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Introduction

Cognitive Systems Corp., which provides pioneering Wi-Fi sensing technology, WiFi Motion, has redefined how people interact with wireless networks by using existing Wi-Fi signals to transform connected devices into motion sensors.

Cognitive System’s Wi-Fi Sensing technology constitutes a comprehensive software stack that can be effortlessly deployed onto an access point or client device, which enables motion sensing for a wide array of applications across any Wi-Fi-enabled environment. This technology operates seamlessly without the need for additional hardware, utilizing sophisticated algorithms for channel state information analysis, motion pattern detection, and real-time signal interpretation. Potential applications for this motion sensing technology include home monitoring, eldercare, and smart home automation.

With Cognitive Systems’ widespread deployment and operational reach, particularly in densely interconnected environments where high reliability and low latency are imperative for a multitude of applications, the integration of WiFi Motion with an efficient and scalable container orchestration service emerged as an absolute imperative.

The evolution from a single server

In the footsteps of many budding start-ups, Cognitive started their journey on a smaller scale using a single server. However, as their Wi-Fi Sensing solution gained traction, the surge in deployments gradually escalated demand on this solitary server, necessitating a scalable solution. This led Cognitive to adopt Kubernetes—a robust system capable of efficiently managing multiple servers.

However, as deployments scaled, Cognitive encountered challenges that proved far from simple, going beyond basic computer troubleshooting. This led to countless hours spent on the phone with human customer support agents, and Cognitive knew there must be a better option.

The quest for a more responsive partner

As the complexities of managing their growing Wi-Fi sensing technology grew, so did Cognitive’s demand for swift and effective customer support. Recognizing the need for a more robust solution, Cognitive explored cloud providers. In this pursuit, Amazon Web Services (AWS) emerged as a standout candidate. What sets AWS apart is not only its cutting-edge infrastructure but also its human-centric approach to customer support—a pivotal shift from their previous solution as Cognitive now had knowledgeable professionals at their disposal capable of promptly addressing issues and aiding in troubleshooting.

In 2019, Cognitive started their journey on AWS’s newly launched Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (Amazon EKS). The frequency of updates, global reach over multiple AWS Regions, and resource efficiency underscored the potential for ongoing growth and innovation within the platform. Transitioning to Amazon EKS therefore seemed natural to secure a reliable, scalable, and well-managed future for WiFi Motion.

Global expansion and latency woes

When Cognitive’s sales team expanded their focus to Europe and Asia, a fresh set of challenges emerged. To illustrate the potential applications of WiFi Motion to their service provider clients, Cognitive created two sample mobile phone application offerings—Home Aware and Caregiver Aware—to showcase how a service provider could seamlessly integrate Wi-Fi sensing into their offerings. Both applications centered around a key feature named Live Motion, which enables users to visualize ongoing motion within their homes through the application in real time.

The effectiveness of this feature relied heavily on low latency, specifically under 250 ms, to guarantee smooth functionality. Moreover, seamless navigation through the prototype app was paramount, particularly since these test apps were frequently employed in service providers’ Wi-Fi sensing trials.

While the latency between North America and Europe maintained a tolerable margin at around 200 ms, Asia posed a far more substantial obstacle. Given the vast geographical expanse, latency consistently surpassed acceptable thresholds, resulting in delays of over a second. Regrettably, this disparity led to adverse user experiences. This led Cognitive to explore AWS’ vast regional presence to provide low latency and improve the user experience.

Using Amazon EKS: A game-changing AWS Region in Tokyo

Amazon EKS’s global reach across multiple AWS Regions played a pivotal role in addressing these latency challenges. With the availability of an AWS Region in Tokyo, Cognitive effectively extended its presence into Asia. The results were remarkable: sample application evaluators, who had previously encountered performance issues, were now enjoying seamless interactions. Amazon EKS was instrumental in turning Cognitive’s vision of a worldwide revolution in Wi-Fi innovation into reality, which made motion sensing accessible to any Wi-Fi connected space. This global accessibility is crucial for Wi-Fi sensing to become the next transformative advancement for the ubiquitous technology of Wi-Fi, which has long been synonymous with communication.

Choosing to standardize on AWS and Amazon EKS yielded benefits beyond addressing latency concerns. The abundant talent pool familiar with AWS facilitated easier hiring while relying on off-the-shelf components of Kubernetes lightened our workload. With a small team, Cognitive was able to efficiently manage 10 Amazon EKS clusters (and counting) today. This efficiency was further highlighted by the absence of live pager duty; the cloud’s inherent self-healing capabilities ensured continuous system operation.

