Promise of MIMO Becomes Wi-Fi Reality

April 21, 2014

By Ernest Worthman, Chipsets capable of 10 gigabits per second are set to become a reality. Both Qualcomm and Quantenna have indicated that the first iteration of 10-gigabit, eight-way MIMO chipsets are well on the way to an access point near you. Multi-user MIMO is going to bring about game changing speed increases.

Worthman

The new 8×8 architecture with adaptive beamforming brings forth the promise of significantly higher throughput, robustness and reduced interference, which all help for dealing with high-volume Wi-Fi networks. This architecture will also significantly enhance the capabilities of MU-MIMO, allowing it to support interference-free transmission to many more devices simultaneously. Wi-Fi networks with 10-G have the potential to take the landscape of applications and devices that Wi-Fi can support and bump it up an order of magnitude. This becomes a must have in the era of exponentially-growing video usage and the Internet of Things.

Qualcomm Accelerates

Qualcomm Atheros has advanced MU-MIMO with computer algorithms that manage the complexities of simultaneous connections, which optimizes the experience for all devices on a VIVE 11ac network. With a more precise view of the environment, Qualcomm Atheros’ algorithm-based technology is designed to dynamically adapt to changes in channel conditions, device movement and application requirements to maximize throughput and device performance. This not only makes the best use of the available bandwidth, but also maintains better connections in complex multi-user networks.

In order to extract the maximum benefits of MU-MIMO, Dan Rabinovitsj, senior vice president, Qualcomm Atheros, said it must be used on both sides of the connection. To accelerate the benefits of MU-MIMO for more Wi-Fi users, Qualcomm Atheros is providing a complete ecosystem of solutions for networking products, as well as smartphones, tablets, computers, consumer electronics and automobiles.

Quantenna Goes Massive

Quantenna Communications announced that it is developing an 8×8 MIMO 10G Wi-Fi chipset for a new generation of access points in the home, the enterprise and public spaces last week. The company has also developed 4×4 chipsets for the 802.11n and 802.11ac Wi-Fi standards.

“Quantenna’s 8×8 architecture with adaptive beamforming demonstrates that the ‘massive MIMO’ promise of significantly higher throughput, robustness and reduced interference can be realized in practice,” said Andrea Goldsmith, Stephen Harris professor of Electrical Engineering at Stanford University.

A number of companies have indicated they will incorporate Quantenna’s technology. ASUS is using the 802.11ac chipset to build what it calls the world’s fastest consumer router. Texas Instruments is incorporating Quantenna’s technology into its reference platform for enterprise and pico small cell LTE base stations. STMicro is building Quantenna Wi-Fi into a wide range of System-on-Chip (SOC) offerings. Additionally, Mimosa is using it to deliver innovative outdoor wireless solutions.

The future calls for the creation of products that are capable of enormous scale MU-MIMO, with increasing numbers of subscribers and growing capacity of our customers’ networks, according to Brian Hinman, CEO, Mimosa.