Wi-Fi 7 in the process of standardization would arrive in 2024 at Intel for mass deployment from 2025. Intel having popularized Wi-Fi 6 with its AX200 chip, the question is whether it will remain at the forefront with this new standard.
Intel’s Wi-Fi 7 now benefits from a specific public deployment schedule. At an Asian trade show press conference, Eric MC Laughlin, Intel’s vice president of wireless solutions, said the company is “expanding their 802.11be Wi-Fi solution to ‘obtain certification from the Wi-Fi Alliance which will lead to its installation in computing products such as portable PCs from 2024’. Adding that the company hopes that Intel “hopes to see (arriving the technology, editor’s note) in the main markets in 2025”.
As with each iteration, the reasons for the transition from the current Wi-Fi6E (802.11ax) to the future Wi-Fi 7 standard (802.11be of its technical name) is done both to improve bandwidth (thanks to the transition to the 6 GHz band), increase the number of antenna and maximum users, etc. With the marketing figure of the magnificent 36 Gbit / s, which is actually the maximum data that all the bands supported by Wi-Fi 7 will be able to manage if used simultaneously.
The precision of Intel’s deployment schedule is important for the industry, because the American is still at the forefront in the field. Not only is it the initiator of the Wi-Fi revolution with the launch in 2003 of its Centrino computing platform. But Intel remained at the forefront during the last generation (Wi-Fi 6/6E) thanks to its AX200 chip which was found both in the overwhelming majority of laptop PCs (Intel and AMD!), and in number of routers and other Internet boxes.
Will Intel remain a pioneer?
Mobile SoC designers’ all-in-one chip shields them from Intel’s power: Chips from MediaTek, Qualcomm and others embed their own Wi-Fi chip (sometimes with trade-ins or licensing). But these players are also developing their external chips and eyeing the markets not only for computers (MediaTek has signed with AMD), but also for equipment (modems and others).
However, the schedules of Qualcomm, MediaTek and Broadcom currently agree with one year ahead of that of Intel: a start of deployment in 2023 and a mass arrival planned for 2024. And with the enormous volumes of players in the SoC for mobiles, the question of Intel’s advantage in its own markets arises.
What can “protect” Intel in computing is obviously its domination of a market (80% ladle) which is based more than ever on “platforms”. Thus, the EVO certification obliges PC manufacturers to purchase all key components (Wi-Fi included) from Intel. For equipment, Intel retains the advantage of being the market leader and of having a very active and well-established sales force among its customers. And to have very clear communication with the general public (like these pages dedicated to the presentation of this technology).
Far from being anecdotal, the nature of a chip or modem (or antenna) supplier sometimes has a major impact on the performance of wireless networks. We saw it in the iPhone 12 where Apple decided to do without Qualcomm’s RF antennas for its 5G modem, losing 20% to 30% of throughput in the process. A quality that equipment manufacturers scrutinize: the success of Intel’s AX200 chip is as much the result of its speed to market as of its technical quality. Let’s hope Intel retains its technical advantage. Under penalty of being nibbled away at a market that has been rather protected so far.
Korea IT News
[related_posts_by_tax taxonomies=”post_tag”]
The post Intel will deploy its Wi-Fi 7 solutions between 2024 and 2025… after its competitors? appeared first on Gamingsym.