The first end-to-end WiFi portfolio

As WiFi networks become more crowded, dense and diverse, Qualcomm Technologies’ 802.11ax solutions are designed to improve connected experiences, delivering up to 4x greater capacity to make WiFi traffic more efficient, resulting in up to 4x faster user throughput and longer battery life for WiFi devices.

To address this, Qualcomm Technologies’ 802.11ax solutions support 12-streams (eight 5GHz and four 2.4GHz), 8x8 MU-MIMO, 80 MHz channels and other features to maximise capacity and coverage.

Additionally, the solutions feature proven cellular techniques, such as Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) and traffic scheduling, which are designed to provide greater efficiency, higher user throughput, and a more consistent performance.

This managed approach of resource allocation, along with the optimisation of wake-up time, can reduce WiFi power consumption by 2/3 to extend device battery life without adversely impacting performance. Although the benefits will be greatest for 11ax-based devices, Qualcomm Technologies has designed its solutions to improve the performance of all devices, including ones using the previous 802.11ac and 802.11n technologies, which are designed to realise better connections on 11ax networks.

Rahul Patel, Senior Vice President and General Manager, connectivity, Qualcomm Technologies, said: “CAPACITY – not peak speed – has become the most important measure of a network’s ability to handle the ever-increasing demands of today’s diverse mix of application and services.”

Patel continued: “We were the first to commercialise capacity utilisation-focused solutions, such as MU-MIMO, WiFi SON and 802.11ad, and are now on the front lines of 11ax innovation that will propel the WiFi industry into the next phase of high-capacity, high-efficiency networks. The transformative features of our 802.11ax solutions are designed to enable our customers to meet these demands, ensuring ample WiFi capacity for richer connected experiences.”

“We are excited about the potential impact that 802.11ax will have in the home and small businesses,” said David Henry, Senior Vice President, home networking, NETGEAR. “802.11ax is not an incremental upgrade to keep pace with today’s demands. The technology will reset the bar for what matters most in networking, and will lay the foundation of network capacity for years to come.”

“WiFi is now an essential element of every corporate, education, service provider and public network. IT executives are reporting their biggest challenges are capacity and scalability, given the enormous growth of users,” said Anand Oswal, Senior Vice President, enterprise networking group, Cisco. “As industry leaders, we are driving innovations that address our customers concerns, and we view 802.11ax as the culmination of key advancements that will cement the future of enterprise mobility.”

IPQ8074 KEY FEATURES

The IPQ8074 is a highly-integrated SoC designed to deliver maximum capacity, range and performance for the next generation of enterprise access points, carrier gateways and consumer routers.

• Up to 4x capacity to maximise network performance: Utilising a 12x12 configuration, uplink and downlink MU-MIMO, and supporting eight 80MHz streams, the IPQ8074 quadruples capacity, delivers up to 4.8Gbps, and maintains fast connections over larger coverage areas.
• Smart features for seamless connectivity: In addition to Qualcomm WiFi Self-Organising Network (SON), which simplifies installation, optimises traffic, and reduces dead spots, the IPQ8074 offers features to reduce harmful interference in dense areas with many overlapping WiFi access points.
• All-in-one platform: Integrates an 11ax radio, MAC and baseband, plus a quad-core 64-bit A53 CPU and dual-core network accelerator to provide a fully-offloaded 11ax subsystem. The 14nm design provides power and size advantages, while a wide range of external WAN and media interfaces allows customers to build a full portfolio of 802.11ax products.

QCA6290 KEY FEATURES

The QCA6290 is a 802.11ax client device SoC offering unprecedented throughput, battery-life and rich user experiences in homes, enterprises, public venues and other high-traffic areas, and automobiles.

• Up to 4x increase in user throughput in crowded networks: Supports 2x2 MU-MIMO and realises the full benefits of the 8x8 MU-MIMO by supporting the advanced 8x8 sounding mechanism.
• Ultra-fast Gigabit speed for richer user experiences: Offers up to 1.8Gbps peak speeds through Dual Band Simultaneous (DBS) combining 2.4 and 5GHz bands, and higher order modulation (1024 QAM).
• Reduces power consumption by 2/3: It does this through Qualcomm Technologies’ specific optimisations, as well as having the support for the 802.11ax standard power save features.

With its 802.11ax WiFi capabilities and rich-set of features, QCA6290 is designed to enhance connected experiences, such as 4K Ultra HD video streaming and video-conferences, content sharing, social media and file transfers.

The combination of DBS with the increased capacity and throughput also allows for improved experiences in vehicles, including Gigabit in-car WiFi hotspot, content sharing between brought-in devices and the car’s infotainment system, and support for multiple video streams along with screen mirroring.