
meet this need by establishing a unified specification handheld devices such as cell phones, as well as
for wireless communication at multi-gigabit speeds; this high-performance devices such as computers;
specification is designed to drive a global ecosystem of includes advanced power management
interoperable products. • Based on IEEE 802.11; provides native Wi-Fi
The WiGig MAC and PHY Specification enables data support and enables devices to transparently switch
rates up to 7 Gbps, more than 10 times the speed of between 802.11 networks operating in any frequency
the fastest Wi-Fi networks based on IEEE 802.11n. It band including 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz and 60 GHz
operates in the unlicensed 60 GHz frequency band, • Support for beamforming, maximizing signal
which has much more spectrum available than the strength and enabling robust communication at
2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands used by existing Wi-Fi distances beyond 10 meters
products. This allows wider channels that support faster • Advanced security using the Galois/Counter Mode
transmission speeds. of the AES encryption algorithm
• Support for high-performance wireless
The WiGig specification is based on the existing IEEE implementations of HDMI, DisplayPort, USB and
802.11 standard, which is at the core of hundreds of PCIe
millions of Wi-Fi products deployed worldwide. The
specification includes native support for Wi-Fi over
Structure
60 GHz; new devices with tri-band radios will be able to The WiGig specification defines Physical (PHY) and
seamlessly integrate into existing 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz Medium Access Control (MAC) layers and is based
Wi-Fi networks. on IEEE 802.11. This enables native support for
IP networking over 60 GHz. It also makes it
The specification enables a broad range of advanced simpler and less expensive to produce devices
uses, including wireless docking and connection to that can communicate over both WiGig and existing
displays, as well as virtually instantaneous wireless Wi-Fi using tri-band radios (2.4 GHz,5 GHz and 60 GHz).
backups, synchronization and file transfers between
computers and handheld devices. For the first time,
consumers will be able to create a complete computing
and consumer electronics experience without wires.

WiGig and IEEE 802.11ad

IEEE 802.11ad is an amendment to the 802.11
standard that enables multi-gigabit wireless
communications in the 60 GHz band. The WiGig
specification was contributed to the IEEE 802.11ad
standardization process, and was confirmed in May
2010 as the basis for the 802.11ad draft standard.

Figure 1. WiGig architecture enables tri-band

communications
Copyright 2010 © WiGig Alliance. All rights reserved.
WiGig | Defining the Future of Multi-Gigabit Wireless Communications 3

The WiGig Alliance is also defining Protocol Adaptation

Layers (PALs) that support specific data and
display standards over 60 GHz. PALs allow wireless
implementations of these standard interfaces that run
directly on the WiGig MAC and PHY, as shown in Figure
2, and can be implemented in hardware. The initial PALs
are audio-visual (A/V), which defines support for HDMI
and DisplayPort, and input-output (I/O), which defines
support for USB and PCIe.

Figure 3. Worldwide spectrum availability in the 60 GHz

band used by WiGig

Modulation & Coding Scheme (MCS)

Figure 2. WiGig Protocol Adaptation Layers (PALs) The specification supports two types of modulation and
coding schemes, which provide different benefits:
Physical Layer (PHY) • Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM)
Like the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands used by Wi-Fi, the supports communication over longer distances
60 GHz band used by WiGig is unlicensed and available with greater delay spreads, providing more
worldwide. Within the 60 GHz band, there is variation in flexibility in handling obstacles and reflected
the spectrum available in different countries, as shown signals. Furthermore, OFDM allows the greatest
in Figure 3. transmission speeds of up to 7 Gbps.
• Single carrier (SC) typically results in lower power
Worldwide, the 60 GHz band has much more spectrum
consumption, so it is often a better fit for small, low-
available than the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands – typically
power handheld devices. SC supports transmission
7 GHz of spectrum, compared with 83.5 MHz in the
speeds up to 4.6 Gbps.
2.4 GHz band.
The two types of schemes share common elements
This spectrum is divided into multiple channels, as in the
such as preamble and channel coding. This reduces
2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands. Because the 60 GHz band
implementation complexity for manufacturers of WiGig
has much more spectrum available, the channels are
devices.
much wider, enabling multi-gigabit data rates. The WiGig
specification defines four channels, each 2.16 GHz wide Medium Access Control (MAC) Layer
– 50 times wider than the channels available in 802.11n.
The MAC layer of the WiGig specification includes
These wide channels enable WiGig to support new features that support advanced usage models,
applications that require extremely fast communication, facilitate integration with Wi-Fi networks, reduce power
such as uncompressed video transmission. consumption and provide strong security.

Copyright 2010 © WiGig Alliance. All rights reserved.

WiGig | Defining the Future of Multi-Gigabit Wireless Communications 4

WiGig Beamforming
Use of the 60 GHz band allows extremely fast Another key benefit is that if an obstacle blocks the
communication, but also presents the challenge that line of sight between two devices - if someone walks
propagation loss is higher than in the 2.4 GHz and between them, for example - the devices can quickly
5 GHz bands. establish a new communications pathway using, for
example, beams that reflect off walls, as shown in
The WiGig specification addresses this challenge Figure 4.
using adaptive beamforming, a technique that enables
robust multi-gigabit communications at distances
greater than 10 meters.
Beamforming employs directional antennas to reduce
interference and focus the signal between two devices
into a concentrated “beam.” This allows faster data
transmission over longer distances.
Support for beamforming is defined within the
PHY and MAC layers of the WiGig specification.
During the beamforming process, two devices
establish communication and then fine-tune their
antenna settings to improve the quality of directional
communication until there is enough capacity for the Figure 4. Beamforming
desired data transmission.