Amazon EKS empowered Cognitive by providing the foundational elements to develop self-monitoring and self-recovery functions, minimizing the need for extensive engineering resources. This approach, combined with AWS’s built-in healing mechanisms like Managed Node groups, mitigated the impact of sporadic server and network failures inevitable at our global scale. By focusing on maintaining desired states, the system proactively guided itself back to optimal conditions, conserving valuable man-hours.

Solution overview

Cognitive Systems’ implementation

A diagram of Cognitive System's AWS cloud computing system

Figure 1: High-level solution architecture

The previous figure illustrates Cognitive Systems’ high-level solution architecture. Data from the Internet of Things (IoT) nodes is routed to the nearest region using the Amazon Elastic Load Balancing Network Load Balancer, while client application requests are routed to Kubernetes services exposed through the Application Load Balancer (ALB). The routing of traffic to the nearest AWS Region is typically managed in a customer-specific manner, with a common practice being the utilization of Amazon Route 53. While customer-specific configurations vary, Amazon Route 53 often serves as the foundational layer. Additionally, Amazon Route 53 is instrumental in implementing High Availability (HA) within a specific region. To establish a robust, secure, and reliable communication channel between Cognitive’s IoT fleet and the Cloud, they employ MQTTS (MQTT + mutual TLS) facilitated by AWS Network Load Balancers. Additionally, AWS Lambda functions are employed for executing Extract, Transform, and Load (ETL) operations on collected data, which is stored on Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3)Amazon Athena and Metabase helped Cognitive gain and visualize insights from the transformed data. The same architecture is replicated across multiple regions to provide low latency and meet quality standards.

Automation scripts and Infrastructure as Code (IaC) pipelines have been developed, facilitating the replication of this architecture across various clusters and global regions with ease.

Conclusion

In this blog post, Mike Ravkine discussed how Cognitive Systems Corp. leveraged Amazon EKS to bring their innovative Wi-Fi Sensing technology, WiFi Motion, to reality. It outlined the evolution of Cognitive’s technology, challenges faced in latency when expanding globally, and how Amazon EKS addressed these issues. The post emphasized the benefits of using AWS for scalability, efficient management, and global reach, ultimately enabling Cognitive Systems to revolutionize Wi-Fi innovation and make motion sensing accessible worldwide.

Adopting a standard, like Amazon EKS and other services, allowed Cognitive Systems to seamlessly integrate with large customers already on the AWS cloud, significantly reducing the once-present barriers of networking, authentication, and authorization. The establishment of a secure, private link between Cognitive and its customers via AWS effectively manages typical security requirements, rendering compliance and privacy considerations more manageable and cost-effective. Cognitive conducts prototypes and trials using the public internet due to its expediency and accessibility. However, when transitioning to production, they use shared Amazon Virtual Private Clouds (Amazon VPC) and PrivateLink, as these options offer enhanced security measures and cost-effectiveness.

The partnership between Cognitive Systems and AWS, with a robust, globally accessible infrastructure, facilitated efficient scalability, intricate problem-solving, and the delivery of exceptional services. As Cognitive’s global reach expands and its customer relationships deepen, AWS and Amazon EKS continues to empower them to achieve more with fewer resources while upholding unparalleled quality and reliability.

To learn more about Cognitve Systems and WiFi Motion, visit www.cognitivesystems.com.


The latest generation of Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi 7, introduces a range of new capabilities for more sophisticated, higher-throughput/lower-latency wireless communications. Industry leaders anticipate that these features will enable a new generation of applications, from fully automated factories, to mass-scale Internet of Things (IoT) deployments, to immersive augmented reality (AR) gaming, and more. As with all technology advances, however, new Wi-Fi capabilities bring new technical complexity—and new challenges for those tasked with designing and debugging Wi-Fi devices.

Those seeking to exploit Wi-Fi 7 features such as multi-link operation (MLO), enhanced quality of service (QoS), and 4096 quadrature amplitude modulation (4K QAM) will find that legacy testbeds cannot provide the capabilities or visibility that such features require. Indeed, if testers can’t measure coordinated operations across radios, for example, or analyze next-generation modulation schemes, they can’t characterize how new features perform—much less debug devices when something goes wrong.

In our recent paper, Navigating Wi-Fi 7: A Deep Dive into Next-Gen Advancements, we provide an in-depth analysis of the revolutionary changes that Wi-Fi 7 introduces. We discuss the impact that these new features have on testing and the strategies Spirent is advancing to address them. This blog offers a brief overview of some of these innovations.

