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NRC7394 IS NOW READY FOR GO-TO-MARKET

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.

  • Newracom, AHPC, ALFA Network, ASKEY, AzureWave, and others come together to promote the adoption of Wi-Fi HaLow at the Expo.
  • Wi-Fi HaLow consortium declares that Wi-Fi HaLow is in full swing in IoT markets through various showcases.

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Irvine, CA, October 24th, 2023 – Newracom is set to participate in AIoT Taiwan Expo hosted by CIoud Computing and IoT Association in Taiwan (CIAT), taking place at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center from October 25 to 27, 2023. This will mark the inaugural appearance of Wi-Fi HaLow at the CIAT IoT Pavilion. Newracom is collaborating with industry leaders such as AHPC, ASKEY, ALFA Network, AzureWave, NTT, and Furuno to advance the prominence of Wi-Fi HaLow technology as a standard for IoT connectivity. Their collective objective is to propel the widespread adoption of Wi-Fi HaLow for various IoT devices and to highlight the early commercialization successes of this technology.

During AIoT Expo, the consortium of Wi-Fi HaLow solution providers will showcase a range of innovations. Askey will announce the industry’s first FCC and TELEC certified Wi-Fi HaLow IP camera, a small form factor NRC7394 Wi-Fi HaLow module, and a Tri-band WiFi+11ah AP router, available for the Japan and US market initially. Other key highlights include the industry’s smallest Wi-Fi HaLow System on Module (SoM) from AzureWave, a comprehensive Japan-certified sensor and imaging solution demonstration by AHPC, and Newracom’s next-generation Wi-Fi HaLow SoC named NRC7394.

Tadao Kobayashi, Chairman of the AHPC (802.11AH Promotional Council) in Japan, comments, “Since the inception of AHPC, Newracom has been actively engaged in field experiments related to 802.11ah conducted by AHPC. They have consistently enhanced the hardware and software of 802.11ah chips to align with Japanese regulations. Newracom has played a pivotal role in making 802.11ah available in Japan. At the Expo, Newracom – a chip vendor, ASKEY – a product manufacturer, and AHPC – a consortium of 150 companies and organizations, will showcase their latest 802.11ah devices, products, and services. We aim to forge a new alliance that promotes Taiwanese IT entrepreneurship and the expansion of 802.11ah business.”

Patrick Lin, Vice President of Product Development at AzureWave, remarks, “Newracom’s remarkable accomplishments in the Wi-Fi HaLow product domain underscore their unwavering dedication to innovation and excellence. Their seamless collaboration with AzureWave has not only raised connectivity standards but also transformed the market landscape. Together, they have set a new benchmark for reliable, high-performance wireless solutions, showcasing the power of synergy and expertise in driving technological progress, which we will exhibit at the Expo.”

“Through cooperation with world-class chip developers – Newracom, ALFA Network Inc will continue to provide innovative products and strive to become a leading promoter of the smart world of the Internet of Things” commented Johnson Wang, General Manager of ALFA Network.

Tommy Lin, Research and Development AVP at ASKEY, said “With the growing popularity of IoT devices, the demand for low-power, long-distance communication is also rising. The Wi-Fi HaLow’s low power consumption and long-range may make it a particularly suitable solution for many IoT applications. Askey Computer has always been committed to promoting innovation in technology. Through cooperation with Newracom, we look forward to deploying Wi-Fi HaLow products more widely and jointly promoting the rapid growth of this market in various industries and regions.”

James Lee, Senior Director at ASKEY, followed with, “We are proud to have successfully developed the world’s first Wi-Fi HaLow camera. The launch of this product means that we have a technological leadership position in the field of Internet of Things. The ability to transmit long-distance wireless images is a goal that everyone is looking forward to, and Askey Computer has realized this dream for this industry with the Newracom chip. We look forward to it providing broader development prospects for global IoT applications.”

Frank Lin, Vice President of Global Marketing and Sales at Newracom, adds, “The Wi-Fi HaLow community has united to demonstrate the readiness of this connectivity standard for global implementation. AHPC, ASKEY, AzureWave, ALFA Network, and many other industry leaders are advancing Wi-Fi HaLow’s capabilities, ushering in a new era of linking IoT devices with fast, long-range, low-power connectivity.”

About NEWRACOM, Inc.

NEWRACOM, Inc., located 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 enables 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.

