Ministry of Science, ICP, and Future Planning (MSIP) announced on the 1st that it has notified that wireless installation regulation to be revised so that next-generation wireless LAN standard ‘WiGig (Wireless Gigabit)’ product, where Wi-Fi can be used at 60 GHz ultra-high frequency bandwidth (57~64 GHz), can be released.

WiGig is 60 GHz wireless LAN standard (802.11ad) certified brand that is developed by Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE136). Theoretically its fastest transmission speed is 7 Gb (Gbps) and it is 10 times and 2 times faster than 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi and 5 GHz Wi-Fi respectively. One can download a full HD video (4~10 Gb) in just 2 seconds.

Use of 60 GHz Wi-Fi bandwidth frequency did not happen until now due to characteristic of radio wave of having severe signal reduction in air.

IEEE first introduced 60 GHz bandwidth wireless LAN standard in February of 2010 and finished developing in December of 2012. Afterwards global manufacturers such as Samsung, Intel, and others were developing chip set that supports 7 Gbps-level ultra-high-speed communication within short distance of 10 m or less. It is predicted that its release will most likely be in second half of 2015, and industry is hoping that Smarthphones, laptops, and others that use this chip set will be released by end of 2015.

TVs, laptops, cellphones, cameras, and etc. with WiGig chip set can use non-compressed UHD (3840 x 2160) videos wirelessly without any disconnection.

Market investigative company called ABI Research is predicting that global WiGig chip set market will continuously grow up to 157% per year and ship more than 100 million copies in 2019. It is also hoping that variety of converged industries such as Smart Office, high-definition home theater, many Giga-level home network, and etc. will be vitalized.

“Due to this revision of technology standard, wired connection between office machineries is not necessary because it is possible to send large-capacity data at a high speed within short distance. Foreign companies such as Broadcom, Intel, and others led current 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz Wi-Fi market.

However Korean companies are preparing to enter 60 GHz WiGig market at early stage which will contribute in helping them to secure competitive edge in wireless data communication market.” Section Chief Heo Won Seok of MSIP’s Frequency Policy talked about the advantage of WiGig and how it will help Korean companies to gain edge in global market.