Measuring multi-link operation

Previous Wi-Fi generations enabled devices to use multiple radios simultaneously, either in the same or across multiple bands. Until now, though, each radio operated independently. Among its most powerful new capabilities, Wi-Fi 7 introduces coordinated multi-link operation (MLO) to improve throughput, increase reliability, or both.

Wi-Fi 7 adds a new Unified Upper MAC (UMAC) layer to coordinate multi-link operations in a multi-link device (MLD) architecture (Figure 1). The UMAC provides the higher-layer protocols with a single MAC address for data transfers in a way that is very familiar to current Wi-Fi radio users. Underneath this, the UMAC contains logic to distribute the data block across the individual radio links, as appropriate, and manage the flow of data at this lower link level. This lower-layer operation is invisible to the higher-layer protocols so that they do not need to care how many radios are being used, or in what way.

Figure 1. MLD architecture

With this additional layer of intelligence, the UMAC can distribute loads across multiple links to improve throughput and latency or transmit redundant packets to improve reliability (Figure 2).

Figure 2. Overview of MLO in action

 

These MLO features can enable significant performance improvements for Wi-Fi users across a variety of scenarios. Validating them, however, requires new testing capabilities. To measure higher-throughput/lower-latency operations, for example, testbeds need additional computing resources to generate and consume traffic at higher rates. Testbeds must also provide visibility into the coordinated radio operations themselves. Effectively, all analysis and debugging capabilities previously performed on a per-radio basis must now extend to multiple radios operating simultaneously in concert.

Spirent’s new multi-link sniffer technology can analyze multiple bands simultaneously and provide consolidated operational data for use in Wireshark or other debugging tools.

Facilitating 4k QAM

As Wi-Fi has evolved over the years, modulation coding schemes (MCS) have evolved alongside it. Each new generation has supported more bits per symbol, increasing throughput by allowing devices to communicate more information per transmission.

However, denser QAM constellations also make devices more sensitive to channel noise—requiring ever-better signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). This issue has presented challenges through previous Wi-Fi evolutions, such as moving to 256 QAM (Wi-Fi 5) or 1024 QAM (Wi-Fi 6). As Figure 3 illustrates, however, the leap to 4096 QAM creates a constellation denser than anything Wi-Fi devices—and testbeds—have contended with before.

Figure 3. Increasing constellation density across Wi-Fi generations

At this density, channel noise that was acceptable in previous Wi-Fi generations can make it impossible to distinguish the position of individual points, introducing modulation errors. To capitalize on 4K QAM the new Wi-Fi 7 devices must be able to support these higher resolutions with finer decision boundaries, and testbeds must be redesigned to minimize as much path loss as possible.

Characterizing QoS enhancements

Latency also continues to improve with each new Wi-Fi generation, especially with the introduction of orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA) in Wi-Fi 6, and deterministic latency in Wi-Fi 7. But to support more groundbreaking latency-sensitive applications QoS testing and reporting must also evolve. As part of the Device Metrics Test Plan for Wi-Fi 7, the Wi-Fi Alliance highlighted the need for latency testing that provides not just average one-way delay (OWD), but a detailed statistical spread.

This level of insight is essential for characterizing performance in scenarios where multiple users are contending for the same channel resources, causing latency to fluctuate. For example, consider an AR gaming application where latency exceeding 30 milliseconds will be noticeable (and disruptive) to users. Legacy testing might show that, with OFDMA enabled, a device maintains 30ms average OWD. But knowing that average isn’t particularly helpful if the latency periodically spikes to 100ms, ruining user sessions.

To guarantee consistently good experiences, device makers must know the full range of latency users can experience, how various mechanisms affect delay, and how often OWD exceeds maximum thresholds. Spirent’s OCTOBOX testbeds report not just the average latency but the full statistical distribution. For example, Figure 4 illustrates the change is OWD distribution gained by using OFDMA. This allows testers to fully characterize performance and determine a statistical measure of the probability of achieving any target delay—critical information for guaranteeing QoS in emerging applications.

Figure 4. Characterizing device performance with and without OFDMA

 

The Spirent advantage

As a global leader in wireless testing solutions, Spirent has a long history of continually expanding the in-depth statistics and performance indicators our OCTOBOX testbeds provide to help organizations capitalize on new technologies. In fact, Spirent is typically the first in the industry in enabling in-depth testing and validation for new Wi-Fi advances. Why are we so often ahead of the curve? Because we’re intimately involved in the groups developing and standardizing wireless innovations.

