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y_sasaki
Chris, I totally agree with you. Originally the word "3G(3.5G, 3.75G, 3.9G then ...
Chris-J
Ugh...seriously? "5G" as a name for next-gen wifi? Why??? Didn't the ...
New versions of Wi-Fi expected to boost tablets
Dylan McGrath
2/1/2012 12:07 PM EST
SANTA CLARA, Calif.—Chip makers and consumer electronics manufacturers are working to improve the tablet user experience within the home, turning to newer versions of Wi-Fi to improve connectivity and the ability to stream content from tablets to TVs, according to Michael Hurlston, senior vice president of Broadcom Corp.'s Home and Wireless Networking business unit.
"There is a lot of innovation happening in Wi-Fi right now," Hurlston said during a panel discussion at the DesignCon 2012 conference here Tuesday (Jan. 31).
Broadcom is pushing what it calls 5G Wi-Fi, based on the 802.11ac version of the Wi-Fi spec. At the Consumer Electronics Show last month, Broadcom rolled out a family of chips based on the 802.11ac, which promises higher speed and better reliability than the current mainstream, 802.11n.
Hurlston said Broadcom is pushing the term 5G Wi-Fi because it is the fifth generation of Wi-Fi to be rolled out to consumer devices and because he said the naming convention for new versions of Wi-Fi has gotten too confusing. Joking that the Wi-Fi industry "ran out of letters," he acknowledged that the average consumer might not realize that 802.11ac is the more advanced version of the standard than 802.11n. Consumers are accustomed to hearing about 3G and 4G in wireless technology from cell phones, he added.
Though Broadcom was the first company to use 5G Wi-Fi tag, Hurlston said other companies have begun to use it, a move which Broadcom supports.
Down the road, the next major innovation in Wi-Fi will be the emergence of the 802.11ad standard, which operates in the 60-gigahertz band and offers tremendous speed improvements, though has a shorter transmission range, Hurlston said. He called 802.ad a "revolution," as opposed to the "evolution" offered by 802.11ac.
Though some companies may have chips supporting 802.11ad available this year, Hurlston said Broadcom doesn't believe the market is ready for them yet. He said he expects more meaningful adoption of 802.11ad in the next few years.
Meanwhile, Hurlston said he expects consumer electronics companies to bring to market products that feature 802.11ac, or 5G Wi-Fi, toward the middle of this year.
"The whole industry is kind of moving to support a better experience for the tablet with these standards-based products," Hurlston said.
For EE Times' full coverage of DesignCon, please visit here.
"There is a lot of innovation happening in Wi-Fi right now," Hurlston said during a panel discussion at the DesignCon 2012 conference here Tuesday (Jan. 31).
Broadcom is pushing what it calls 5G Wi-Fi, based on the 802.11ac version of the Wi-Fi spec. At the Consumer Electronics Show last month, Broadcom rolled out a family of chips based on the 802.11ac, which promises higher speed and better reliability than the current mainstream, 802.11n.
Hurlston said Broadcom is pushing the term 5G Wi-Fi because it is the fifth generation of Wi-Fi to be rolled out to consumer devices and because he said the naming convention for new versions of Wi-Fi has gotten too confusing. Joking that the Wi-Fi industry "ran out of letters," he acknowledged that the average consumer might not realize that 802.11ac is the more advanced version of the standard than 802.11n. Consumers are accustomed to hearing about 3G and 4G in wireless technology from cell phones, he added.
Though Broadcom was the first company to use 5G Wi-Fi tag, Hurlston said other companies have begun to use it, a move which Broadcom supports.
Down the road, the next major innovation in Wi-Fi will be the emergence of the 802.11ad standard, which operates in the 60-gigahertz band and offers tremendous speed improvements, though has a shorter transmission range, Hurlston said. He called 802.ad a "revolution," as opposed to the "evolution" offered by 802.11ac.
Though some companies may have chips supporting 802.11ad available this year, Hurlston said Broadcom doesn't believe the market is ready for them yet. He said he expects more meaningful adoption of 802.11ad in the next few years.
Meanwhile, Hurlston said he expects consumer electronics companies to bring to market products that feature 802.11ac, or 5G Wi-Fi, toward the middle of this year.
"The whole industry is kind of moving to support a better experience for the tablet with these standards-based products," Hurlston said.
For EE Times' full coverage of DesignCon, please visit here.
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daleste
2/1/2012 9:19 PM EST
I received a Kindle Fire for Christmas. I am happy with the WiFi, but improvements are always welcome. Using 5G instead of confusing letters is a good idea. How high will they go with the G series? Maybe in a few centuries we will be up to 145G.
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Chris-J
2/3/2012 2:08 PM EST
Ugh...seriously? "5G" as a name for next-gen wifi? Why??? Didn't the confusion with cellular tech ever occur to anybody? Maybe the next Kindle will support both "4G" (cell) AND "5G" (wifi)? I guess I can understand the concern over "n" to "ac" etc., but using the next "version number" from a totally different technology doesn't help.
Just my opinion...
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y_sasaki
2/3/2012 5:12 PM EST
Chris, I totally agree with you. Originally the word "3G(3.5G, 3.75G, 3.9G then LTE)" meant to stick with existing frequency and infrastructure, meanwhile 4G meant to build brand new infrastructure (such as WiMax or XGP). The word "4G" is not just meant "faster data service".
I also think the word "5G WiFi" is confusing between "5GHz WiFi".
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