WiGig: Understanding WLAN 802.11ad Technology

This tutorial section covers the basics of WLAN 802.11ad.

IEEE WLAN 802.11ad is part of the 802.11 family of standards for WLAN (Wireless Local Area Networks). It offers several improvements compared to older WLAN standards operating in the 2.4GHz and 5 GHz bands.

WiGig is the marketing name given by IEEE engineers and the Wireless Gigabit Alliance to products compliant with the IEEE 802.11ad standard. These devices operate in the 60 GHz band, often referred to as microwave Wi-Fi. It’s designed for very high-speed data transfer over shorter distances, which makes sense given the increased path loss at this higher microwave frequency.

WiGig Channels

The WiGig standard supports 4 channels:

• 58.32 GHz
• 60.48 GHz
• 62.64 GHz
• 64.80 GHz

Each channel provides a wide bandwidth of 2.16 GHz, enabling higher data rates. However, different regions have different radio frequency allocations for WiGig devices.

Physical Layer Configurations

IEEE 802.11ad supports various physical layer configurations, offering flexibility in modulation and coding based on the channel being used. These configurations include:

• Control PHY
• Single Carrier PHY
• Low Power Single Carrier PHY
• OFDM PHY

Typical modulation techniques include π/2 DBPSK, π/2 BPSK, π/2 QPSK, π/2 16QAM, and OFDM-SQPSK. LDPC (Low-Density Parity-Check) is used as a forward error correction (FEC) technique.

802.11ad Features

The following table summarizes the key features of the WiGig (WLAN 802.11ad) standard:

WLAN-ad Test and Measurement Solution Providers

Several providers offer test and measurement solutions for WiGig 802.11ad compliant devices. Some of the popular ones include:

• R&S: https://www2.rohde-schwarz.com/
• Agilent: https://www.agilent.com (WLAN 802.11ad test solutions)