Samsung Electronics said it has enabled a five-fold increase in Wi-Fi data transmission speeds by using the 60 GHz band.
Samsung said its 60 GHz Wi-Fi technology enabled data transmission speeds of up to 4.6 Gbps, or 575 MB per second, a five-fold increase from 866 Mbps, or 108 MB per second, which is the maximum speed possible with existing consumer electronics devices.
“Samsung has successfully overcome the barriers to the commercialization of 60GHz millimeter-wave band Wi-Fi technology, and looks forward to commercializing this breakthrough technology,” said Kim Chang Yong, head of DMC R&D Center of Samsung Electronics. “New and innovative changes await Samsung’s next-generation devices, while new possibilities have been opened up for the future development of Wi-Fi technology.”
Unlike the existing 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz Wi-Fi bands, Samsung said its 802.11ad standard 60GHz Wi-Fi technology maintained maximum speed by eliminating co-channel interference, regardless of the number of devices using the same network. The end result is that Samsung’s new technology removes the gap between theoretical and actual speeds, and exhibits actual speed that is more than 10 times faster than that of 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi technologies, according to the company.
Samsung said that previous attempts to use the 60 GHz band failed because they used millimeter waves, which traveled by line-of-sight and had weak penetration properties through walls as well as being susceptible to path loss.
By using millimeter-wave circuit design and high performance modem technologies, and by developing wide-coverage beam-forming antenna, Samsung was able to tap into the 60 GHz Wi-Fi band.
Samsung said it also enhanced the overall signal quality by developing the world’s first micro beam-forming control technology that optimizes the communications module in less than 1/3,000 seconds, in case of any changes in the communications environment. The company also developed what it said was the world’s first method that allows multiple devices to connect simultaneously to a network, although it didn’t provide any additional details.
Samsung’s 60 GHz offering will be available sometime next year. In addition to providing HD video streamed in real time around a home, Samsung also sees Internet of Things, audio visual and medical devices, and smart home applications as potential users of the faster band.
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