Spirent is extremely active working across the industry to understand the implications of new wireless standards for our customers and what’s needed to test and characterize their performance. That includes working directly with leading wireless equipment and device manufacturers but also participating in industry groups like the Wi-Fi Alliance and IEEE. Spirent engineers currently serve on multiple Wi-Fi Alliance task groups, including leading the group that developed the Wi-Fi 7 Device Metrics Test Plan.

As a result, we don’t have to wait until new standards are finalized to know what will be needed to test them. So, when groundbreaking Wi-Fi advances emerge, we can help our customers start using and benefiting from them right away.

For more details on cutting-edge Wi-Fi 7 features and the latest approaches to characterize their performance, download the new whitepaper Navigating Wi-Fi 7: A Deep Dive into Next-Gen Advancements.

Wi-Fi Alliance® commends President Biden, Secretary Raimondo, and Administrator Davidson for demonstrating strong leadership in managing the U.S radio spectrum. The Presidential Memorandum and the Administration’s National Spectrum Strategy establish the cornerstone for policies and procedures that will promote more efficient use of spectrum while maximizing its benefits for all Americans. The Administration’s action to improve management of spectrum – a finite resource – is imperative to America’s connectivity, global leadership, and national security goals.

“This strategic policy framework will greatly enhance Federal agencies’ ability to maximize spectrum sharing and utilization,” said Alex Roytblat, Vice President of Worldwide Regulatory Affairs at Wi-Fi Alliance. Wi-Fi® is inherently protective of other spectrum users, and our industry is excited about the opportunities created through this policy effort. The Wi-Fi industry is committed to engaging with our Federal agencies partners on technical, operational, and regulatory solutions for coexistence that will deliver incredible connectivity benefits to U.S. users while supporting ongoing agency needs.”

About Wi-Fi Alliance® | www.wi-fi.org
Wi-Fi Alliance® is the worldwide network of companies that brings you Wi-Fi®. Members of our collaboration forum come together from across the Wi-Fi ecosystem with the shared vision to connect everyone and everything, everywhere, while providing the best possible user experience. Since 2000, Wi-Fi Alliance has completed more than 80,000 Wi-Fi certifications. The Wi-Fi CERTIFIED seal of approval designates products with proven interoperability, backward compatibility, and the highest industry-standard security protections in place. Today, Wi-Fi carries more than half of the internet’s traffic in an ever-expanding variety of applications. Wi-Fi Alliance continues to drive the adoption and evolution of Wi-Fi, which billions of people rely on every day.

Bangalore, November 07, 2023

Aprecomm, a world-leading network intelligence provider, has announced its partnership with TecExpert Brasil for distribution of its products across Brazilian territory.

This engagement will bring Aprecomm’s AI-enabled network intelligence suite of products to Brazilian broadband service providers and enterprises.

Communication services providers in Brazil can now benefit from Aprecomm’s network-intelligence cloud to optimize performance, reduce downtime and resolve subscriber issues faster. Further, enhanced visibility and automated root-cause analysis from Aprecomm solutions will help bring down operational expenses and improve network quality of experience for end users.

Pramod Babu, CEO of Aprecomm Private Limited, said, “TecExpert Brasil’s partnership with us is an absolute pleasure. Users throughout the Brazilian region will now have access to our network intelligence solution, and the products of Aprecomm will now enhance the network experience of users in the TecExpert Brazil distribution network.“

Leonardo Luis Slaviero, Founder and CTO, TecExpert Brasil spoke about the partnership and said, “Aprecomm will be achieving wider penetration across Brazil. TecExpert Brasil will be distributing Aprecomm’s Virtual Wireless Expert, a quality of experience software among its network of ISPs and distributors enabling users from Brazilian region to enjoy enhanced internet experience.”

Aprecomm’s network intelligence has traditionally helped service providers bring low-cost reliability and superior performance through edge-AI technology that brings complete automation in support workflow and network optimization.

Guharajan Sivakumar, CTO, Aprecomm Private Limited, said, “We are excited to see the reception our Artificial Intelligence based solutions is receiving across geographies. With TecExpert Brasil as our partner across Brazil, Aprecomm’s user base will be growing wider.”

About Aprecomm

Aprecomm provides Artificial Intelligence (AI) enabled Software Stack to measure WiFi Experience for broadband and enterprise users. Aprecomm’s patented WiFi intelligence solutions help improve subscriber’s quality-of-experience by proactively identifying and troubleshooting WiFi issues. This helps ISPs and Enterprises improve support efficiency, reduce downtime, and bring down operating costs. Aprecomm solutions currently manage more than five million WiFi equipment and have proven positive ROI for communication service providers across the world.

