(Note:This article was translated from Ulink Media)
Wi-fi 6E is a new frontier for Wi-Fi 6 technology. The “E” stands for “Extended,” adding a new 6GHz band to the original 2.4ghz and 5Ghz bands. In the first quarter of 2020, Broadcom released the initial test run results of Wi-Fi 6E and released the world’s first wi-fi 6E chipset BCM4389. On May 29, Qualcomm announced a Wi-Fi 6E chip that supports routers and phones.
Wi-fi Fi6 refers to the 6th generation of wireless network technology, which features 1.4 times faster Internet connection speed compared to the 5th generation. Secondly, technological innovation, the application of OFDM orthogonal Frequency division multiplexing technology and MU-MIMO technology, enables Wi-Fi 6 to provide stable network connection experience for devices even in multi-device connection scenarios and maintain smooth network operation.
Wireless signals are transmitted within the specified unlicensed spectrum prescribed by law. The first three generations of wireless technologies, WiFi 4, WiFi 5 and WiFi 6, use two signal bands, as shown in the figure below. One is the 2.4ghz band, which is vulnerable to interference from a host of devices, including baby monitors and microwave ovens. The other, the 5GHz band, is now jammed by traditional Wi-Fi devices and networks.
The power-saving mechanism TWT (TargetWakeTime) introduced by WiFi 6 protocol 802.11ax has greater flexibility, allowing longer power-saving cycles, and multi-device sleep scheduling. Generally speaking, it has the following advantages:
1. The AP negotiates with the device and defines a specific time to access the media.
2. Reduce contention and overlap among clients;
3. Significantly increase the sleep time of the device to reduce power consumption.
The application scenario of Wi-Fi 6 is similar to THAT of 5G. It is suitable for high speed, large capacity, and low latency scenarios, including consumer scenarios such as smart phones, tablets, new smart terminals such as smart homes, ultra-high definition applications, and VR/AR. Service scenarios such as remote 3D medical care; High-density scenes such as airports, hotels, large venues, etc. Industrial-level scenarios such as smart factories, unmanned warehouses, etc.
Designed for a world where everything is connected, Wi-Fi 6 dramatically increases transmission capacity and speed by assuming symmetrical uplink and downlink rates. According to the Wi-Fi Alliance report, the global economic value of WiFi was 19.6 trillion US dollars in 2018, and it is estimated that the global industrial economic value of WiFi will reach 34.7 trillion US dollars by 2023.
The enterprise segment of the WLAN market grew strongly in q2 2021, growing 22.4 percent year over year to $1.7 billion, according to IDC’s global Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN) quarterly tracking report. In the consumer segment of the WLAN market, revenue declined 5.7% in the quarter to $2.3 billion, resulting in a 4.6% year-over-year increase in total revenue in q2 2021.
Among them, Wi-Fi 6 products continued to grow in the consumer market, accounting for 24.5 percent of total consumer sector revenue, up from 20.3 percent in THE first quarter of 2021. WiFi 5 access points still accounted for the majority of revenue (64.1%) and unit shipments (64.0%).
Wi-fi 6 is already powerful, but with the spread of smart homes, the number of devices in the home that connect to wireless is increasing dramatically, which will cause excessive congestion in the 2.4ghz and 5GHz bands, making it difficult for Wi-Fi to reach its full potential.
IDC’s forecast of the size of Internet of Things connections in China in five years shows that wired connections and WiFi account for the highest proportion of all types of connections. The number of wired and WiFi connections reached 2.49 billion in 2020, accounting for 55.1 percent of the total, and is expected to reach 4.68 billion by 2025. In video surveillance, industrial iot, smart home and many other scenarios, wired and WiFi will still play an important role. Therefore, the promotion and application of WiFi 6E is very necessary.
The new 6Ghz band is relatively idle, providing more spectrum. For example, the well-known road can be divided into 4 lanes, 6 lanes, 8 lanes, etc., and the spectrum is like the “lane” used for signal transmission. More spectrum resources mean more “lanes”, and the transmission efficiency will be improved accordingly.
At the same time, the 6GHz band is added, which is like a viaduct over an already crowded road, making the overall transport efficiency of the road further improved. Therefore, after the introduction of the 6GHz band, various spectrum management strategies of Wi-Fi 6 can be implemented more efficiently and completely, and the communication efficiency is higher, thus providing higher performance, greater throughput and lower latency.
At the application level, WiFi 6E well solves the problem of excessive congestion in 2.4ghz and 5GHz bands. After all, there are more and more wireless devices in the home now. With 6GHz, internet-demanding devices can connect to this band, and with 2.4ghz and 5GHz, the maximum potential of WiFi can be realized.
Not only that, but the WiFi 6E also has a big boost on the phone’s chip, with a peak rate of 3.6Gbps, more than double that of the WiFi 6 chip. In addition, WiFi 6E has a lower delay of less than 3 milliseconds, which is more than 8 times lower than the previous generation in the dense environment. It can provide better experience in games, HIGH-DEFINITION video, voice and other aspects.
Post time: Dec-15-2021