A consortium of high-definition TV makers has announced its support of a new technology for wireless connectivity of its products. The proposed system, called the Wireless Home Digital Interface (WHDI), will use a proprietary chip set and communications algorithms from Amimon Inc., a startup headquartered in Herzlia, Israel. The WHDI scheme is a variant on the proposed IEEE 802.11n standard.
Hitachi Ltd., Motorola Inc., Samsung Electronics Co., Sharp Corp., and Sony Corp. said yesterday that they will serve as promoter-level members of the special interest group. They intend to develop an upgraded set of specifications for the technology by the end of the year and then work for its acceptance as a new standard.
Amimon claims the WHDI spec will provide wireless connectivity of up to 100 meters for uncompressed high-def video within a home network. The company said in a press release yesterday that its system relies on a video-modem that operates in the unlicensed 5-gigahertz band to enable wireless video and audio delivery with less than 1 millisecond latency. It said WHDI signals will operate through walls and other obstructions into multiple rooms with a variety of future consumer electronics.
"The development of the new standard will ensure that when consumers purchase CE devices and take them home, they will enjoy a fast, easy, and hassle-free wireless connection that delivers the highest quality," said Yoav Nissan-Cohen, Amimon's chief executive officer. "The WHDI standard's objective is to enable an enriched customer experience with multi-vendor interoperability."
The company has created a site on the Web to promote the WHDI initiative.
According to an EETimes report, the WHDI group faces competition from a number of challengers. For example, another startup, called SiBeam, already offers wireless high-def home networking in the 60-GHz band but only at distances of 10 meters currently. SiBeam, based in Sunnyvale, Calif., has gathered an impressive roster of supporters, as well, such as Intel Corp., LG Electronics, Matsushita Electrical, NEC Corp., Samsung, Sony, and Toshiba Corp. (with some backing both proposals). However, this consortium's efforts, called WirelessHD, have yet to gain much traction in the market or in the standardization process.
It is still early in the race to eliminate cables from consumer electronics in the home, but the challenge just got another boost of interest with this news.