About AHPC

The AHPC is committed to implementing the IEEE standard 802.11ah, known as Wi-Fi HaLow, in Japan, offering more features than the existing LPWA for IoT wireless systems. Established in November 2018, the organization gained significance with the revision of the Wireless Equipment Regulations by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications in September 2022, which permitted the use of IEEE 802.11ah in the domestic 920MHz band. The AHPC is made up of over 150 members including NTT, KDDI, Softbank and others, their full member list is available at www.11ahpc.org/memberlist/index.html. For more information, please visit www.11ahpc.org.

Aprecomm’s WiFi intelligence technology to further strengthen ACT Fibernet’s customer experience enhancement program.

Bengaluru, Feb 21, 2024: Aprecomm has partnered with ACT Fibernet (Atria Convergence Technologies Ltd.), India’s largest fiber-focused wired broadband ISP (Internet Service Provider), to onboard Aprecomm’s innovative technology to remotely optimize residential Wi-Fi connections. Aprecomm’s AI technology will help ACT Fibernet better understand the in home Wi-fi  experience, thus enabling interventions and optimizations that improve in home Wi-Fi performance for customers and bring down the customer issue resolution time and for its two million plus connected households.

Aprecomm’s AI Engine allows ACT to convert its household connections to A.I.-enabled Smart WiFi access points. The technology offers proactive monitoring and measuring of the Wireless Experience of the connected devices and provides real-time insights to improve the reliability and performance of the network.

Pramod Gummaraj, CEO of Aprecomm, said, “Thrilled to collaborate with ACT and introduce cutting-edge technology into their network, resulting in a significant decrease in customer support handling time and a remarkable enhancement in the customer experience. Aprecomm will be bringing more innovation towards Network in the upcoming months.”

Speaking on the development, Dr. Sarath Kumar, CTO, ACT Fibernet, said, “We have tested this technology in our labs and are excited by its prospects. We look forward to integrate Aprecomm’s cutting-edge technology into our network to help provide visibility and analytics of wi-fi performance. We are confident that this will enhance our customer experience immensely. This partnership signifies our commitment to providing top-notch services and staying ahead in the industry.”

“With Aprecomm’s vendor-agnostic technology, ACT can now manage and monitor CPEs through a unified interface, ensuring an assured internet experience for their customers” said Guharajan Sivakumar, CTO of Aprecomm.

The measurable improvements offered by the integration between ACT and Aprecomm also lead to lower maintenance costs and improved customer satisfaction for one of the country’s fastest-growing ISPs.

About Aprecomm

Aprecomm is an industry game-changer with an AI-enabled Software Stack to understand Customer Wi-Fi Experience. Aprecomm offers cloud-based automated solutions to enhance Wi-Fi performance. Aprecomm’s patented technology helps in automatically and proactively troubleshooting Wi-Fi issues. This way ISPs and Enterprises will be able to fix them immediately and dramatically minimize down-time. Aprecomm’s solutions help enterprises, ISPs, TSPs improve their business standards through higher reliability, reduced expenses, and speedy ROI.

About ACT

ACT Fibernet, one of India’s largest wired ISPs (Internet Service Provider) in India. ACT Fibernet is headquartered in Bengaluru and has operations in 24 Indian cities with more than 2 million customers. ACT Fibernet is known for its cutting-edge technology and high-speed broadband connectivity that the company provides to its customers. ACT Fibernet was the first broadband service provider to bring 1 Giga speed connectivity in India to the city of Hyderabad in 2017, followed by Bengaluru and Chennai in 2018. ACT Fibernet recently launched broadband plans which includes all famous OTT platform subscription as part of a bundle.

Consumers are leaning heavier on Wi-Fi to meet their connectivity needs, making comprehensive Wi-Fi network and device testing more important than ever.

Going on two decades, Wi-Fi has delivered simple, inexpensive wireless connectivity for the masses. It was never perfect, but the convenience and generally fine performance for most applications made it good enough for most.

Now, the stakes are higher.

Consumers are requiring more demanding use cases and more powerful apps. Despite its promises, 5G connectivity remains limited. This has meant everyone from personal to enterprise users have been leaning heavier than ever on Wi-Fi to meet connectivity needs.

This has been a driving force behind a whole new generation of Wi-Fi tech and adoption. Whether working or playing from home, we expect Wi-Fi to operate flawlessly with high performance and reliability. This is especially true as Wi-Fi cements a role in mission-critical private networks that support emerging industry applications.

Wi-Fi is being positioned to meet these new roles and requirements. New Wi-Fi standards provide distributed connectivity, high throughput, and low latency. In particular, the radio interface has received an overhaul, with modulation and spectral efficiency on a completely new level.