About TecExpert Brasil

TecExpert Brasil is a Brazilian System Integrator company dedicated to address connectivity issues on Wireless Technology for Enterprise and Mission Critical Solutions. With more than 7 years in operation and 20+ years of experience in Telecommunications and IT markets, your team develops projects focused to offer cost-benefit solutions to local base. TecExpert today is involved in the most successful achievements in local market, as 1st WiFi6E 6GHz demo in Brazil, participation in major events as Brazilian F1 GP, as like solutions for Mining, Port and Logistics. TecExpert is Wireless Broadband Alliance member, to engage OpenRoamingTM service in Brazil, as like is BluetoothTM and Telecom Infra Project (TIP) member.

This article originally appeared in Spiceworks on September 20, 2023.

Wi-Fi® – particularly Wi-Fi 6E – plays a critical role in transforming enterprise connectivity. As the first choice for wireless indoor connectivity for a growing number of users and increasingly complex business applications, Wi-Fi is also a complementary technology that supports the performance of 5G applications. The convergence of the two technologies allows for seamless connectivity as users move from place to place throughout the day, providing coverage from the conference room to the parking lot and everywhere in between.

Wi-Fi 6E in enterprise settings

Wi-Fi is responsible for carrying most internet traffic generated by both businesses and consumers, according to a 2021 report from Analysis Mason. As the latest Wi-Fi standard, Wi-Fi 6E unlocks the unlicensed 6 GHz spectrum band to deliver the capabilities needed to support the high-bandwidth applications enterprises around the world depend on every day, including cloud computing, telepresence, and the sophisticated Internet of Things (IoT) devices and sensors that power daily operations like factory and inventory monitoring. With the lower latency and higher throughput the 6 GHz band provides, Wi-Fi 6E is poised to keep up with the rate of information exchange and virtual collaboration of today’s workplace – and innovation is only expected to accelerate. According to IDC’s latest enterprise WLAN market report, Wi-Fi 6E revenue increased by 14.1% from the fourth quarter of 2022 to the first quarter of 2023, constituting 10.4% of dependent access point revenues in the enterprise market. Currently, there are more than 980 devices certified for Wi-Fi 6E, and an estimated 473 million Wi-Fi 6E devices are expected to ship in 2023.

Part of Wi-Fi’s success is attributed to its affordable and sustainable nature. Wi-Fi connectivity requires minimal external infrastructure, making Wi-Fi implementation cost-effective and less invasive to the surrounding environment compared to the installation and maintenance of cellular towers. As a low-power technology, Wi-Fi does not require the heightened power levels of 5G and other cellular solutions in order to penetrate heavy, insulated exterior walls. Still, some emerging enterprise applications require the support of both cellular and Wi-Fi connectivity to deliver seamless broadband coverage.

Utilizing Wi-Fi with private 5G 

Beginning with a strong foundation of Wi-Fi connectivity supports enterprises’ continuously evolving digital needs, many of which occur indoors. While 5G is often implemented to facilitate outdoor connectivity, Wi-Fi 6E and 5G may be paired together in enterprise settings to ensure seamless, cost-effective coverage for critical applications such as chemical leak detection and factory management.

Implementing Wi-Fi and 5G together enables optimized connectivity even when users are transitioning between indoor and outdoor locations, which is especially useful in large industrial campuses. In an interview for The Signal, Kelly Burroughs, Solutions Director for Enterprise at iBwave, shared that network designers should utilize data to better understand their connectivity needs and determine where private 5G might best support various use cases, “turning the technology into more of a roadmap.”

Layering 5G into existing Wi-Fi networks is a key component to building highly efficient networks that support smart cities, allowing for increased reliability in outdoor applications. Smart city devices like water level monitors used to prevent flooding, traffic monitoring hardware, and smart street lighting rely on a private 5G network or carrier-grade Wi-Fi to report data back to city planners. Meanwhile, smartphone users and low-power IoT devices are best suited to remain on a reliable Wi-Fi network.

The future of enterprise connectivity

Internet connectivity is an essential socioeconomic function, and the capabilities of Wi-Fi 6E through the 6 GHz band offer increased capacity, faster speeds, and decreased latency. As enterprises and the technologies that empower them continue to advance, it is up to IT and network leaders to design and implement networks that provide reliable, secure, and efficient connectivity for users. With the ​​standard for enterprise connectivity rapidly evolving, it is vital for businesses to prepare future-forward networks that will further equip their companies for rapid growth and expansion, and this starts with a collaboration between Wi-Fi 6E and 5G.

