WiFi 7 is finally here, and it has changed a lot!

Latest update time：2024-01-24

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Source : Content compiled from anandtech by Semiconductor Industry Observation (ID: i c b ank), thank you.

Final approval of the 802.11be standard may not come until December 2024, but that hasn't hindered the Wi-Fi Alliance's work to create a Wi-Fi 7 certification program.

At CES 2024, the program was officially announced, with products based on Broadcom, Intel, MediaTek and Qualcomm chips receiving the Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 7 label. Broadcom, MediaTek and Qualcomm have launched two generations of Wi-Fi 7 products and are expected to eventually see Wi-Fi 7 withdraw from draft status. This also enables faster client adoption. The main features of Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 7 are based on the efforts of the IEEE 802.11be EHT (Extreme High Throughput) working group.

The introduction of 6 GHz support in Wi-Fi 6E in some areas opens up channels that were hitherto unavailable for home wireless use. Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 7 supports 320 MHz channels. These ultra-wide channels are only available in the 6 GHz band.

These channels enable the high throughput promised in Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 7. However, it turns out that 6 GHz is unavailable in many regions, which is a hindrance for client device vendors. Many of these companies don't want to spend extra money for features that aren't available in all regions. Many client devices (especially smartphones) may not initially support the 320 MHz channel.

Multilink Operation (MLO) is another technique for increasing the bandwidth available to a single client. Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 7 allows clients to connect to access points on multiple bands simultaneously. It also improves connection reliability.

Wi-Fi 7 also introduces 4K QAM, allowing up to 12 bits to be encoded per symbol. This means that the spectrum efficiency is 20% higher than Wi-Fi 6 (which only needs to support 1024 QAM).

Dense constellations require extremely complex circuitry both at the transmitter (linear power amplifier) and at the receiver (to avoid error-free symbol decoding). These are some of the advancements we're seeing in Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 7 devices.

Some other key updates in Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 7 include support for 512 compressed block acknowledgments, multiple resource units for a single station/client, and triggered uplink access.

802.11n introduced the concept of block acknowledgments at the MAC layer, where the receiver can acknowledge multiple radio "frames" (MAC Protocol Data Units or more accurately MPDUs) in one response. ack indicates MPDUs that were missing from the previously sent set, if any. In Wi-Fi 6, the number of MPDUs acknowledged per block is limited to 256. In Wi-Fi 7, this limit has been increased to 512. Decentralizing this communication allows for better utilization of resources.

Wi-Fi 6 introduces the concept of resource units in the OFDMA scheme, where wireless channels are divided into smaller frequency allocations (called RUs). These allow small data packets to be transmitted to multiple users simultaneously. In Wi-Fi 6, each user only gets one RU. Wi-Fi 7 improves efficiency by allocating discrete RUs to individual users.

Wi-Fi 6 introduces the concept of triggered uplink access, allowing clients to simultaneously transmit data back to the access point in an independent manner. The transmission is synchronized by the AP issuing trigger frames containing resource unit allocation information for each client. Wi-Fi 7 further optimizes this solution for QoS requirements and latency-sensitive flows.

At the same time, the 802.11 working group has begun the basic work of Wi-Fi 8. 802.111 billion (Ultra High Reliability or UHR) is designed to bring more resiliency to high-speed Wi-Fi networks by allowing distributed multi-link operation, coordination between multiple access points, coordination between multiple access points and power-saving features on the access point side.

The Wi-Fi Alliance expects Wi-Fi 7 application scenarios to be more widespread, and certification is already in place.

These include mobile gaming, video conferencing, industrial IoT, automotive, multi-user AR/VR/XR, immersive e-training modules and other use cases. Wi-Fi 6 brings a number of technological advancements to Wi-Fi, and Wi-Fi 7 complements them. Unfortunately, AR/VR/XR have long tried to break into the mainstream with limited success. It's one of the main single-client use cases that can benefit from features like MLO in Wi-Fi 7.

Advances in spectrum efficiency over the past few generations have greatly facilitated enterprise deployments. In these scenarios, a single access point needs to be used to serve a large number of clients while maintaining acceptable QoS. The user experience in MDUs (Multiple Dwelling Units/Apartments) where multiple wireless networks compete with each other has also been improved. That said, providers are still looking for the ideal single-client scenario to take advantage of Wi-Fi 7 — wireline speeds have been largely stagnant over the past decade, and few ISPs offer gigabit speeds at reasonable prices or within a wide enough area. Wired and wireless technologies must evolve in tandem to deliver benefits to consumers and engage them with attractive use cases.

As it stands now, Wi-Fi has significantly outpaced wired networks over the past few decades.

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https://www.anandtech.com/show/21243/wifi-alliance-introduces-wifi-certified-7-80211be-prepares-for-draft-standard-exit

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