Wi-Fi routers, extenders, and mesh networks are being installed in homes and offices to provide wider coverage, support more users, and accommodate a growing range of devices. Each brings pros and cons, but whichever is chosen, it is safe to say Wi-Fi networks have evolved far beyond initial roles as simple routers.

In fact, the changes seen in Wi-Fi introduce challenges that are in some ways more significant than the migration from 4G to 5G.

New Wi-Fi complexity means device testing has grown in complexity, too

As expectations of Wi-Fi surge, so too does the need for precise, comprehensive Wi-Fi network testing. As always, testing must address conformance to standards, interoperability, and performance. With Wi-Fi, many factors can impact performance, such as walls, electrical interference, , signal reflection, and other Wi-Fi and wireless usage in the area. All Wi-Fi devices must be tested against these factors in controlled, repeatable ways.

Wi-Fi sees multiple standards in play, including TR-398 performance for routers and access points, RFC-2544 network device benchmarking specification, and others in the offing. Still, as this next generation of Wi-Fi comes to market quickly, comprehensive test and interoperability standards have yet to be developed.

Example of RFC-2544 test to determine maximum throughput behavior of the device under test

 

As such, testing Wi-Fi 6/6E (and soon Wi-Fi 7) devices has become more complicated than traditional Wi-Fi device testing. Trying to test manually not only makes little economic sense, but it has become nearly impossible.

Automated testing of Wi-Fi devices

To overcome the complexity of testing a growing number of Wi-Fi 6/6E devices, automated device hardware and software testing is essential for cost-efficient, scalable, accurate, timely, and repeatable results.

Traditionally, test teams must research and keep up to date with evolving standards to create and execute tests. Alternatively, automated Wi-Fi automation packages from test experts like Spirent can be leveraged. Such automated test packages reflect existing standards and, where standards don’t yet exist such as for mesh networks, expertly define appropriate tests. Executing automated test software on your testbed enables fast, 24×7 testing. And all those resources that were grinding through test scenarios can instead put energies into evaluating results.

Spirent Wi-Fi automated test packages

Spirent, the Wi-Fi testing market leader, offers a wireless test bed that validates Wi-Fi networks and devices. Its software automation packages automate standards-based Wi-Fi test plans to assess conformance, interoperability, and performance.

To accelerate Wi-Fi testing, test automation packages spanning mesh interoperability performance testing of devices and device performance evaluation through RFC 2544 benchmark tests have been developed.

Learn more about how Spirent automated Wi-Fi test packages can enable you to quickly assess Wi-Fi device conformance to standards, interoperability, and performance.

The emergence of use cases for work from home, small business, hospitals, factories, and IoT, elevated Wi-Fi’s importance, making it the new global wireless workhorse. This seismic shift requires a completely new approach to testing. Learn about the new generation of testing solutions that address this challenge.

Best effort. That about sums up expectations of Wi-Fi among daily users. In the coffee shop? Airport? The park? Our homes? We take what we can get. Some networks are better than others, but in the end, it’s always been “just Wi-Fi.”

The emergence of use cases for work-from-home, small business, hospitals, factories, and IoT, has elevated the importance of Wi-Fi, pushing it into the role of global wireless workhorse for our generation, and we expect, for the future. Yet, for all the performance demands being placed on Wi-Fi, it is tested infrequently and inconsistently. This stands in stark contrast to mobile networks, which are tested extensively by operators.

But this is changing. The rapid evolution of use cases, introduction of Wi-Fi 7, rivaling 5G tech and Wi-Fi’s anticipated convergence and harmonization with 5G represent a sea change. The latest tech advancements see Wi-Fi all grown up, with new responsibilities and expectations, and all the complexities of a mature, sophisticated technology. Especially for indoor environments, Wi-Fi 7 has the potential to rival what 5G can deliver, at a fraction of the cost.

Considering the COVID-19 impact on Wi-Fi in the wireless ecosystem – which didn’t change post-pandemic – service providers (SPs) needed to “up their game” to deliver the performance and QoS required to continue the productivity gains and economic trends established pre-pandemic. But offering bulletproof performance requires operators to adopt unprecedented, advanced testing and validation strategies.

In this new era of Wi-Fi, there’s no more room for error. Performance issues won’t just get a shoulder shrug. They’ll impact business revenues. Degrade user experiences. They’ll affect the bottom line. Meanwhile, competitive pressures will intensify at an accelerating velocity. Speed to market for a host of new devices with expanded feature sets will drive competitive battles. Just as importantly, it will necessitate a completely new approach to testing.

