Testbed based 60 GHz Research – Platforms, Challenges and Perspectives

Thomas Nitsche

Institute IMDEA Networks Avda. del Mar Mediterraneo, 22 28918 Leganes (Madrid) Spain


With a worldwide unified frequency block of 5 GHz for unlicensed use and
a high potential for spatial reuse, the 60 GHz band promises new
perspectives for wireless communication that suffers from spectrum
scarcity and ever increasing throughput demands. While commercial
products for Wireless HDMI or docking station applications already hit
the market, testbed solutions are still in a very early stage. This is
especially true for the novel IEEE 802.11ad standard that brings 60 GHz
to the mobile consumer market and requires even more advanced systems
that react to mobility.

With our contribution, we give an overview on first generation 60 GHz
testbed equipment and present the setup currently deployed at IMDEA
Networks Institute. We further discuss the challenges in designing the
next generation of 60 GHz testbed systems and possible solutions.