Extending the usefulness of a ubiquitous wireless technology.
AUGUST 6TH, 2020 – BY: BRYON MOYER
WiFi is everywhere, and it’s the most prevalent of the communication protocols that use unlicensed spectrum. But as a common protocol for the Internet of Things (IoT), it faces challenges both because of congestion and the amount of energy it consumes.
Two new approaches aim to address those concerns. One is to use multiple channels at once. The second involves the new 802.11 ah HaLow standard. Both will go a long way toward extending a wireless communications technology that is virtually ubiquitous.
“There are 8 billion WiFi devices,” said Andrew Skafel, CEO of Edgewater Wireless. “No one ever envisioned WiFi would be that successful. That success has created a challenge as more devices try to connect through WiFi. If your performance declines, most of that decline is due to interference and contention.”
WiFi will play an important role as part of the new 5G ecosystem. “5G is too expensive for short distances,” said Rita Horner, senior staff product manager at Synopsys. “So you have Bluetooth from your computer or phone to your headset, WiFi beyond that, and then 5G beyond that.”
While WiFi can augment 5G, the opposite is also true if WiFi coverage or capacity lags. “5G millimeter wave in the United States uses the higher S-band, while in other parts of the world they use a lower frequency band for millimeter wave, where that can be used to replace or augment what you have on a cell phone and WiFi,” said Kurt Shuler, vice president of marketing at Arteris IP.
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