Networking at 60 GHz: The emergence of multiGigabit wireless

The large swathes of unlicensed spectrum available worldwide at 60 GHz offer the potential for an order of magnitude increase in wireless link speeds, to multiGigabit rates, relative to current technology. Oxygen absorption and rain attenuation bound the attainable range outdoors using this band, while blockage by walls and furniture limits the range indoors. However, these are the same features that make 60 GHz ideally suited for short-range networks with aggressive spatial reuse, both indoors (with link ranges of the order of 10 meters) and outdoors (with link ranges of the order of 100 meters). With the rapid scaling of silicon processes, low-cost CMOS implementations for 60 GHz radios are becoming available. However, the design of commercially viable multiGigabit networks based on such radios must account for the unique physical attributes of "millimeter wave" communication, and often requires a drastic rethinking of design guidelines established for wireless networking at lower carrier frequencies. In this paper, we give a flavor of the technical issues involved through an overview of a subset of our recent research in this area, including modeling and design of indoor 60 GHz networks, interference analysis for outdoor 60 GHz mesh networks and its implication for medium access control design, and analysis and prototyping of spatial multiplexing in line-of-sight indoor channels.