The Wi-Fi Alliance Begins Wi-Fi 6E Certification, Ushers in High-Throughput Low-Latency 6GHz Wi-Fi
The first 6GHz Wi-Fi standard is now open for certification, promising improved throughputs and lower latency than its predecessors.
The Wi-Fi Alliance has announced a certification programme for Wi-Fi 6E, bringing support for devices operating in the 6GHz radio frequency spectrum following the US Federal Communication Commission (FCC)'s decision to open 1,200MHz of the spectrum for Wi-Fi use — dramatically improving, it claims, both throughput and latency over Wi-Fi 6.
“Worldwide interoperability for Wi-Fi 6E devices promotes rapid adoption and innovation in 6GHz," says Edgar Figueroa, president and chief executive at the Wi-Fi Alliance, of the new programme. "Users will soon experience unprecedented Wi-Fi that significantly improves applications and delivers new use cases that will change their connected experiences."
Extending the existing Wi-Fi 6 standard, Wi-Fi 6E offers connectivity in the 6GHz spectrum with ultra-wide 160MHz channels — meaning multi-gigabit throughputs and low latency. The standard also incorporates the latest updates in Wireless Protected Access 3 (WPA3), the Alliance's security system, bringing improved password generation and protection against a range of attacks.
"Wi-Fi 6E is not just a major step forward for Wi-Fi, but will be instrumental as we build the Internet of the future," explains Cisco's chief technology for wireless Matt MacPherson, one of a range of industry luminaries who have voiced support for the standard. "Cisco is proud to work alongside Wi-Fi Alliance to ensure the 6GHz spectrum is available for unlicensed use, providing a foundation for unlimited innovation. Wi-Fi 6E represents significant advancements in security, reliability and performance, which has never been more important as Wi-Fi traffic continues to grow exponentially."
"Wi-Fi 6E will see rapid adoption in 2021 with more than 338 million devices entering the market, and nearly 20 percent of all Wi-Fi 6 device shipments supporting 6GHz by 2022," predicts Phil Solis, research director at market-watcher IDC. "This year, we expect to see new Wi-Fi 6E chipsets from several companies, and a variety of new Wi-Fi 6E smartphones, PCs, and laptops in the first quarter of 2021 followed by TVs and VR product announcements midyear."
The new certification programme allows manufacturers and vendors to submit their Wi-Fi 6E hardware for approval; when granted, the certification guarantees interoperability, meaning that any one company's Wi-Fi 6E hardware will communicate perfectly with certified hardware from any other company.
Information on the new Wi-Fi 6E certification is available on the Wi-Fi Alliance website.