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Competitive pressures will intensify at an accelerating velocity. Speed to market for a host of new devices with expanded feature sets will drive competitive battles. Just as importantly, it will necessitate a completely new approach to testing.

Goodbye disaggregation, hello results

In a previous post we discussed the rising urgency to streamline and automate Wi-Fi testing. Homegrown, multi-vendor testing shops based on garden-variety test products just weren’t meant for scale. Originally, within the more confined requirements of Wi-Fi’s earlier incarnation, they got the job done. But now, with Wi-Fi 7 offering customers 5G speeds and latency, based on a new set of standards, it’s a non-starter.

Today, Spirent recognizes a critical opportunity to evolve from slow and expensive DIY testing to turnkey, configurable Wi-Fi test suites that deliver a seamlessly integrated testbed. All without prohibitively large and expensive chambers typically employed for performance testing that comprised previous approaches.

Evolution to a unified approach to Wi-Fi testing

It should be noted that a unified solution does more than just streamline processes – it impacts business outcomes.

Moving ahead, operators and device makers don’t want to buy test equipment – they want to buy results. And they need them as quickly as possible. Testing is emerging as not just a checkpoint before launch, but a driver of innovation itself. Wi-Fi 7 won’t be possible with a best-effort approach. It must be about maximizing performance results and getting them to market rapidly with advanced unified solutions.

Wi-Fi testing strategies for success

Spirent recognizes five key strategies for Wi-Fi 7 testing that merit serious consideration:

  • Rely on solutions, not boxes. Originally, Wi-Fi testing was considered so complicated that some companies skipped it all altogether. Those that did conduct testing relied on a range of customized solutions they set up and managed on their own. Now, however, attempting to apply the old playbook to today’s testing requirements simply won’t deliver the performance, speed and efficiency demands. Look for standards-based, end-to-end high-performance testing solutions that harness products, technologies, and expertise in one unified approach. This should also be easy to integrate and built for specific types of devices, and scale for rollouts or deployment complexity. When you have the right solution for the job, the right results follow.
  • Emulate real world environments. It’s not enough to anticipate Wi-Fi 7 traffic patterns in testing, they must mirror what will be encountered outside the lab. Isolating devices via a multi-chamber approach and injecting actual traffic or impairments for repeatable results is the first step toward planning for unknown trouble scenarios that previously only turned up after a product shipped. Testing environments must accurately represent real-world applications and experiences. That means modeling applications, conducting over-the-air connection testing, and focusing on latency impacts along the way.
  • Optimize for mesh testing. As mesh networks become more commonplace, there is an opportunity to greatly improve connectivity throughout the home and enterprise. But with users and devices moving constantly within fixed environments, optimizing connections at any given moment across multiple access points in a range of structural environments poses a major challenge. The ability to emulate a limitless number of environments, simulating distance, obstructions, motion and more will be critical in ensuring top performance. Especially as the market awaits approved standards to design against.
  • Automate for comprehensive and rapid results. Global consolidation of lab space through next-gen automation has become a growing need in testing as the size of some Wi-Fi test systems are often quite large. When customers purchase multiple units, they face serious space constraints. Additionally, the complexity of comprehensive Wi-Fi testing has reached a stage where next-gen test automation must be incorporated for continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD). Automated test suites must encompass a range of channel and traffic emulation for validating the device performance of YouTube video, video conferencing, gaming, security cameras, factory automation, and so many applications in daily use within wireless environments. Cutting-edge lab and test automation are now Wi-Fi testing table stakes.
  • Account for scale requirements in testing. One size does not fit all for Wi-Fi testing, making it ideal to have a choice of pre-integrated testbed systems that can meet exacting needs, regardless of the project testing scope. Where one customer might only need to simulate a few client devices, another might need to do this for 50 to 100 devices by adding instruments and software. The ability to merge specialized products with advanced automation can deliver best-in-class testbed creation that is easy to deploy, can be sized for specific requirements and is extendable as future demands necessitate.

Wi-Fi’s role in work-from-home, along with new use cases for small business, hospitals, factories, IoT, and Wi-Fi 7’s promise, all represent a world of opportunity where this ubiquitous connectivity tech finally stands on its own as a highly capable, and highly performant solution for complex devices, services and access environments. But Wi-Fi’s full potential can only now be achieved with an evolved and holistic advanced test strategy that mirrors the ambitions of the technology itself.

Learn more about Spirent’s octoBox automated wireless testing solutions.

