Wi-Fi enters the gigabit era

It’s fair to say Wi-Fi Alliance CEO Edgar Figueroa (pictured above) is a Wi-Fi veteran. After nearly two decades working in wireless comms he’s seen Wi-Fi technology develop from its infancy into the (still-evolving) behemoth it is today. Figueroa’s LinkedIn profile is a clear testament to his knowledge: 115 people have endorsed him for his skills in Wi-Fi, and 106 for wireless. And the technology must hold a draw for him – despite a five-year stint as president and chairman of the SEP2 Consortium, working with smart grids, he’s been part of the Wi-Fi Alliance since 2004.

The Wi-Fi Alliance is a not-for-profit global association that works to promote advancements in Wi-Fi technology and standards. Representatives from around the world collaborate on aspects such as interoperability, security, and backwards compatibility. The Alliance’s vision, put simply, is ‘connecting everyone and everything, everywhere’. It recently launched its certification programme for WiGig (which uses wide channels in 60 GHz to achieve data transfer rates of up to eight Gbps, with low latency at distances of up to 10 metres). WiGig-enabled devices will use beamforming to eliminate interference from their neighbours, even in dense 60 GHz environments.