On the Potential of Fixed-Beam 60 GHz Network Interfaces in Mobile Devices

The small form-factor and significantly high bandwidth of 60 GHz wireless network interfaces make them an attractive technology for future bandwidth-hungry mobile devices. To overcome several challenges in making such 60 GHz communication practical, beamforming is widely accepted as an integral part of 60 GHz devices. In this paper, we perform a first-of-its-kind user study to answer a rather unconventional question: can users explicitly assist in aligning fixed-beam directional antennas on the transmit/receive side? Our measurements involving 30 users show significant promise, and lean us towards answering the question in the affirmative. The implication of these observations is in substantially simplifying the design of 60 GHz interfaces for mobile devices.