Qualcomm Atheros, Inc. shows off 802.11ad, the next generation Wi-Fi over 60Ghz, that enables data transfer speeds at up to 7Gbit/s. The 60 GHz signal cannot typically penetrate walls but can propagate off reflections from walls, ceilings, floors and objects using beamforming. When roaming away from the main room the protocol can switch to make use of the other lower Wi-Fi bands on 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz at a much lower rate, both of which can propagate through walls. 802.11ad is supported in Qualcomm Snapdragon 820, Qualcomm Atheros Qualcomm Internet Processor (IPQ) 8064 reference designs combined with its QCA9500 802.11ad chipset. Letv's first Snapdragon 820 smartphone will support it. New Wi-Fi Access points from Elecom, NEC and TP-Link support it, and Acer and Asus plan to release laptops with 802.11ad. SiBEAM, Inc., a Lattice Semiconductor company, and Peraso Technologies, Inc. will also deliver Adapters to the market.