In the ever-evolving realm of wireless technology, Wi-Fi 7 emerges as a transformative force, poised to redefine our experience with connectivity. A recent webinar, “Wi-Fi Deep Dive,” hosted by RCR Wireless News, shed light on this groundbreaking development by unveiling the capabilities and challenges that Wi-Fi 7 brings to the table. LitePoint’s Adam Smith joined a panel of connectivity experts for a look at the state of standards, products and use cases.

The Leap to Wi-Fi 7

Wi-Fi 7, the successor to Wi-Fi 6/6E, is set to revolutionize wireless networks with its promise to increase throughput and process more data simultaneously. Wi-Fi 7 introduces features that exponentially improve performance and deployment flexibility. But as chip and system capabilities continue their rapid evolution, there is far less room for error. Performance metrics have never been as critical. Panelists shared several key points about this new technology and the excitement building around it:

  • Increased Reliability and Reduced Latency: Wi-Fi 7 introduces Multi-Link Operation (MLO), allowing devices to transmit data over multiple frequencies simultaneously, significantly enhancing reliability and reducing latency. This is crucial in today’s digital environment where speed and stable connections are essential.
  • Faster Data Speed: Wi-Fi 7 features 320-MHz channels and 4096-QAM modulation, pushing data transmission rates further to make Wi-Fi faster and more efficient.

 

 

  • Benefits to Manufacturers and Consumers: For manufacturers, Wi-Fi 7 enables devices with superior connectivity, which is a significant selling point in the competitive tech market. For consumers, enhanced reliability and reduced latency translate to smoother, faster online experiences, be it streaming, gaming or general browsing. This can lead to greater product satisfaction, and, by extension, stronger brand loyalty.

 

  • Simplified Adoption in Products: The adoption rate of Wi-Fi 7 is expected to vary between enterprise and consumer segments. While Wi-Fi 6 deployment is challenging because it needs to coexist with legacy Wi-Fi networks, Wi-Fi 7 introduces features to make it simple to overlay a new network in the presence of a legacy network.

Technical Breakthroughs and Challenges

Wi-Fi 7 offers a substantial improvement in speed over Wi-Fi 6/6E. It utilizes 320-MHz channels compared to the 160-MHz channels of Wi-Fi 6, effectively doubling the data transfer rate in each access opportunity. This enhancement is particularly advantageous for applications requiring consistent, high-speed data transfer, such as video streaming, gaming and virtual reality. With Wi-Fi 7, users can expect smoother experiences with higher image quality, as the faster speeds reduce the need to compromise on quality due to bandwidth constraints. This results in fewer disruptions like dropped packets or visible artifacts, offering a more seamless and engaging user experience.

Despite its technical advancements, the implementation of Wi-Fi 7 faces several challenges:

  • Device Interoperability: One of the key challenges is ensuring interoperability between Wi-Fi 7 devices. This includes the need for new device hardware to support the higher frequency and modulation schemes of Wi-Fi 7.

 

  • Network Management Complexities: Managing a network that supports Wi-Fi 7 is more complex than Wi-Fi 6/6E. This includes handling the increased data rates and ensuring network infrastructure can effectively support higher speeds without compromising stability.

 

  • Interference Management: With Wi-Fi 7’s higher frequencies and broader channels, it becomes more critical to ensure that Wi-Fi signals do not interfere with other devices and networks, especially in densely populated areas or environments with many wireless devices.

These challenges are pivotal for the seamless integration of Wi-Fi 7 into existing infrastructures and its widespread adoption across both professional and personal settings.

What’s Next: Enterprise vs. Consumer Adoption

The adoption of Wi-Fi 7 varies between enterprise and consumer segments. Because Wi-Fi 7 effectively handles congestion and interference, connectivity improves in areas with densely packed devices or overlapping networks (ideal for enterprise applications or larger venues).

While enterprises are eager to leverage Wi-Fi 7 for enhanced network capabilities, consumer devices are only gradually adapting to these higher standards. This is likely to cause a short-term discrepancy in adoption rates that presents an obstacle to realizing the full potential of Wi-Fi 7. The Wi-Fi 7 panel underscored the role of enterprises in driving Wi-Fi 7 adoption, hinting at a future where this technology becomes ubiquitous in both professional and personal settings.

The Cutting Edge is Always Moving

Wi-Fi 7 is poised to drive tangible changes in network speeds, reduced interference and new ways to reduce network latency. Boosting speed and increasing resiliency is critical as the world works to connect more people, places and things. Wi-Fi 7 is more flexible than its predecessor and supports more connections and high-bandwidth applications such as improved cloud gaming and AR/VR applications that require high throughput and low latency.