The statements and opinions by each Wi-Fi Alliance member and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not reflect the opinions or views of Wi-Fi Alliance or any other member. Wi-Fi Alliance is not responsible for the accuracy of any of the information provided by any member in posting to or commenting on this blog. Concerns should be directed to info@wi-fi.org.

NRC7394, the Next-Generation Wi-Fi HaLow SoC Providing a Low-Power, Small Footprint, and Lower Costs, is Now Available for Purchase and Evaluation

Transforming IoT Applications with Low-cost & Energy-conserving Wi-Fi HaLow

IPress Release (NRC7394)

RVINE, Calif., November 1, 2023 (Newswire.com) – Designed to be low-cost, energy-efficient, and small in size, NEWRACOM announces the commercial availability of the new Wi-Fi HaLow System on a Chip (SoC) to the market. The new Wi-Fi HaLow SoC, named NRC7394, represents innovative improvements in power consumption, size, and costs from our early experience and consequently is more competitive against existing Wi-Fi HaLow SoCs in the market. Wi-Fi HaLow is a long-range implementation of Wi-Fi technology based in the 750-950 MHz spectrum designed for a variety of IoT industries including building automation, smart homes, industrial IoT, smart cities, and wearables.

NRC7394 is a highly integrated SoC incorporating baseband (MAC & PHY), Sub 1 GHz radio transceiver, and ADC/DAC in a small 6mm x 6mm 48-QFN package. It is fully compliant with the IEEE 802.11ah standard which is the long-range and low-power version of the Wi-Fi standard. It supports 1/2/4 MHz channel bandwidth which yields 150 Kbps to 15 Mbps PHY rate that can handle low-rate sensors to high-rate surveillance camera applications.

An embedded Cortex-M3 ARM® processor in the NRC7394 offers enough processing power to accommodate the Wi-Fi subsystem and user applications in a single Wi-Fi SoC. NRC7394 includes two host interfaces, HSPI and UART, and rich peripherals such as general SPI, I2C, UART, PWM, auxiliary ADC, and GPIOs. The low-leakage retention memory inside NRC7394 can store code and data necessary for fast wake-up from deep-sleep mode.

The NRC7394 features a fully integrated Power Amplifier capable of +17dBm TX output and offers the capability to support various commercial external FEM (front-end module) devices for applications requiring higher transmission power.

The NRC7394 is capable of operating as an Access Point or Station device and supports additional network architectures including 802.11s mesh. The SoC can operate alongside an external processor in Hosted and “AT Command” modes or leverage on-chip processing and IO for low-power Standalone operation.

More information about the NRC7394 can be found on the NRC7394 Product Page. SDK and software documentation are available on our GitHub page at https://github.com/newracom.

If you are interested in purchasing an evaluation kit for the NRC7394 and getting silicon in hand, contact us at sales@newracom.com or at our contact page.

About NEWRACOM, Inc.

NEWRACOM, Inc., in Irvine, California, U.S., has rapidly become a leading developer and supplier of IoT-enabled wireless connectivity chipsets. We specialize in providing a broad range of Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11ah and IEEE 802.11b/g/n/ac/ax) that covers various connectivity needs in our lives. With our extensive and diverse Wi-Fi solutions, NEWRACOM provides customers with a “one-stop-shop,” offering a comprehensive solution that can serve multiple IoT applications including Smart Grid, Wearables, Smart Home and Office, Healthcare, and Industrial Automation. For more information, please visit online at http://www.newracom.com.

Heightened performance for complex applications

A person and a child using a computer Description automatically generated

Wi-Fi® is foundational connectivity for countless complex use cases. High capacity applications that enable immersive user experiences such as augmented, virtual, and extended reality (AR/VR/XR) and social gaming, as well as industrial applications that require real-time capabilities like factory monitoring and automotive use cases all rely on Wi-Fi to deliver high data throughputs and low latency. As use cases that provide immersive experiences, collaboration, and superior reliability quickly become mainstays in home and enterprise environments, Wi-Fi 7’s sophisticated feature set will bring the required level of advanced performance these applications demand.

Wi-Fi 6E unlocked the unlicensed 6 GHz band for Wi-Fi, and Wi-Fi 7 will heighten its potential. Based on IEEE 802.11be technology, Wi-Fi 7’s unique features offer extremely high throughputs, low latency and jitter, and increased reliability to support media-rich, immersive experiences. Wi-Fi 7 will deliver more advancements in the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz frequency bands, and countries that make the entire 6 GHz band available to Wi-Fi will be able to experience its maximum potential – even in congested environments.

