Like most things in the technology world, wireless networking is always looking to gain speed and while the 802.11n specification was only ratified this year there are already new specifications in the works. One of the specs in the works from the Wi-Fi Alliance is 802.11ad. This specification is in the very early stages of development, but promises much higher bandwidth than current specifications and will operate on the 60 GHz spectrum.

The Wireless Gigabit Alliance has completed the specifications for its WiGig technology that promises to deliver enough bandwidth for wireless connections up to 7Gbps. The standard is written but is undergoing editing and IP review before it is made available to partner companies.

The specification is designed to operate on the 60 GHz frequency band, which is unlicensed. The spec will allow the transfer of high bandwidth content such as HD video. The technology is designed to be complementary to WiFi and while no formal ties to the WiFi Alliance are in place, the WiFi Alliance has said that the two specifications should be complementary to each other.

WiGig will come to market in 2011 if all goes well with technologies like HomePNA, HomePlug, Multimedia over Coax, Ultrawideband, and Wireless Home Digital Interface. Originally, the WiGig specification was to be available to members this quarter, but the alliance has not yet set out requirements for Adopter memberships for those who only want integrate the technology into their gear. The specs are already available to member companies who helped develop the specification.

WiGig was originally envisioned as a technology that would allow the transmission of video and other content within the same room for use in streaming video wirelessly from a computer to a display and other uses. The specification was expanded with the use of beam forming technology to be able to operate around a home. WiGig will be backwards compatible with WiFi. Many of the designing companies who worked on WiGig are WiFi firms as well.

Ali Sardi from WiGig Alliance said, "The majority of silicon makers in the WiGig group are Wi-Fi developers, so you can bet when they designed this new spec they were not going to throw out everything they did in the past."