Communications chip maker Broadcom thinks that gigabit Wi-Fi in the form of 802.11ac will start shipping as early as next year. At more than three times the 300 Mbps bandwidth delivered by most 802.11n equipment today, 802.11ac is well-positioned for serving entire homes, says Rahul Patel, vice president of Broadcom's mobile and wireless group. In a report earlier this year, research company In-Stat had predicted the number of devices implementing 802.11ac will hit a billion units in 2015.

Of course, the million dollar question is whether 802.11ac will arrive in force come 2012, or trickle in. Patel thinks that 802.11ac products will ship in the second half of 2012, despite that fact that a certification program may only be in place by the end of next year. This would hardly be unprecedented though, given how Wi-Fi manufacturers started shipping 802.11n devices prior to its ratification by adopting a draft standard.

Patel further elaborated that "we don't have two different groups competing. It's everyone behind one standard, all companies including OEMS, chipset manufacturers and all the other usual suspects." 

As pointed out by The Register, products that support WiGig gigabit wireless are also expected to arrive in the second half of next year, and are expected to offer inherent support for bus specifications such as PCI Express and USB. 802.11ac was the best mass-market solution however, says Patel.

For more:
- check out this article at Computerworld
- check out this article at The Register

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