Aussies: 5Gbps wireless networking on the way

We can talk about tweaking your antennas and moving your router a couple of feet higher until we're blue in the face, but it will still only mean connection speeds well below 100Mbps. So what would you say to a full 5 gigabits per second, wirelessly delivered?

A group from National ICT Australia says that it has exceeded recent developments from several other wireless upstarts and consortia, claiming that its new wireless chip can crank out 5Gbps throughput at a range of 30 feet. That's a 25 percent improvement over the previous high-speed leader, a 4Gbps specification from the WirelessHD consortium which is still just a paper spec, not even a real-world product.

5Gbps represents about a 50x improvement over today's industry standard products.

NICTA calls the development GiFi (get it?) and hopes to begin production of the devices within a year. At the component level, the group says the device is just 5 millimeters square, uses an antenna just 1mm high, and will cost about $10 to build.

The power consumption: 2 watts. That may sound small but it does mean it's not a great contender for devices like smart phones, where Wi-Fi radios use about a tenth of a watt. On laptops, 1 to 3 watts is more common.

Ars Technica is skeptical about the technology, and until we see a product in actual operation, they're right to be. But of all the programs itching to break through the gigabit wireless barrier, GiFi seems the most real, at least for now. But, at the very least, it's a technology to watch for 2008.

LINK: $10 chip puts Australia on the fast track