In boxing they’re called combinations, but Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 go further and risk put 5G on the ropes prematurely. We are in the spectrum of wireless technologies, which once dominated different application areas and now tend to converge. It is known that Wi-Fi is the preferred solution for home connectivity and in public or professional environments, while the mobile network is the backbone of mobile communications.
However, as performance increases, at least in the short or medium range, they risk overlapping. Not by chance, Giovanni Zorzoni, president of the Italian Internet Provider Association, recently confirmed to Italian Tech that “Wi-Fi 6E can allow you to build cheaper wireless networks in less time, to bring fast connections everywhere”. In short, a valid alternative to 5G, “especially in white and gray areas”.
Here then explains the reason why if Wi-Fi 6E is intended to act as a bridgehead (the real market will open in about 18 months anyway), in 2024 there will be the landing of Wi-Fi 7. And 6G? There is time for that, since we are talking about the decade of 2030.
Telecommunications
The networks of the future? Less 5G, more Wi-FI 6E
by Bruno Ruffilli
Wi-Fi 7 according to Qualcomm
Qualcomm Technologies is undoubtedly among the avant-garde in the field of wireless telecommunications: his are the chips used by most smartphones and routers used in the experiments carried out by Italian mobile operators.
“The combination of latency, speed and capacity improvements in Wi-Fi 7 will be at the heart of the most advanced use cases in Xr (the so-called extended reality), metaverse, social gamingedge computing and more – said Andrew Davidson, senior director of Engineering at Qualcomm, in a recent post – Wi-Fi plays a central role in our lives and economies. It is a resource for both consumers and businesses “.
The underlying theme is that with the introduction of the multi-user functions of Wi-Fi 6, and therefore the improvement of performance in densely populated networks, and then the expected expansion of capacity thanks to the 6 GHz spectrum of Wi-Fi 6E, the new version seems to put the turbo on the technology. With positive implications also for the world of the Internet of Things.
The peculiarities of Wi-Fi 7
The premise is that, as recalled by Zorzoni, the 6 GHz band should be freed and assigned to Wi-Fi as has happened in many countries and as advised by the EU Commission itself. Without this move you are likely to miss both the Wi-Fi 6E train and the Wi-Fi 7 train. Furthermore, the latter technology excels precisely in the management and optimization of the various spectrum bands available: the traditional 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz, as well as the 6 GHz.
The result is that theoretically peak data transfer speeds of 40 Gbps can be achieved (Wi-Fi 6 stops at 9.6) and allows without any difficulty streaming video 8Kmultiple simultaneous video conferencing, cloud gaming and other high-consumption activities.
Multi-link technology that reduces latency
Latency is one of the key characteristics for any business that requires one reduced timeframe between acting and seeing the effects. Think of when playing with a console: the simple movement of a stick is expected to cause the car on the screen to respond immediately to the command. And the concept can be applied to any service or function that relies on a wireless network. In this sense, Wi-Fi 7 will have the advantage of being able to play on the three available frequencies (2.4 GHz; 5 GHz; 6 GHz) based on their level of congestion: “The most effective approach is to exploit the higher capacity, higher peak speeds and lower congestion of the high bands. The device may switch bands“Davidson recalled. In practice, he could use each one and then operate only two simultaneously, making an aggregation.
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A wider bandwidth
By imagining the wireless distribution as a network of virtual pipes, it is easy to understand that increasing their sections can increase the transfer capacity. Specifically, Wi-Fi 6E introduced 160 MHz channels, while Wi-Fi 7 is preparing to double them, going to 320 MHz: “This doubles the theoretical capacity and significantly improves the data transfer speed – clarified Davidson – In China, High Band Simultaneous Multi-Link allows an effective channel of 240 MHz, fulfilling the promise of Extremely High Throughput of Wi-Fi 7, even without the availability of 6 GHz spectrum allocation “.
Reduction of interference risks
Home modem routers are often configured to use the same Wi-Fi channels that neighbors use, which causes performance to drop. In any case, even the contiguous channels bothers themselves, but Wi-Fi 7 introduces an innovative solution (it’s called preamble puncturing), which “cancels the interfered spectrum while still making the contiguous channel possible.” In practice, the risk of interference is greatly reduced and gaps are created between one Wi-Fi channel and another.
Telecommunications
The networks of the future? Less 5G, more Wi-FI 6E
by Bruno Ruffilli