To learn more about Wi-Fi 7 and how its advanced features and capabilities are set to enhance the way we connect, work and interact, check LitePoint’s 3 for 3 blog here.

One of technology’s greatest success stories celebrates a quarter century

Austin, TX – February 15, 2024 – This year marks a significant milestone in the history of technological innovation as we commemorate the 25th anniversary of Wi-Fi®, one of technology’s greatest success stories which has revolutionized the interactions essential to both humans and machines.

In 1999, Wi-Fi Alliance®– formerly known as Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance (WECA) – embarked upon an ambitious journey to promote global adoption of standardized Wi-Fi technology. One of the key first steps was the certification of products that adhered to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard to ensure multi-vendor interoperability and give users the confidence essential to accelerating Wi-Fi adoption. Wi-Fi CERTIFIED® has since enabled worldwide interoperability and a robust Wi-Fi device ecosystem that is integral in our daily lives.

Wi-Fi has transformed the way we work, live, and play. It has empowered countless innovations across industries and applications – from devices and services to entire market segments like Internet of Things (IoT), smart homes, and Extended Reality (XR). There are more than 21 billion Wi-Fi devices in use today[1], and Wi-Fi is ubiquitous in smartphones and tablets, provides critical connectivity for homes, enterprises, and service providers, and pushes the boundaries of wireless connectivity. Wi-Fi has done more than ever imagined including serving as an engine of economic growth and societal progress.

“Wi-Fi has had a profound impact on our world,” said Kevin Robinson, president and CEO, Wi-Fi Alliance. “Wi-Fi has transcended its initial role as a local networking tool to become a catalyst for equal opportunity innovation and human progress, connecting people, devices, networks, and ideas like never before. We invite the Wi-Fi industry to join us in celebrating this remarkable milestone this year.”

Over the past quarter-century, Wi-Fi has evolved and expanded, with advancements in performance, range, reliability, and security. Today, Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 7 enables advanced use cases that were previously impractical with wireless technology, and Wi-Fi Alliance is as committed as ever to delivering solutions and features that enrich global Wi-Fi user experiences.

Wi-Fi Alliance will celebrate Wi-Fi’s 25th anniversary throughout 2024, reflecting on its humble beginnings to its status as a cornerstone of modern connectivity, moving the majority of global data traffic. Join us in celebrating 25 years of Wi-Fi at our member meetings and on social media by downloading our digital assets#WeAreWiFi

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.

AAA & Access Management – VoWiFi

In previous articles we have talked about the critical nature of AAA / Access Manager and why the functions remain at the core of telecom services. Enabling Voice over Wi-Fi for a telecom operator is a case in point; this is also called Wi-Fi Calling, but for the rest of this article the label VoWiFi is used. At a simple level it enables telephony services over available Wi-Fi access points. In effect, Wi-Fi Calling links telephony from a telecom operator to an internet environment, so you can make, answer, and maintain calls seamlessly when moving in and out of Wi-Fi and mobile networks.

VoWifi provides for low-cost coverage expansion of voice communications for Telcos to create and maintain reliable voice connectivity using pre-existing Wi-Fi access/IP connectivity. It is complementary to voice over LTE (VoLTE) but different, in that it uses Wi-Fi access points not LTE. The business case for this is driven by:

  • Necessity – disabling older circuit switched technology
  • maintaining quality of experience for voice calls
  • creating new service offers such as sponsored roaming.

In a world of apps, it may seem old fashioned, but making a phone call (and expecting it connect reliably and with quality) is still what customers do. A USwitch[1] survey in the UK rated phone calls as the third most popular activity (73%) (just behind messaging (78%) & email (74%)). Long call or short call it doesn’t matter – if the call quality is bad, users blame the network and there is plenty of choice if they want to switch networks. Voice quality and coverage is also a key factor on network assessment with leaders in testing like Umlaut[2] in their ‘Walk tests’ in big cities, or RootMetrics Call Performance tests.[3] Further, it can also be a misconception that coverage issues will be fixed by 5G – as 5G is a mix of radio technologies and pure 5G frequencies can be more affected in dense urban areas.

The voice use case matters for a third reason – a strategy to provide more capacity cost effectively is needed to meet the increasing data demands of the network. An integrated Wi-Fi solution is a building block of that strategy, in urban scenarios; data follows voice and integrating access for mobile and IP networks provides seamless, cost effective, capacity expansion.

