Qualcomm SoCs for Wi-Fi 6E in 6GHz band and Bluetooth 5.2 with superior performance
Qualcomm has launched a new portfolio of flagship mobile system on a chip (SoC) featuring support for Wi-Fi 6E (aka IEEE 802.11ax), which will soon be operational in the 6 GHz band. The first products to be launched are two SoCs, the Qualcomm FastConnect 6900 and the Qualcomm FastConnect 67000.
The FastConnect 6900 will provide speeds of up to 3.6 Gbps, implementation of 4-stream Dual Band Simultaneous (DBS) with multiband (including 6 GHz) capabilities. The FastConnect 6700 chip will meanwhile deliver speeds approaching 3 Gbps. The Verge noted that one of the chips will be for smartphones and the other for routers.
Both chips will both support Wi-Fi 6, low latency, and Bluetooth audio features for classic and new use cases. They will sport Qualcomm 4K QAM for enhanced gaming and ultra HD streaming and 160 MH channels support in both 5 and 6 GHz bands, expanding throughput while reducing congestion. They will also help save power, by generating less channel congestion. The chips are now sampling and will ship in production during the second half of 2020.
“Wi-Fi 6E delivers an unprecedented improvement in capacity to meet the rapid growth of connected devices and data demand. The introduction of supporting chipsets so soon after the FCC ruling ensures customers will see the benefits quickly and is an indicator of both Qualcomm Technologies’ investment and broad industry collaboration,” said Geoff Blaber, vice president, research, Americas, CCS Insights.
“Wi-Fi Alliance® members have mobilized around 6 GHz in an unprecedented way, and we’re excited to see Wi-Fi 6E solutions rapidly coming to market with the availability of new unlicensed spectrum in the U.S.,” said Kevin Robinson, Senior VP of Marketing, Wi-Fi Alliance. “Solutions like these from Qualcomm will help users fully experience Wi-Fi® in 6 GHz and quickly benefit from faster speeds, higher capacity, and lower latency applications.”
Next-Generation Wi-Fi 6E for Mobile and Computing
New portfolio extends advanced Wi-Fi 6 feature implementations into the 6 GHz band. Key features include:
Unmatched Wi-Fi Speed:
- FastConnect 6900 offers the fastest available Wi-Fi 6 speed, up to 3.6 Gbps, of any mobile Wi-Fi offering in the industry.
- FastConnect 6700 delivers impressive peak speeds approaching 3 Gbps.
Driving this performance for both FastConnect systems are differentiated features such as:
- Qualcomm® 4K QAM (2.4, 5, 6 GHz) – an industry first implementation of this advanced modulation technique can extend the maximum QAM rate, across any supported band, from 1K to 4K for enhanced gaming and ultra HD streaming.
- 160 MHz channels support in both 5 and 6GHz bands, dramatically expanding throughput while reducing congestion.
FastConnect 6900 delivers an extra boost of performance through additional unique feature implementation of 4-stream Dual Band Simultaneous (DBS) with multi-band (including 6 GHz) capabilities.
Essential Improvement of Capacity and Network Efficiency: Delivering reliable performance, even in the most congested home, enterprise and public networks.
- 6 GHz dramatically expands Wi-Fi capacity by adding up to 1200 MHz of additional spectrum, more than doubling the number of pathways currently available for sending and receiving data.
- Dual band 160 MHz supports up to seven additional non-overlapping channels in the 6 GHz band, in addition to 160 MHz channels available in the 5 GHz band.
- Deploys high-performance Uplink / Downlink MU-MIMO and OFDMA mobile technologies across all available bands.
- New Wi-Fi 6 Uplink MU-MIMO capability can increase network capacity by more than 2.5x.
Ultra-Low Latency: A new class of low latency and high speed for emerging mobile applications, providing the foundation for explosive growth in mobile gaming and XR application.
- Feature implementation delivers latency reduction up to 8x in congested environments for dramatically improved mobile gaming experiences.
- Wireless VR-class latency (<3ms) for Head Mounted Displays (HMD) provides a strong foundation for this rapidly growing industry segment.
Advanced Technology and Power Efficiency: Power savings due to less channel congestion and improved scheduling.
- 14nm process node combined with advanced power-management architecture provides up to 50 percent improvement in power efficiency, compared to previous generation solutions.
Bluetooth 5.2 with Advanced Audio
FastConnect 6900 and 6700 integrate Bluetooth 5.2 with the latest audio advancements for greatly improved wireless experiences. Key features include:
Bluetooth 5.2 Above and Beyond
- Leading Bluetooth 5.2 implementation includes a second Bluetooth antenna with intelligent switching capabilities, overcoming common signal shadowing issues for unparalleled Bluetooth reliability and range.
- Engineered to be ready to address emerging LE Audio experiences such as multi-point audio sharing and broadcast audio, enabling multiple audio connections simultaneously.
Superior Bluetooth Audio
- Qualcomm® aptX™ Adaptive supporting wire-equivalent audio (up to 96kHz) and Qualcomm® aptX™ Voice providing super-wideband quality calls.
End-to-End Enhanced Experiences
- When paired with the premium features of Qualcomm® QCC5141, QCC5144, QCC3046 and QCC3040 Audio SoCs, users can expect robust, premium audio quality with low power consumption.
