As the IEEE considers 802.11n proposals this week, Agere says 500 Mbps should be speed goal: Agere is combining MIMO (multiple in, multiple out antennas) with single and double-wide channel allotments of 20 and 40 MHz. With 40 MHz of spectrum and eight antennas (four transmit, four receive), they expect to reach 500 Mbps of raw throughput. In 5 GHz, Agere says, they could have 11 double-wide channels, while two are possible side-by-side in 2.4 GHz. Agere's proposal appears entirely backwards compatible with the single-wide, 802.11b/g channel and 2.4 GHz compatibility as a baseline.