It is not expected in the short term, but the one known as Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 be), the new wireless network standard, reveals little by little what its characteristics and capacity will be. just a few days ago Taiwanese semiconductor company MediaTek announced that it is offering certain “key customers” and partners the first live demonstrations of the new technology.
Its objective –explained in a statement— is to demonstrate its “super-fast speeds and low-latency streaming.” For now, ensure that Wi-Fi 7 “will deliver speeds 2.4 times faster than Wi-Fi 6“, even with the same number of antennas, and draws its own timetable: “Wi-Fi 7 products are expected to hit the market as early as 2023.” In any case, the standard is not expected to be fully completed. official until somewhat later, 2024.
High speed, low latency
MediaTek claims that its tests demonstrate how it can achieve the maximum speed defined by IEEE 802.11be and multi-link operation (MLO) technology, which simultaneously aggregates multiple channels in different bands and allows network traffic to flow smoothly even in the face of interference or congestion. Its role will be fundamental, assures the multinational, for video transmissions, games or any communication that requires constant, sustained and real-time performance.
“The launch of Wi-Fi 7 will mark the first time that Wi-Fi can be a true cable/ethernet replacement for high bandwidth applications points out Alan Hsu, director of MediaTek. The firm aspires in fact that its new Wi-Fi 7 technology will become “the backbone” of home, office and industrial networks and offer ideal connectivity for applications as different as multiplayer AR / VR to games in the cloud, 4K calling or 8K streaming.
MediaTek’s demo comes weeks after the Wi-Fi Alliance announced that its certification for Wi-Fi 6E it is available to offer interoperability to devices that operate in the 6 GHz spectrum. The one known as Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be), however, goes further and offers extremely high EHT performance. Also —the company details— new capabilities in all spectrums available for Wi-Fi uses, including 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz and 6 GHz.
By using 320 MHz channels and supporting 4K Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) technology, it will deliver speeds far in excess of Wi-Fi 6. Other features include MLO, which will allow you to reduce latency via Wi-Fi transmission in multiple bands; or the multi-user resource unit (MRU) for avoid and mitigate interference.
The characteristics that other companies in the sector, such as Intel, have been drawing show that Wi-Fi 7 promises to be much faster and with extremely low latency. As we already told you, the forecasts are that it offers at least 30 Gbps per access point and up to 48 Gbps theoretically. Your bandwidth is about four times higher to the almost 10 Gbps that today can be reached through Wi-Fi. Tools like MLO will also allow the use of different channels to transmit the same packets and guarantee low latency.
Cover Image | Andreas Urena
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