The core case for VoWiFi is maintaining the quality of connection. In areas where circuit switched is being disconnected it is essential to link IPv4/IPv6 IMS to HSS authentication and this the role played by the AAA / Access Manager. Working in collaboration with a Telcos’ entitlement services, on device application and packet gateways the access management authenticates the IP telecom access for a voice call using the SWa | SWm diameter protocol to the request received from the evolved packet gateway (ePDG). The response from access manager contains the right authorization and additional attributes so that access is authorized. The additional attributes can be used to create different offers based on geo location and sponsored data/voice roaming for example – enabling new monetization options.

What Enea is doing is solving this use case and more across AAA / Access Manager deployments directly and with our partners. Enea provides AAA / Access Manager as virtualized software (VNF | CNF) increasing the cost benefit of capacity expansion for VoWiFi. The Access Manager has been deployed in more than 40 Operator networks including several large Tier 1 Telecom Operators. It has demonstrable interoperability across a wide range of interfaces and solution use cases.

For more information

https://www.enea.com/solutions/data-management-applications/access-management-aaa/

References:

[1] USwitch Survey 2023 – https://www.uswitch.com/mobiles/studies/mobile-statistics/

[2] Vodafone Umlaut tests https://www.vodafone.co.uk/cs/groups/configfiles/documents/document/umlaut-connect-benchmark-2022.pdf

[3] RootMetrics – UK test: https://rootmetrics.com/en-GB/rootscore/map/nation/england/2023/2H

Wi-Fi CERTIFIED offers a competitive advantage and contributes to improved customer experience

Austin, Texas – February 6, 2024 – Wi-Fi Alliance® members shared company testimonials underscoring the value that Wi-Fi CERTIFIED® delivers to their companies. The top reasons for achieving Wi-Fi CERTIFIED product certification from Wi-Fi Alliance include: emphasis on a standardized method of ensuring the reliability, performance, and security of their Wi-Fi® products, delivering a competitive advantage during RFP processes, and leveraging Wi-Fi CERTIFIED as an effective marketing tool. In markets including Internet of Things (IoT) and enterprise where there is intense competition, Wi-Fi CERTIFIED differentiates products by offering a better customer experience.

These testimonials are a sampling of the value seen from Wi-Fi CERTIFIED by Wi-Fi Alliance’s more than 900 member companies.

“For Wi-Fi CERTIFIED products, I think of the top three things. The first is interoperability. Wi-Fi certification helps our devices from different manufacturers work well together. The second is the competitive advantage. Standing out in the crowd and having those logos on our products is so valuable. I actually win RFPs and RFIs over it and have a competitive advantage over my competitors. The third is security. Devices are required to adhere to certain standards and the latest encryption protocols are tested during our Wi-Fi certification, so security is very important to us.” – Rosalie Bibona, Product Management Director of Wireless, Extreme Networks

“We strongly believe in interoperability and given the fact that Wi-Fi is a long-established collection of technologies that has grown and evolved over the years, it is important for us to achieve interoperability with whatever is out there in the real world. That is where certification really plays an important role for our products.” – Danny Lousberg, Head of Product Management, Software, Signify

“Wi-Fi CERTIFIED plays a crucial role in the IoT industry. It ensures that IoT devices meet strict standards, enhancing their reliability, performance, and security. With high interoperability, Wi-Fi CERTIFIED devices can seamlessly communicate with each other. It sets a very good standard and a benchmark for the expectation of the experience that the consumer can get.” – Alex Yang, Co-Founder and COO, Tuya Smart

Watch our videos to learn more or visit: https://www.wi-fi.org/certification/member-testimonials

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.

Follow Wi-Fi Alliance:
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Media Contact:
Highwire PR for Wi-Fi Alliance
wi-fi@highwirepr.com

The surge in connected devices is unprecedented. According to the Cisco Annual Internet Report (2018-2023), by the end of 2023, two-thirds of the world’s population was served by an internet connection, and nearly half of all internet-enabled devices were communicating using some form of mobile network. But that doesn’t discount the fact that other connectivity technologies, such as Wi-Fi, are equally viable. Cisco estimated that Wi-Fi 6 would grow 13-fold from 2020 to 2023, when it was expected to comprise more than 10 percent of all public Wi-Fi hotspots. A separate report from Ericsson projected that global 5G population coverage reached around 35 percent at the end of 2022 and is slated to increase to about 85 percent as of 2028.

Which connectivity technology will win the battle—and is it a battle at all?

