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Tag: 60-ghz

  • SiBeam CEO Welcomes Wireless HD "Competition"

    INTERVIEW: With a third group now entering the race to deliver a high-speed wireless technology in the home – and wireless HDTV products hitting the market – momentum is building.

    John LeMoncheck, president and CEO of SiBEAM, and a leading member of the WirelessHD (WiHD) consortium, tells hdtv.biz-news that he welcomes the addition of the rival Wireless Gigabit (WiGig) Alliance to the fray.

    Over the past few years a number of wireless technologies have announced their intention to rid homes of cables and stream content around the home.

    Their number was enlarged recently when the newly formed WiGig Alliance declared that it is to develop a high-bandwidth wireless specification before the year end.

    The fact this group has the backing of household names such as Microsoft, LG, Dell, Samsung, Marvell, Nokia, NEC, Intel and Broadcom (among others), might have been cause enough for the competing groups to worry.

    But WiGig’s plans to use the 60 GHz spectrum would have been a particular worry for the WirelessHD (WiHD) consortium, which also uses 60 GHz to send signals.

    Not so, said John LeMoncheck, president and CEO of SiBEAM, and a leading member of WiHD.

    He told hdtv.biz-news that, in general, WiGig’s arrival was very good for the 60 GHz spectrum.

    "This is the way in which the rest of the wireless world is going," he said. "There is room for multiple uses of the spectrum."

    For LeMoncheck the adoption of the 60 GHz spectrum is also something of a personal vindication.

    "When we first started talking about 60 GHz, they laughed me out of the meeting," he said.

    "Now it is satisfying to see the big guys focusing on this technology."

    He added: "There’s not a better or more cost-effective way to do this."

    Growing Interest

    WiGig joining the other competing groups – WiHD and the Wireless Home Digital Interface (WHDI) – also highlights the growing interest in wireless technologies.

    However, LeMoncheck said he would question whether WiGig was actually in direct competition with WiHD – which he described as very consumer electronics focused.

    "WiGig have not been able to clearly elucidate what they want," he said.

    "They are trying to be a lot of things to a lot of people, which can lead to a standard that’s not any use to anyone."

    That’s definitely not the case with WiHD, according to LeMoncheck, who said he was very happy with the progress being made.

    This year has seen the first WiHD-enabled products come to market in Japan and Korea, with launches from Panasonic, LG and Toshiba.

    Panasonic’s Z1 WirelessHD Plasma

    He said more HDTVs are going to be launched in the US and Europe this summer.

    "It has been a very exciting first half of the year for the rollout of the product," he said.

    "We are working hard to have products come out and work seamlessly."

    This has included publishing compliance test procedures in January – tests that all products have to pass before being able to carry the WiHD logo.

    And facilities offering WiHD testing are now also operational.

    A further boost has come from Philips joining the WiHD consortium as a promoter company.

    This brings the total number of promoter companies up to 10 and there are 40 firms associated with the WiHD standard.

    Pieces in Place

    "All the infrastructure is there to bring products to market," said LeMoncheck.

    "We have had tremendous traction in the market and other tier 1 guys should be launching in the fall."

    While products using the WiHD technology are in the high-to-mid range price bracket, LeMoncheck said they were working on bringing the cost down.

    The use of general-purpose complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology is expected to help with this, and he expected to see products in 42" range and lower as a result.

    "We can pick very friendly CMOS geometry, so we have room to migrate down as smaller geometry gets further down the cost curve," he said.

    "We can cut a lot of the cost from a system."

    That will undoubtedly be welcomed by consumers – as will the fact that wireless-enabled products are finally making their way onto the shelves.

  • Coming Year Important for New Wireless HDTV Products

    Wireless High Definition Special: Over the coming weeks hdtv.biz-news.com will be interviewing representatives from the competing wireless high definition TV systems to assess their current state of readiness and future viability.

    To kick things off, Steve Wilson, principal analyst at ABI Research, which recently produced a report Wireless Video Cable Replacement Market and Technologies, gives his opinion on wireless HDTV developments.

    The end-of-year shopping season, followed by the annual CES trade show in January, will give the next indications of the likely short-term prospects for wireless high-definition television systems in the consumer space.

    Holiday sales of existing products and new product announcements at CES will help paint a picture as to which of several competing systems – if any – is likely to lead the charge towards wide consumer acceptance of wireless HDTV.

    There are three contending technologies, loosely characterized as: 5 GHz, 60 GHz, and ultra-wideband (UWB).

    Small numbers of 5 GHz and UWB devices are currently shipping; demo products of 60 GHz systems are expected early next year.

    “Over the next two to three years, we’re going to see one or two of these wireless HDTV approaches emerge as the primary ones,” said Wilson.

    Two industry groups have emerged to promote 5 GHZ and 60 GHz solutions.

    Israeli company Amimon, around whose technology the 5 GHz platforms are based, took an initiative in July, forming the WHDI Special Interest Group, which has been joined by Hitachi, Motorola, Sharp, Samsung and Sony.
    Hedging their bets, the latter two vendors are also members of the competing industry body, WirelessHD, which is intended to promote the 60 Hz approach designed by SiBEAM, Inc.

    Other members of WirelessHD include Intel, LG Electronics, Matsushita Electric, NEC and Toshiba.

    Samsung is said to believe that WHDI should be seen as a stopgap technology until WirelessHD becomes “the ultimate solution in the long run”.

    But until then, Wilson believes “the WHDI group has the early momentum”.

    He continued: “Announcements at CES of systems using the 60 GHz band will give some indication of whether consumer products will actually make it to market in 2009.

    “The coming year will be a very important period for the introduction of all types of new wireless high-definition TV products.”

  • Shift towards wireless HDTV expected to be gradual as technology evolves


    The race to perfect a wireless HDTV system is being contested by three competing technologies, each one with particular advantages without offering the complete package.
    But within three years one will have emerged as the dominant system, according to a study by ABI Research.
    This is expected to take global installations from an estimated 100,000 this year to the milestone one million by 2012.
    Steve Wilson, principal analyst on the report “Wireless Video Cable Replacement Market and Technologies”, said the wireless HDTV market was still in its “incubation” stage.
    He said a “battle of technologies” was being fought by the three contending systems, loosely characterised as 5 GHz, 60 GHz, and ultra wideband (UWB).
    “5 GHz technology is better understood and more proven but achieving the required data rates requires new approaches and more complex solutions,” he said.
    “UWB technology has bandwidth advantages at in-room distances but drops rapidly at greater ranges.
    “60 GHz allows high data rates, but so far only one company is even close to a viable solution.”
    Among the advantages of wireless HDTV are simplification of installation and the flexibility it offers in positioning TVs.
    There are both commercial applications – digital signage, for example – and domestic applications such as wall-mounting a flat-screen HDTV.
    “The initial sweet spot in the market is where wired installation would be difficult or complicated,” said Wilson.
    He said small numbers of 5 GHz and UWB devices are currently shipping, while demo products of 60 GHz systems are expected early next year.
    “Over the next two to three years, we’re going to see one or two of these wireless HDTV approaches emerge as the primary ones,” he added.
    All the wireless HDTV silicon vendors are venture-backed startups and most established wireless vendors are waiting to see how the market evolves.
    Product manufacturers are moving forward with different strategies.
    Some, like Westinghouse and Belkin, are initially targeting commercial and custom installers where there is clear value-add.
    In contrast, some TV manufacturers such as Sharp and Hitachi are targeting buyers of their latest technology, offering design-oriented, elegant products that come with a wireless connectivity option.