- Kyle Chua
Intel, Broadcom Shows Off Wi-Fi 7 Speeds
Semiconductor giants Intel and Broadcom have teamed up to usher in a new wireless standard, demonstrating the industry’s first cross-vendor Wi-Fi 7 solution.
The trial setup, which used an Intel Core-based laptop that supported Wi-Fi 7 connected to a Broadcom Wi-Fi 7 access point, managed to record peak speeds greater than 5Gbps. In comparison, Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E connections using the same setup only recorded speeds of 1Gbps and 2Gbps, respectively.
“We are proud to highlight how next-generation Wi-Fi 7 can make new mobile PC experiences possible," said Carlos Cordeiro, Intel Fellow and Wireless CTO at Intel's Client Computing Group. "Industry collaboration is essential to ensure we deliver on the promises of this new wireless technology.
Intel and Broadcom said Wi-Fi 7 can deliver five times the capacity of Wi-Fi 6. It also improves "worst case" latency by up to a hundred times compared to its predecessor based on a "congested apartment scenario".
The two companies added that the wireless standard leverages new features, such as 320 MHz channels in unlicensed 6GHz spectrum, higher order 4K QAM data modulation, simultaneous connections across multiple bands with multi-link operation and improved channel utilisation efficiency with multi-resource unit puncturing. This enables it to power next-generation experiences including ultra-high-definition 16K media streaming and super responsive gaming, among others. Additionally, it can do this while supporting a large number of connected devices in the home or office, allowing broadband subscribers to get more out of what they're paying for.
“Wi-Fi 7 is the most powerful and capable Wi-Fi protocol yet and will allow Wi-Fi to continue to serve the most demanding applications in the consumer and vertical markets with the highest level of determinism yet,” said Phil Solis, Research Director for Connectivity at market intelligence specialist IDC.
“Interoperability testing between Intel and Broadcom will enable the development of products that can be used in the test beds for official Wi-Fi Alliance certification testing."
Intel and Broadcom look to provide the entire network that would help maximise Wi-Fi 7’s capabilities and deliver end-to-end experiences to the market. The first devices that'll support the wireless standard are expected to come out by the second half of next year.
Intel and Broadcom have teamed up to demonstrate the capabilities of Wi-Fi 7, the next-generation wireless standard.
The trial setup, which used an Intel Core-based laptop that supported Wi-Fi 7 connected to a Broadcom Wi-Fi 7 access point, managed to record peak speeds greater than 5Gbps.
In comparison, Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E connections using the same setup only recorded speeds of 1Gbps and 2Gbps, respectively.
The first Wi-Fi 7-ready devices are expected to come out by the second half of next year.