Some industry-watchers believe that this impressive growth has set 5G and Wi-Fi on a collision course. LitePoint holds a different view and believes that the two will operate symbiotically. Of course, historically, cellular and Wi-Fi have served different use cases. Users have typically preferred cellular for on-the-go, long-range communications with guaranteed latency and quality requirements. They’ve perceived Wi-Fi, on the other hand, as a short-range LAN technology offering better data rates. The common thinking pegged Wi-Fi as the better choice for households or sizeable premises as it offers the option to tailor the network for a certain user density and application.

Recently, however, 5G and Wi-Fi 6E/7 have emerged as feature-rich technologies with a healthy interdependency. With rising popularity in the residential broadband market, let’s explore how 5G and Wi-Fi 6E/7 are coming together as well as the prerequisites for successful adoption.

The Impact of 5G and Wi-Fi 6E/7 on Fixed Wireless Access

One prominent use case to emerge from the 5G/Wi-Fi shared environment is the growth of fixed-wireless access (FWA), which offers strong potential to benefit both private and enterprise networks.

For years, private networks relied on fixed broadband for internet connectivity, but this has come at a cost because these networks require heavy capital investment, time and effort. Conversely, FWA leverages traditional broadband with wireless connectivity far more efficiently and affordably because it uses customer premises equipment (CPE).

With FWA, the CPE acts as the router, but instead of connecting to the internet via wired broadband, it uses 5G to connect wirelessly to the internet. Then, the devices within the private network connect to the CPE via standard Wi-Fi. In this capacity, the concept of FWA is only made possible through the newfound synergy between 5G and Wi-Fi.

Benefits of FWA

From an operator’s perspective, there are a few pivotal advantages:

  • Reusability of 5G spectrum and infrastructure: Allows operators to fully exploit existing 5G spectrum and mobile broadband assets to deploy FWA services. Operators can bring down the 5G cost-per-bit delivered to their customers and attain higher returns on infrastructure investment.
  • Scalability: Gives carriers the ability to offer higher data rates and extend connectivity from single to multiple users without requiring infrastructure-level modification. Consumers also benefit: They simply need to access comprehensive, function-packed CPE equipment.

Although these advantages deliver new revenue opportunities for operators, they are contingent upon consumer adoption of the service, the cost of CPE devices and overall time-to-market.

From a consumer’s point of view, the two biggest factors driving FWA adoption are:

  • Performance: In the case of private and enterprise networks, Quality of Service (QOS) plays a crucial role in driving the transition from fixed broadband to fixed wireless. In fact, many operators are now offering “speed tiers” in addition to volume-tariff plans to enable higher monetization and extend services to small/medium enterprises. Here’s where comprehensive testing becomes critical. Testing verifies antenna performance and ensures power calibration and coexistence assessments that have a direct impact on end-to-end throughput and end-user QoS.
  • Cost: The lower upfront cost of CPE installation and monthly service fees will expedite pervasive adoption of FWA. The widespread commercial success of FWA, however, largely rests in the hands of the operators and OEMs given that the cost of development and manufacturing eventually gets passed down to the consumer.

Bringing Down Cost Through Robust Testing

In the case of FWA, operators typically sell white-label CPE products, which are designed and manufactured by a third party. Given their limited control over these products, operators can help to keep both cost and product quality in check through robust test and measurement. Investing in a high-performance RF test solution not only safeguards device quality and brand reputation, but also brings down after-sales expenses, including returns, replacements and service-center costs that result from shipping poor-quality products. These RF test solutions include:

  • Multi-device testing: Parallel test capability in manufacturing is a multi-pronged approach that can improve throughput and minimize test costs while increasing production test efficiency.
  • Turnkey automation test tool: Often, chipset-specific test tools come with the added expense of licensing fees and labor-intensive correlation and debugging. In contrast, an automated test tool that’s pre-validated on chipset-specific libraries can significantly reduce the time and effort of in-house test tool development.

Conclusion

As 5G and Wi-Fi 6E/7 evolve a complementary relationship, new technologies like FWA for private networks are now commercially viable. Ultimately, however, 5G FWA is only as good as the performance of the underlying CPE. Thus, it’s critical to thoroughly test the CPE for considerations such as antenna performance, power calibration, coexistence testing and end-to-end throughput before deployment.

LitePoint is accelerating the future of 5G FWA for enterprises by addressing these needs head-on through our advanced testing equipment for modern CPEs. Learn more about LitePoint solutions for 5G FWA and Wi-Fi 6E/7 through our webinarsvideos, and website. Or email us today with your questions.