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Communications Network The Internet Wireless Networking

Qualcomm's New Wi-Fi Chips Are Meant To Rival 5G Speeds (theverge.com) 34

Posted by BeauHD from the new-and-improved dept.
"Qualcomm is launching a family of chips that can add incredibly high-speed Wi-Fi -- at speeds up to 10 gigabits per second -- to phones, laptops, routers, and so on," reports The Verge. The Wi-Fi standard used for something like replacing a virtual reality headset's data cable with a high-speed wireless link is being updated. Qualcomm's latest chips improve a wireless technology called WiGig, which relies on a connection standard known as 802.11ad, which can hit speeds up to 5 gigabits per second over close to 10 meters. The new generation of that wireless standard, called 802.11ay, can reach speeds twice as fast, and can do so up to 100 meters away, according to Dino Bekis, the head of Qualcomm's mobile and compute connectivity group. The Wi-Fi Alliance says the new standard "increases the peak data rates of WiGig and improves spectrum efficiency and reduces latency." From the report: So why not just use this as normal Wi-Fi, given how fast it gets? Because that range is only line-of-sight -- when there's literally nothing in the way between the transmitter and the receiver. This high-speed Wi-Fi is based on millimeter wave radio waves in the 60GHz range. That means it's really fast, but also that it has a very difficult time penetrating obstacles, like a wall. That's a problem if you want a general purpose wireless technology. That's why 802.11ay, like 802.11ad before it, is being used as an optional add-on to existing Wi-Fi technology. If you're one of the people who has a need for these extreme wireless speeds, then maybe you'll find a use for it. Just keep in mind, you'll probably need to keep your router and the device receiving these high speeds in the same room in order for it to work, due to the whole "walls" issue. WiGig will also be competing with 5G, as it offers "similarly fast speeds over similarly limited distances," reports The Verge. "[T]he two standards may be competing as an option for delivering internet from a tower to a home -- that's what Facebook's Terragraph is doing with WiGig, and it's what Verizon is doing with 5G."
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Qualcomm's New Wi-Fi Chips Are Meant To Rival 5G Speeds More

Qualcomm's New Wi-Fi Chips Are Meant To Rival 5G Speeds

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  • That means it's really fast, but also that it has a very difficult time penetrating obstacles, like a wall.

    Or a giant sack of water, otherwise known as a human.

    • The 60 GHz band was opened up because it's easily absorbed by O2 oxygen molecules [fcc.gov]. That means it has high attenuation in the air, and thus low range, making it rather useless for traditional long-range radio transmission. But it's perfect for an open radio frequency, where the attenuation means your neighbor's 60 GHz transmissions are less likely to interfere with yours.

      2.4 GHz was opened for the same reason (absorbed by water - how microwave ovens at 2.45 GHz work). I haven't been able to track down

  • Wow (Score:3)

    by Snotnose ( 212196 ) on Tuesday October 16, 2018 @05:07PM (#57488778)
    Now I can blow through my data cap in 5 seconds.

    Not to mention the average web page's download size will probably go up 10x because they can. Maybe it's me, but a 6 meg download to view a 32k cat picture seems, um, not right.

  • Think of the support calls (Score:5, Funny)

    by AHuxley ( 892839 ) on Tuesday October 16, 2018 @05:24PM (#57488872) Journal
    Elevate the devices so they always in line-of-sight.
    Move the furniture to ensure line-of-sight.
    Buy a second device to ensure more line-of-sight options.
    And remember, if you’re not sure about line of sight, run string between the devices. If the string is in a line, it’s your connection to line of sight internet.”

  • Virtual Reality (Score:3)

    by Areyoukiddingme ( 1289470 ) on Tuesday October 16, 2018 @06:30PM (#57489156)

    802.11ay is supposed to enjoy sub-millisecond latency, definitely a prerequisite for VR.

    The two highest resolution VR headsets are currently 2160x1200 (both eyes combined) and should run at 90 Hz.

    A little arithmetic: 2160 * 1200 * 90 * 12 = 2799360000 bits per second. 2.8 gigabits (not gibibits) per second, near as damnit. That fits nicely in even 802.11ad. Put the transmitter in the ceiling and 90% of the VR use case is solved.

    Rumor has it HTC is creating a WiGig accessory for the Vive and Vive Pro due out this year, but if they were going to make it in time for the holiday season, I would have expected them to start up a hype train, and I see no sign of one. Last articles on the subject are from January, claiming a Q3 release, and are fairly speculative. I'm betting they're trying to avoid requiring installation of the transceiver on the ceiling and it's not going well.

    • You mean this [vive.com] that you can buy now?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mentil ( 1748130 )

      Not sure why you're using 12 bits per pixel in that calculation instead of 24. Also, the Vive Pro and Samsung Odyssey are the highest-resolution VR headsets available, at 2880x1600 total input resolution. So that'd be 2880x * 1600y * 24bpp * 90fps = 9.95Gbps. That's scraping the ceiling of what this new standard can offer, probably more once overhead and undiagnosable "it's not working perfectly for some reason" are factored in.
      Of course that's assuming completely uncompressed video; TPCast and the Vive wir

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