The Definitive Guide to 802.11ad
What is 802.11ad?
802.11ad is an extension of the 802.11 standard and is a new wireless standard that uses multiple channels to achieve high data rates on short distances, while reducing interference and latency.
802.11ad has been developed by the Wi-Fi Alliance and its first use was in the Wi-Fi Direct specification released in March 2013. It was designed as a solution to increase network capacity over long distances, but it also has applications in wireless LANs, cordless telephones and Bluetooth devices. The 802.11ad standard was introduced by the Wi-Fi Alliance in May 2013 as an alternative to existing standards such as 802.11a/b/g/n for high speed data transfer over short distances. . It is available in the 800 MHz, 2.4 GHz and 5.0/5.8 GHz bands as well as in the 2.1/2.4 GHz band for indoor use at distances of up to 6 meters (20 feet).The 802.11ad standard is a modulation scheme for both left- and right-handed signals.
How does the 802.11ad work?
802.11ad (WiGig) is a wireless standard providing multi-gigabit wireless data rates. It uses the unlicensed 60 GHz radio frequency band. It is based on the IEEE 802.11 standard and is the successor of 802.11ac. It was ratified in January 2015, and is expected to be supported by the majority of Wi-Fi devices in the market by 2017. 802.11ad delivers data at a maximum theoretical rate of 7 Gbit/s, downlink and 2 Gbit/s, uplink. 802.11ad provides a maximum range of 10 meters (33 ft) when using a 40 GHz channel. 802.11ad has a maximum single-input multiple-output (MIMO) of four spatial streams, compared to eight for 802.11ac. While 802.11ac has been getting all the headlines, it is 802.11ad that’s poised to have the biggest impact on wireless connectivity. 802.11ad operates on the unlicensed 60GHz spectrum, and can deliver data speeds of up to 7Gb per second up to 10 times faster than 802.11ac. A 802.11ad is not backwards compatible with 802.11ac, and will only be available on specific Wi-Fi products (such as the new WiFi682 chipset, which is used in several high-end Bose products) when they are released in 2017 or later.
What’s The Difference Between 802.11ac And 802.11ad?
802.11ac and 802.11ad are the two new wireless standards that will be implemented in the upcoming Wi-Fi standard 802.11ax.
The 802.11ac standard was designed to improve network throughput by increasing channel bandwidth and improving signal strength over long distances. It is also more energy efficient than the previous standard, which uses an older technology called “802.11n”.
The 802.11ad standard is designed to improve network stability and reliability over short distances by using a newer technology called “5 GHz” instead of 2,4 or 5 GHz channels found in previous standards, which can cause interference with other devices on the same frequency band (for example, a computer connected to the internet). This will reduce interference between devices that are on different channels than those used by your current wireless router. However, the new standard is not backward compatible with other wireless networks, like traditional 802.11b or 802.11g networks. You cannot connect a device to an older network using the new standard without using a special adapter that does not work with the old standards (also known as “bridge” or “adapter”).
What are the Features of 802.11ad ?
802.11ad is a technology that has been around for a while but is still in its infancy. It is a new standard that will be used to connect many different types of devices, from laptops to smartphones to home appliances and so on.
It has been designed to provide much faster connections at the same time as significantly reducing the power consumption of devices connected to wireless networks.
Following are the features of WLAN 802.11ad :
- Frequency range: unlicensed frequency allocations around 60 GHz (58.32 GHz,60.48 GHz,62.64 GHz, 64.80 GHz).
- Backward compatibility: It is not backward compatible to 11ac and 11n but It is a completely new standard developed to cater to extremely high data rates and to provide short-range wireless connectivity.
- No. of channels/Channel bandwidth: 4/each having 2.16 GHz wide BW
- Data rate: throughput of 7 to 8 Gbps
- Distance: More than about 10 meters with beamforming enabled.
