Yorktown Heights (NY) - IBM announced this weekend that it has formed a joint initiative with MediaTek to create a new chipset that can wirelessly send a high definition movie to another source almost immediately.

The two companies hope the new standard will eliminate the need for countless, cumbersome wires that almost all set-top boxes require.  The technology is built off of millimeter wave radio signals.  IBM claims the bandwidth in its chipset is more than 100 times higher than current Wi-Fi standards.

According to the chip maker, the new technology allows users to send a 10 GB file in under five seconds, ahead of the Wi-Fi speed of around 10 minutes.

Users could, for example, send a high definition video to their TV from their iPod wirelessly in about the same time it takes to push a button.  Alternatively, it could be used as the new standard for syncing devices to a computer, getting both devices up to date without the need for a docking station, and in a fraction of the time it currently takes.

IBM has four years worth of mmWave research, and this has the potential to be its biggest use of the technology to date.

"This will enable a world where you can have your entertainment when you want and where you want it," said IBM research VP Dr. TC Chen.

Removing any cable is an advance

Oct 22, 2007 11:43     

Really though, I want to start seeing wireless video transmitters in video cards first. But yes, good to see generation after that develop.
enewmen report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Is it that hard for TG to put a default title here

Oct 22, 2007 11:56     

Interesting, but I wonder about other issues, like: How is synchronization between audio and video maintained? Does it cause interference in other devices? What distance can this function within? How does encryption fit into this? etc.
cgeorge report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Transfer to what?

Oct 22, 2007 12:13     

This is obviously "what if" thinking. First you need something in the TV to receive 10GB in under 5 seconds. That's a pretty hefty HDD to write at >2GB/s. So, under their ideal laboratory with very liberal forecasting they think they may be able to get ~2GB/s transfers and eliminate all those pesky network wires. In how many years? I don't think I'll invest in an iPod or another HDTV now until they get this working. ;) It would be nice, but I'll believe it when I see it. So far wireless has only been good for checking email and surfing. File transfers and streaming media are still best done via wire and will be for a long time. There's just too much noise on the radio frequency spectrum for error-free transmission, so error repair will always limit the technology.

Paul report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Sweet

Oct 22, 2007 12:15     

I want that technology now! :)
Zach report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

computer application

Oct 22, 2007 13:10     

What about computer application? Hard drives sending wireless data.
joeblow report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

sounds amazing, but ehat about the HDD?

Oct 22, 2007 13:19     

You still need a very fast hard drive of some kind to contain those 10gb of video..and writing speed is still a limitation when it comes down to fast transfert.
Lp report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

imagine the battery life potential.....BUT!!!

Oct 22, 2007 13:24     

First battery life. Currently WIFI devices show a 10-60% hit in battery life cause the service is so slow that it takes to long to transmit info and that time it takes sucks up battery power. So with this high speed ability the device would only have to transmit for a fraction of a second and that would be a lot less power consumed.... BUT..... you knew there was one in there. This technology is likely to be almost totally useless, since the rest of the technology is so much slower. Sure a 10gig HD movie would only(theoretically) take 5 seconds to transmit, but the read and write speeds of any device are lagging significantly and will not allow us to see the full true potential of this MM technology. So it's just like todays super high speed processors and memory and lightning fast graphics cards, all being brought to a holt by a spinning disk. Kinda like riding a tricycle on the Autobahn.

reddragon72 report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

So, correct me if I'm wrong, but wireless b/g/a is ...

Oct 22, 2007 13:34     

So, correct me if I'm wrong, but wireless b/g/a is 2.4/5 Ghz (UHF) range, which is as harmless at radio and TV signals (with which it's in the same frequency range). These "millimeter" waves are in the EHF band (30-300Ghz) and constitute as microwaves. I love the good marketing as "mmWaves" makes them sound so harmless. Mmmm, radiation.
That Guy report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Memory speed

Oct 22, 2007 15:31     

Well, maybe todays hdd:s can't write that fast, but the memory certainly can. I almost have 10GB in my machine already, and with the solid state storages emerging the difference between an hdd and another cache is not that big. Even putting that aside, the standard hdd:s are soon there: with some raiding the Blue Gene/L writes at 1GB/s.
BB report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Microwaves

Oct 22, 2007 15:50     

Microwave ovens typically operate at 2.4 GHz. A 30GHz wave is about 10mm in length; hence the term mm wave.
Gsquared report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Hard drives are not part of the equation

Oct 22, 2007 15:50     

The technology was previously mentioned in an article several months ago. IBM was developing a chip that would reside in devices that this technology could be leveraged. The ability to have a blu-ray player send content to a Audio video system without the need to connect cables at a very high bandwidth. In the previous article the bandwidth was not mention, but it appears that they have now established a target. Unfortunately, I do not have a link to the prior article, but from what I read back then, the chip would cost no more than a good set of A/V cables for viewing HD content on compatible devices. The idea of simply establishing a connection, similar to bluetooth, between two or more compatible devices without the need to hookup cables with technology worth considering. Just imagine, the possibilities, no more running cables to your speakers across the room.....

Shakumdown report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Streaming only....

Oct 22, 2007 15:54     

It's streaming data to a device...not for storage.
joeblow report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Still one will subsist

Oct 22, 2007 16:34     

The awfull power cord!!!
Avr Joe report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Don't sit down in the beam..

Oct 23, 2007 02:53     

It sounds like it will FRY you, lol. Seriously: wouldn't this require so much energy that the radiation reaches dangerous levels?
knowitall report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Streaming??

Oct 23, 2007 08:44     

So HDTV needs 2GB/s to stream? No, the MO is to transfer the data to local storage and then play from there (like TiVo today) that way RF interference doesn't degrade the picture quality. I't a stop gap. With giagbit wired networking you can stream multiple HD movies to set-top boxes that don't require GBs of memory or ultra-fast HDDs. We wire houses for electricity (Telsa thought that unnecessary but we do it anyway) why not wire houses for networking. No (or little) interference, great speed, and great upgradability (I upgraded with my last Mobo purchase automatically.

Paul report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0