- Innovative transmit power and coexistence algorithms deliver materially improved range and link robustness.
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“Leveraging decades of focused research and development, our second-generation Wi-Fi 6 platforms set a new performance benchmark for home and enterprise networking applications,” said Nick Kucharewski, vice president and general manager, wireless infrastructure and networking, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. “With Tri-Band Wi-Fi 6 and scaling to 16 streams, Qualcomm Networking Pro Series Platforms pair wireless expertise with robust architecture designed to deliver Gigabit speeds, massive capacity, and stable-as-wire reliability our customers depend on.”
“The new 6 GHz band and Wi-Fi 6E standard ushers in a new age in wireless connectivity – a dramatic advance in performance and a new paradigm in wireless networking. Industry-leading Wi-Fi 6E technology – including Qualcomm’s new Wi-Fi 6E platforms – will transform every use case segment, from home to the enterprise, industrial applications, and even fixed wireless access, with new unbelievable applications sure to follow. The Wi-Fi 6E future looks very bright indeed,” said Claus Hetting, CEO & Chairman, Wi-Fi Now.
“Wi-Fi Alliance® members have mobilized around 6 GHz in an unprecedented way, and we’re excited to see Wi-Fi 6E solutions rapidly coming to market with the availability of new unlicensed spectrum in the U.S.,” said Kevin Robinson, Senior VP of Marketing, Wi-Fi Alliance. “Solutions like these from Qualcomm will help users fully experience Wi-Fi® in 6 GHz and quickly benefit from faster speeds, higher capacity, and lower latency applications.”
Qualcomm Tri-Band Wi-Fi 6 expands the capabilities of the Qualcomm Networking Pro Series portfolio, whose hallmark is the delivery of consistent high performance in the most densely congested environments:
- Qualcomm® Max User Architecture: Industry-first architecture to manage and maintain connectivity for up to 2,000 clients simultaneously, with network stability and sustained throughput.
- Qualcomm® Multi-User Traffic Management: Provides advanced scheduling algorithms and buffering with universal uplink data support. Advanced multi-user implementations specialized for high user counts include up to 37-user OFDMA support per channel and 8-user MU-MIMO support per channel.
- Qualcomm® 4K QAM technology: Designed to deliver 20% higher throughput compared to standard Wi-Fi 6E, helping achieve device-to-device transfers of up to 2.4 Gbps per link to compatible mobile and compute devices.
- Qualcomm® Tri-Band Wi-Fi 6 for Mesh Networks: Qualcomm® Wi-Fi SON has been enhanced to interconnect the Mesh Nodes using the 6 GHz band.
- Qualcomm® Wi-Fi Security Suite: Comprehensive WPA3 implementation coupled with state-of-the-art embedded crypto accelerators designed to provide secure transactions across a full range of Wi-Fi data touchpoints.
“Aruba’s enterprise customers demand high-performance, reliable and secure Wi-Fi connectivity solutions that can be scaled to deliver extreme density and capacity. Through our collaboration with Qualcomm Technologies, we’ve utilized their advanced Wi-Fi technology to continuously evolve the seamless, connected experiences that our customers demand,” said Onno Harms, senior director of Product Management for WLAN Platforms at Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company. “The newly opened 6 GHz spectrum and the advent of Wi-Fi 6E are important industry milestones that promise to usher in a new wave of Wi-Fi innovation that will bring exceptional wireless experiences to life.”
“We see this announcement from Qualcomm Technologies as a positive step forward in what’s possible for networking across the industry,” said David Henry, senior vice president of Connected Home Products and Services for NETGEAR. “We look forward to continuing our collaboration with Qualcomm Technologies as we incorporate the Networking Pro Series to deliver robust and seamless experiences that enable us to expand the ecosystem.”
“Our recent announcement highlighting CommScope’s RUCKUS Wi-Fi 6 Certified access points is a great example of pushing the boundaries of what’s possible for wireless communications. Integrating the Qualcomm Technologies Networking Pro Series platform into the RUCKUS portfolio enables customers to benefit from the latest improvements in security, speed and Wi-Fi connectivity, creating a more powerful and robust product that will strengthen the rich suite of solutions available in the industry,” said Pramod Badjate, senior vice president for CommScope’s RUCKUS portfolio.
Qualcomm Networking Pro Series platforms are shipping now with commercial availability expected this year.
For more information about our Wi-Fi 6E products, visit qualcomm.com/wi-fi-6e
*All peak speeds refer to maximum physical layer (PHY) rate.
About Qualcomm
Qualcomm is the world’s leading wireless technology innovator and the driving force behind the development, launch, and expansion of 5G. When we connected the phone to the internet, the mobile revolution was born. Today, our foundational technologies enable the mobile ecosystem and are found in every 3G, 4G and 5G smartphone. We bring the benefits of mobile to new industries, including automotive, the internet of things, and computing, and are leading the way to a world where everything and everyone can communicate and interact seamlessly.
Qualcomm Incorporated includes our licensing business, QTL, and the vast majority of our patent portfolio. Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, operates, along with its subsidiaries, substantially all of our engineering, research and development functions, and substantially all of our products and services businesses, including our QCT semiconductor business.
https://www.qualcomm.com/wi-fi-6e