Solutions for 802.11ad PHY Layer Testing
Application Notes
The 2.4 and 5 GHz wireless bands are today heavily congested and fundamentally lack the capacity to deliver the multi-gigabit data rates that emerging consumer applications, like HDTV video streaming around the home and in-room gaming, demand. The IEEE 802.11ac standard is working to address this need, but delivering the needed capacity may prove beyond its capabilities. The globally available 60 GHz wireless band, however, can meet this demand for short-range multi-gigabit links, both technically and commercially. Presently, very few devices and technologies use this band, its regulation is minimal and allows for very fast data transfer rates compared to existing wireless options operating in the lower 2.4 and 5 GHz wireless bands.
802.11ad is an emerging IEEE standard providing Very High Throughput (VHT)—up to 7 Gbps using approximately 2 GHz of spectrum at 60 GHz over a short range. As a backwards-compatible extension to IEEE 802.11-2007, the specification adds a new media access control layer/physical layer (MAC/PHY) to provide short range, high capacity point-to-point links in the 60 GHz unlicensed band. The 802.11ad standard is expected to be finalized by the end of 2012, with 802.11ad-capable devices starting to hit the market in late 2012/early 2013.