The WiGig Alliance's timeline to begin official WiGig certification in early 2013 has slipped, possibly by a year, as the group focuses on its pending merger with the Wi-Fi Alliance.
"Based on our existing plan we should have certification in place later this year, so there's a little slip of the program, maybe even beginning of '14," said Ali Sadri, chairman of the WiGig Alliance, in an interview with Mobile World Live. "I think the show for WiGig will be 2014."
He indicated there will be a corresponding delay in the release of certified commercial WiGig products.
The WiGig Alliance has achieved 80 percent of its mission to develop a standard, hold testing events and ultimately certify products and develop a market, said Sadri. By merging with the Wi-Fi Alliance, the combined organizations will offer credible certification and marketing to spread the word about WiGig's capabilities.
WiGig, based on the 802.11ad standard, operates in the unlicensed 60 GHz band and offers short-range multi-gigabit connections with speeds up to 7 Gbps. Initial applications are expected to include docking and display applications for ultrabooks and peripherals, but tablets and smartphones will subsequently include the technology, primarily for media streaming.
WiGig technology is expected to complement traditional Wi-Fi networking, with many devices incorporating both technologies.
The Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Wi-Fi Alliance and WiGig Alliance in January 2013 specifies that the organizations expect to complete the transition of both the technology development activity and WiGig assets to the Wi-Fi Alliance by mid 2013.
For more:
- see this Mobile World Live article
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