Wi-Fi Alliance® published a podcast series that highlighted key features and benefits of Wi-Fi 7 from companies including BroadcomIntel, and Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. Read on for their key takeaways.

The unique features of Wi-Fi 7 as heard from our members:

  • 320 MHz channels: The 6 GHz band provides massive throughput gains with twice the Wi-Fi channel bandwidth as Wi-Fi 6. In an episode of The Signal, Eric McLaughlin, VP and GM of Wireless Solutions at Intel, explained this increase in magnitude. “You go from the capacity of about 160 MHz channels in Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E to 320 MHz channels in Wi-Fi 7,” said McLaughlin. “So, you effectively double the size of the channel, which doubles your throughput, so you get faster speeds.”
  • 4K QAM: McLaughlin noted that the increase from 1K QAM to 4K QAM enables a higher density per signal for a 20% improvement in some aspects of performance. “If you’re on a PC device and you’ve got a two-antenna solution, your theoretical data rate moves from a max of 2.4 gigabits per second, with 1K QAM, to 5.8 gigabits per second with 4K QAM.” This upgrade allows for flawless streaming of 4K and 8K video, social cloud-based gaming without lag, and video conferencing with impeccable audio-visual quality.  
  • Multi-Link Operation (MLO): MLO technology is “a pillar by itself” according to Rahul Patel, senior vice president and general manager, Connectivity, Broadband and Networking, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., as it allows devices to combine different channels across frequency bands together for simultaneous transmission and reception of data over multiple links. “Where congestion and spectrum are not available,” said Patel, “and where wider channels are not easily available, Multi-Link Operation makes your link a lot more robust and helps you on the dimensions of speeds and feeds.” In an episode of The Signal, Vijay Nagarajan, VP, Wireless Connectivity Division at Broadcom noted MLO’s immense impact on latency, “If I’m able to shift to a 6 GHz channel, which is lighter in terms of load, then that worst case latency drops tremendously. We’ve seen latencies drop from a second all the way down to 10, 20 milliseconds by the use of MLO.”

An ideal match for multigigabit broadband

As demand grows for multigigabit connectivity, broadband service providers are increasingly offering faster broadband to residential and business subscribers. In North America, for example, operators are offering broadband subscriptions for 8 gigabit broadband. Wi-Fi 7 is built to deliver on this capacity wirelessly. “Triband Wi-Fi 7 access points with 320 MHz channels, multilink operations, and 4K QAM collectively provide sufficient capacity to match even a 10 gigabit broadband connection,” said Nagarajan.

Wi-Fi 7: Unleashing Wi-Fi innovation

Wi-Fi 7 is fueling the evolution of wireless connectivity and will play a critical role across various industries, ranging from education to enterprise and even critical mission sectors. As Patel noted, “Applications like security, or managing logistics in warehouses, have more robust coverage across the entire warehouse because robotics are playing a big role in that equation. You want a certain level of manageability, a certain level of quality of service deployed. I think Wi-Fi 7 plays a huge role there.

By enabling higher capacity, increased power efficiency, and greater quality performance, Wi-Fi 7’s unique feature set will support interactive and complex use cases like AR/VR/XR, immersive 3D training, and high-definition video streaming. Wi-Fi 7 is expected to see increased adoption with Wi-Fi Alliance® certification availability coming in Q1 2024, which typically serves as an inflection point in the industry. With an estimated 84 million Wi-Fi 7 devices that will ship in 2024,1 Wi-Fi 7 will soon usher in the next generation of Wi-Fi.

The statements and opinions by each Wi-Fi Alliance member and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not reflect the opinions or views of Wi-Fi Alliance or any other member. Wi-Fi Alliance is not responsible for the accuracy of any of the information provided by any member in posting to or commenting on this blog. Concerns should be directed to info@wi-fi.org.

Waterloo, Canada & Jonkoping, Sweden – Mercku, a smart home solutions provider, and Junet are partnering to offer Mercku’s intelligent connectivity suite to enhance Junet’s clientele experience. Junet has been providing internet solutions all over Sweden for over 19 years, and to expand its Wi-Fi solutions portfolio, it will provide direct access to a full range of Mercku’s operator-oriented networking suite. Mercku’s networking suite encompasses mesh Wi-Fi connectivity and wireless sensing solutions for operators, service providers, MSPs, and small-medium businesses in Sweden.