Network Architecture to a lower-frequency Wi-Fi channel. They will always

The specification defines a new network architecture that experience performance that is at least as good as
enables two devices to communicate directly with each today’s Wi-Fi products, and will be able to automatically
other, allowing new uses such as rapidly synchronizing take advantage of the additional speed of 60 GHz WiGig
two devices and transmitting audio-visual data to a whenever it is available.
projector or TV. In addition, the specification also supports Power Management
existing 802.11 network architectures, including the use WiGig devices can take advantage of a new scheduled
of a shared access point as in today’s Wi-Fi networks. access mode to reduce power consumption. Two
Seamless Multi-band Operation devices communicating with each other via a directional
A communication session can be rapidly and seamlessly link may schedule the periods during which they
transferred between a 60 GHz channel and any communicate; in between those periods, they can sleep
lower-frequency Wi-Fi channel, including channels in to save power. This advanced capability allows devices
the 2.4 GHz or 5  GHz band. This innovation enables to more precisely tailor their power management to their
seamless fallback to 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz Wi-Fi if 60 GHz actual traffic workload, and is especially important for cell
WiGig connectivity is not available. phones and other handheld battery-powered devices.

Multi-band operation provides a greatly improved Advanced Security

user experience. Users with multi-band devices will The WiGig specification builds on the strong security
be able to continue accessing the network, without mechanisms used in IEEE 802.11. WiGig uses Galois/
interruption, if their device switches from a 60 GHz Counter Mode, a highly-efficient mode of operation that is
designed to support communication speeds of 10 Gbps
WiGig and Wi-Fi Alliance Partnership and above, provides strong encryption based on the
WiGig Alliance and Wi-Fi Alliance established Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), is government-
a cooperation agreement in May 2010 to share recommended, and can be implemented in hardware for
technology specifications for the development performance and efficiency.
of a next-generation Wi-Fi Alliance certification
progam. This agreement further encourages the
Protocol Adaptation Layers (PALs)
PALs allow wireless implementations of key computer
development of products supporting 60 GHz
and consumer electronics interfaces over 60 GHz WiGig
technology to expand existing Wi-Fi capabilities.
networks. PALs make it easier for implementers to
Copyright 2010 © WiGig Alliance
WiGig | Defining the Future of Multi-Gigabit Wireless Communications 5

produce devices with built-in support for specific uses storage, network cards and other interfaces. It is also
such as wireless connections to displays. used to connect to media and visual processors to
enhance picture quality or offload processing from
PALs enable highly efficient implementations because the CPU. Implementation of the PAL enables multi-
they are defined directly on the WiGig MAC and PHY, rather gigabit wireless synchronization between devices and
than layered on other protocols and can be implemented connection to storage and other high speed peripherals.
in hardware. This maximizes performance and reduces
power consumption. PALs defined to date are: Usage Models
Audio-Visual (A/V) The WiGig specification and PALs enable multi-gigabit
wireless implementations of a broad range of new and
The A/V PAL allows wireless transmission of audio-
existing usage models, as shown in Figure 5.
visual data. An example might be transmitting movies
from a computer or digital camera to a TV set or Summary
projector. This PAL supports wireless implementations
The WiGig specification utilizes the unlicensed 60 GHz
of HDMI and DisplayPort interfaces, as well as the
band worldwide to provide data rates up to 7 Gbps.
High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP)
Based on the 802.11 standard, it includes native
scheme used to protect digital content transmitted over
support for Wi-Fi over 60 GHz; products with tri-band
those interfaces. It scales to allow transmission of both
radios will be able to transparently switch among
compressed and uncompressed video.
2.4 GHz, 5 GHz and 60 GHz networks ensuring optimal
Input-Output (I/O) performance. The WiGig Alliance is also specifying
The I/O PAL defines high-performance wireless PALs that define wireless implementations of A/V and
implementations of widely used computer interfaces I/O interfaces, facilitating advanced applications such
over 60 GHz. Definitions exist for USB and for PCIe. as wireless docking, high-speed synchronization and
connection to displays.
USB is typically used to connect external peripherals and
other devices to a host; the USB PAL enables multi- The publication of the specification enables
gigabit wireless connectivity between USB devices, and manufacturers to create a global ecosystem of
facilitates the development of products such as USB interoperable WiGig products. The specification is
docking stations. available to members of the WiGig Alliance, who are
able to develop next-generation wireless products under
PCIe is typically used within computers to connect royalty-free terms. For more information, including how
the CPU and memory to I/O controllers that support to become a member, visit www.wigig.org.

Peer-to-Peer Kiosk Sync & Data Exchange

Instant Wireless Sync
· IP-based P2P applications
· Using I/O PAL

Wireless Display
Wireless Display
· HD streams over HDMI
or DP using A/V PAL
· CE, PE and HH usages

Distributed Peripherals
Cordless Computing
· Combination of Wireless
display using A/V PAL, sync
and I/O using I/O PAL

Wi-Fi
Internet Access
· Using native Wi-Fi,
802.11ad support

Figure 5. Usage Models

Copyright 2010 © WiGig Alliance. All rights reserved.