Connectivity Technology Blog

When I posted about Wi-Fi 8 last year, I didn't realise that Wi-Fi was a popular topic on this blog and not only did it make it to the Top 5 posts , the previous post on Wi-Fi 7 made it too, even though it was posted back in the end of 2020. The paper posted last year has undergone revision and a new version of 'What Will Wi-Fi 8 Be? A Primer on IEEE 802.11bn Ultra High Reliability' is available here . Quoting the abstract:  What will Wi-Fi 8 be? Driven by the strict requirements of emerging applications, next-generation Wi-Fi is set to prioritize Ultra High Reliability (UHR) above all. In this paper, we explore the journey towards IEEE 802.11bn UHR, the amendment that will form the basis of Wi-Fi 8. We first present new use cases calling for further Wi-Fi evolution and associated standardization, certification, and spectrum allocation efforts. We then introduce a selection of the main disruptive features envisioned for Wi-Fi 8 and their associated research challenges, re...

Back in 2020 we looked at the introductory post of Wi-Fi 7 which was followed up by a more detailed post in Feb 2022. We are now following on with an introductory post on the next generation Wi-Fi.  A new paper on arXiv explores the journey towards IEEE 802.11bn Ultra High Reliability (UHR), the amendment that will form the basis of Wi-Fi 8. Quoting selected items from the paper  below: After providing an overview of the nearly completed Wi-Fi 7 standard, we present new use cases calling for further Wi-Fi evolution. We also outline current standardization, certification, and spectrum allocation activities, sharing updates from the newly formed UHR Study Group. We then introduce the disruptive new features envisioned for Wi-Fi 8 and discuss the associated research challenges. Among those, we focus on access point coordination and demonstrate that it could build upon 802.11be multi-link operation to make Ultra High Reliability a reality in Wi-Fi 8. The IEEE 802.11bn UHR: Whose ...

ETSI's Fixed 5th Generation Network group (F5G ISG) has just released its first specification, ETSI GS F5G 003 , entitled F5G Technology Landscape. In this specification, the ISG studies the technical requirements, existing standards and gaps for 10 different new use cases, for home, enterprises or industrial needs. The press release says:  ETSI GS F5G 003 use cases include PON (passive optical network) on-premises and passive optical LAN. In this case, a PON system could connect end devices (like HDTV, HD surveillance cameras and VR/AR helmets) and provide higher data rate, better coordination and controlled latency than current Ethernet and Wi-Fi mesh. The high quality private line use case focuses on optical transport networks (OTN) for governments, large companies, financial and medical institutions who need guaranteed bandwidth, low latency, five-nines availability, totally secured network, access to Cloud services and intelligent operation and maintenance of their connectivi...

Fibre-to-the-room (FTTR) is a new kind of in-premises networking technology which is based on optical fibre communication. With the benefit of optical fibre, FTTR will provide high-bandwidth and reliable transmission. It is envisaged that the topology and functionalities of FTTR technologies may be different from the current fibre-based technologies in transport and access network, and consequently it is necessary to understand the use cases of FTTR and derive the corresponding network requirements for subsequently developing specifications. Earlier this year, I blogged about the ETSI ISG F5G that aims to study the fixed-network evolution required to match and further enhance the benefits that 5G has brought to mobile networks and communications. The intention of F5G is that it will define improvements with respect to previous solutions and the new characteristics of the fifth-generation fixed network. This will open up new opportunities by comprehensively applying fiber technology to...

We wrote about  Futuristic Glass Antenna by NTT Docomo and AGC back in 2019. It's good to see the partnership continue with this new announcement about use of metasurface lens to enhance radio signal reception indoors.  Metamaterials is one of the focus areas of 6G as highlighted here . Samsung's 6G Vision whitepaper explains it as follows: A metamaterial is usually constructed by arranging multiple tunable elements (PIN diodes, varactor diodes, etc.) in repeating patterns, at scales that are smaller than the wavelengths. Its precise shape, geometry, size, orientation, and arrangement enable smart properties capable of manipulating electromagnetic waves, e.g., blocking, absorbing, enhancing, or bending waves, to achieve benefits that go beyond what is possible with conventional materials. In addition, each element constituting a metamaterial can be controlled independently to achieve desirable characteristics of the electromagnetic waves such as the direction of propagati...

It's been a while since we looked at the 5G vs Wi-Fi debate. In the meantime, 5G rollouts have gained momentum while Wi-Fi 6 (a.k.a. 802.11ax) has started appearing in the devices as well. Hence the debate of whether 5G or Wi-Fi makes more sense indoors keeps going on.  It should be pointed out that the discussion is more about Enterprise and Private networks, rather than Wi-Fi vs Cellular at home. Ericsson has been looking at this debate and their whitepaper argues that both Wi-Fi and Cellular have a role to play indoors.  As one would expect, one of the conclusions is that 5G will play a larger role in future connectivity scenarios as 5G NR supports more use cases than Wi-Fi 6, is more reliable, and provides both wide and local-area coverage with mobility. Many service providers will benefit from the added value of 5G NR and the fact that ultimately, they get more for their money. 5G is also the best fit for addressing emerging new IoT use cases. The paper also contains a...