Junet started as an ISP (Internet Service Provider) in 2005 with a mission to provide the best fiber internet to Swedes in Jonkoping. Over the years, it expanded its footprint across the Swedish region and is now one of the best fiber providers in the country. To enhance the Wi-Fi experience of its clientele, Junet will expand its connectivity boundaries with Mercku on board and officially supply a wide range of high-performance networking technology solutions. Junet will offer Mercku’s robust intelligent Mesh Wi-Fi systems, promising unparalleled connectivity, and seamless performance.

Mercku, a Canadian connectivity company, designs and builds networking and smart home solutions for service providers worldwide. Designed by Mercku’s Red Dot award-winning product team, the M6 Wi-Fi 6 mesh series is designed to provide a future-proof platform for deploying advanced services and applications in the industry. With proprietary technology developed by their founders’ decades of expertise in RF (Radio Frequencies) technologies, Mercku’s mesh routers aim to be the intelligent center of home networks, providing reliable connectivity and security. In addition, Mercku is providing the world’s first long-term remote monitoring solution by enabling real-time, accurate, and non-invasive biodata monitoring. The latest introduction to Mercku’s portfolio is the 5G-enabled customer-premises equipment solution, featuring network fail-over capabilities to ensure minimal downtime. Mercku is focused on providing ISP, MSPs, and home users with fast and reliable connectivity.

About Junet: 

Junet started as an ISP (Internet Service Provider) in 2005 with a mission to deliver broadband services to student apartments in Jonkoping. Proving to be one of the best fibre providers, Junet expanded all over Sweden and now offers various services complementing its initial broadband services, such as Telephone services, TV & streaming services, Internet security, and even data storage offerings. In addition, Junet provides customized Wi-Fi solutions to cater to the needs of its individual and business clientele.

To learn more, visit their website at: https://www.junet.se/

For Press information, contact:  martin.palsson@junet.se

About Mercku Connectivity:    

Founded in 2017 in Waterloo, Canada, Mercku is transforming how businesses offer their users smart home devices and services. Built on decades of design and engineering expertise, Mercku’s founders have over 450 patents in wireless technology and bring proprietary innovation to the world of connectivity. Mercku’s relentless innovation and thought leadership transforms the Wi-Fi and smart home space with their latest connectivity-as-a-service suite of hardware, software, and premium features.

To learn more, visit their website at www.mercku.com

For Press information, contact: contact@mercku.com

Austin, TX and Washington, D.C. – October 19, 2023 – Wi-Fi Alliance® commends the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on the significant step to expand regulatory framework for the rapidly growing 6 GHz unlicensed device ecosystem. This order enables a new era of Wi-Fi®, and through the leadership of Chairwoman Rosenworcel and the FCC Commissioners – together with strong support from FCC engineers –  a new generation of Wi-Fi connected devices will emerge. The Wi-Fi industry is eager to leverage this decision to realize benefits for American consumers and enterprises.

About Wi-Fi Alliance® | www.wi-fi.org
Wi-Fi Alliance® is the worldwide network of companies that brings you Wi-Fi®. Members of our collaboration forum come together from across the Wi-Fi ecosystem with the shared vision to connect everyone and everything, everywhere, while providing the best possible user experience. Since 2000, Wi-Fi Alliance has completed more than 80,000 Wi-Fi certifications. The Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ seal of approval designates products with proven interoperability, backward compatibility, and the highest industry-standard security protections in place. Today, Wi-Fi carries more than half of the internet’s traffic in an ever-expanding variety of applications. Wi-Fi Alliance continues to drive the adoption and evolution of Wi-Fi, which billions of people rely on every day.

The whitepaper “Cognitive Systems Confidential: How WiFi Motion Can Play With Other Security Solutions” explores the integration of Cognitive Systems’ Wi-Fi Sensing solution, WiFi Motion, into the realm of home security.

As the demand for reliable and comprehensive security solutions grows, security providers are strategically adopting WiFi Motion to enhance their offerings. WiFi Motion seamlessly transforms existing routers and devices into a comprehensive motion sensing network, enabling over-the-air upgrades and adapting to evolving security needs.

The whitepaper outlines four key strategies for service providers looking to incorporate WiFi Motion into their offerings: upselling to premium security, monetizing DIY security with added features, streamlining existing services, and integrating new context into professional security.

By leveraging WiFi Motion’s innovative capabilities, security providers can enhance user experiences, reduce costs, increase customer satisfaction, and ultimately drive revenue growth. WiFi Motion holds significant potential to revolutionize the home security landscape and urges security providers to embrace its capabilities for successful differentiation and innovation in a dynamic market.

To learn more about Cognitive Systems, click here to visit their website.