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4 Designing for Next Gen Wi-Fi Applications For the consumer, there are always two important points with Wi-Fi. The first is performance. The second is range. Is Wi-Fi Running Out of Steam? Despite that nobody could keep track of the array of acronyms underlying Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11b, .11a/g, .11n, .11ac), the good news was that each new version was a clear step forward in raw data rate. In four generations, that rate went from 11Mb/s to 6.9Gb/s—an increase of more than 650 times. After all, raw data rate is the "name of the game." This comes as no surprise because Wi-Fi is about pure high- speed data communication. Now there is the imminent arrival of the new standard, IEEE 802.11ax, with a maximum raw data rate of 9.6Gb/s. This standard has been given a "jazzier" name: Wi-Fi 6. But given its slow appearance and marginal raw data rate improvement, one might wonder if this is an indication that Wi-Fi is running out of steam. Don't be fooled! Underneath the acronym, there is a real shift going on from raw data rate toward multichannel capacity and improved spectral reuse. This means that the real-life throughput experience of Wi-Fi 6 might be an increase of as much as four times compared to its predecessor Wi-Fi 5 (.11ac). On top of this, Wi-Fi 6 does away with the different network IDs for 2.4GHz, 5GHz and additionally installed extenders, a real improvement in usability. Cees Links GM of Qorvo Wireless Connectivity Business Unit, Formerly Founder & CEO of GreenPeak Technologies Let's explore because this all has significant consequences for consumers, as well as for product builders. Interference For the consumer, there are always two important points with Wi-Fi. The first is performance (data rate). The second is range (e.g., "how can I get the highest speed in every corner in my house, backyard, basement, etc.?"). In urban areas these days, consumers have grown accustomed to what is now a common scenario–turning on a laptop, for example, and having to weed through the many routers or access points that are visible when trying to find a Wi-Fi network. Many of the routers use the limited number of overlapping channels, which means users are sharing those channels. Or to put it another way, there is interference on those channels. Wi-Fi 6 What's It All About? What's It All About? W