Wi-Fi 6 is a naming convention proposed by the Wi-Fi Alliance (WFA), a wireless network standard, which changed 802.11ax to Wi-Fi 6, released in 2019.
Wi-Fi can be seen as another name for IEEE 802.11b, which has gone through five generations since 1999. By the time the sixth generation of IEEE 802.11ax was released in 2018, the naming convention was no longer named with 802.11+ letters, but changed to Wi-Fi 6, and the previous 802.11n was renamed Wi-Fi 4, and the fifth generation of 802.11ac was renamed Wi-Fi 5. It's easier to remember.
Wi-Fi can be divided into six generations. Since the 2.4GHz band in the ISM band is widely used, such as microwave ovens and Bluetooth, they interfere with WiFi, making speed speed, and 5GHz interference is less. Therefore, dual-band routers can use both 2.4GHz and 5GHz, and devices can only use a certain frequency band.
The first generation of 802.11b (Wi-Fi 1), which only uses 2.4GHz and is fastest 11Mbit/s, is gradually being phased out
The second generation of 802.11a (Wi-Fi 2) uses only 5GHz and is as fast as 54Mbit/s
The third generation 802.11g (Wi-Fi 3) uses only 2.4GHz and is the fastest 54Mbit/s
Fourth-generation 802.11n (Wi-Fi 4) that can use 2.4GHz or 5GHz, with speeds of 216.7MBit/s and 450Mbit/s at 20 and 40MHz
In the fifth generation of 802.11ac (Wi-Fi 5), 802.11ac Wave1 supports a maximum bandwidth of 866MBit/s, and 802.11ac Wave2 supports a maximum bandwidth of 1.73Gbit/s
Sixth-generation 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6) that can be used with 2.4GHz or 5GHz
Wi-Fi 4 (802.11n) was released in 2009, the first to support 40MHz bandwidth and MIMO, the theoretical bandwidth from 11a/g 54Mbps suddenly increased to 600Mbps (single stream bandwidth 150Mbps), and support 2.4G and 5G two frequency bands at the same time, support 64QAM, after 4 years of fire, the first version of Wi-Fi 5 (Wave 1) was born, increasing the bandwidth to 80MHz, and the single-stream bandwidth to 433Mbps.
The second version of Wi-Fi 5 (Wave 2) in 2016 doubled the bandwidth to 160MHz, supported 256QAM, and increased the single-stream bandwidth to 867Mbps. However, since WiFi 5 only supports the 5G band, it has to coexist with Wi-Fi 4's 2.4G on many routers.
Wi-Fi 6 is even better, with a maximum speed of 9.6Gbps and optimized uplink coverage, which is a perfect fit for NB-IoT IoT. WiFi6 borrows the OFDMA technology used in the cellular network, which can realize the simultaneous transmission of multiple devices without queuing and waiting, and without competing for each other's network speed, significantly improving transmission efficiency, and reducing latency while supporting 2.4G and 5G frequency bands; supporting 1024QAM, single-stream bandwidth increased to 1201Mbps; supporting the full version of MU-MIMO, which can support 8 terminal uplink/downlink at the same time; Support OFDMA black technology; Theoretical throughput up to 9.6Gbps. However, WiFi 6 requires 8 antennas in parallel to reach a bandwidth of 9.6Gbps, and the terminal equipment we currently use generally only has 2 antennas, and the peak bandwidth can only reach 2.4Gbps.
Wi-Fi 4/5/6 comparison
In the evolution of Wi-Fi technology, the ultimate goal of standard protocol changes is to achieve a theoretical transmission speed of 1Gbps by improving transmission distance, wall penetration ability, and physical speed by applying the new 5GHz frequency band and increasing the working bandwidth of each channel. For the video and picture dissemination needs required by the Internet and mobile Internet, in fact, the performance of Wi-Fi 5 is already very good.
But people's requirements for information transmission are not capped, and more powerful transmission speeds mean that we can achieve more large-capacity applications, such as VR, high-definition live broadcasting, remote surgery and so on. Another point is that the future development trend is that more and more devices - mobile terminals, IoT products, etc. - are connected to Wi-Fi networks, but Wi-Fi 5 is still weak in the face of large-scale multi-device transmission. Just like we can intuitively feel that the Wi-Fi application in places such as airports and concert sites is very poor. Almost after the first decade of the 21st century, the industry began to discuss the next generation of Wi-Fi protocols. Hence the next generation of Wi-Fi 6.
What is the difference between the Wi-Fi 6 protocol and the Wi-Fi 5 protocol? Simply put, Wi-Fi 6 has 4 times more network bandwidth and 4 times more users than Wi-Fi 5. Under the premise of increasing network access users, the network speed of individual users can also be improved.
In 2019, many people continue to hear "Wi-Fi 6 applications, and the reason why 2019 can become the first year of Wi-Fi 6 commercial applications is also very simple." The first is the internal hairstyle drive of business development. As we described, with the development of AI, cloud computing, IoT, and mobile Internet, more and more devices are connected to Wi-Fi networks. Especially in scenarios such as industrial interconnection, campus offices, and VR experience halls, there are high requirements for the speed and stability of Wi-Fi network connections of massive devices.
At the same time, there are application changes brought by 5G. When 5G commercial use begins to land, with the wide coverage of cellular networks, people have been able to apply high-speed network services in many outdoor scenarios. There will also be a large number of application products that rely on high-speed networks, such as cloud gaming, cloud VR, etc. into our lives. At this time, as a Wi-Fi network that complements the cellular network, it is natural to provide high-quality network services at higher speeds. Finally, of course, the perfection of technical preparation.
Since 2017, communication manufacturers have begun to provide Wi-Fi 6-enabled chips. Related APs, switches and other products have also begun to be born. For example, Huawei's first multi-rate switch and first Wi-Fi 6 AP product have also been put on the market in 2017. Broadcom, Qualcomm, Intel, Meima Electronics, MediaTek, etc. have also released their own Wi-Fi 6 chips.
By 2019, the development of Wi-Fi 6 technology has matured, and the market cultivation has basically been completed, and it will naturally begin to be deployed on a large scale.
Wi-Fi 6 is expected to account for one-third of overall enterprise Wi-Fi application revenue in 2020. In Q3~Q3 of 2019, Huawei ranked first in China and the world (excluding North America) in the market share of Wi-Fi 6 products.
In fact, since the concept of Wi-Fi entered our lives, it seems that there has not been such a memory as "the sudden increase in Wi-Fi network speed, which is very convenient for life" over the years. How much business value can the update of the Wi-Fi protocol standard generate to occupy the market size and generate it? Is it really worth such a high level of attention from all those in the industry?
In 2019, Wi-Fi 6 leaves us with more uncertainty. There is uncertainty in network deployment. Uncertainty in terms of technology maturity, uncertainty in terms of cost, uncertainty in terms of production process.
In the future, the coexistence of 5G, 4G, and Wi-Fi 6 networks is certain, but how can these networks cooperate with each other when deployed? There is also the uncertainty of the business scenario. At present, business changes such as IoT, AI, 5G, and V2X are still developing, and it can be said that there may be unlimited possibilities for network requirements in future business scenarios.
How will Wi-Fi 6 face these rich demands in the future? There is even uncertainty in commercial development, under the premise that the device is not cheap, how can Wi-Fi 6 network providers give users enough to touch the purchase of productivity improvement solutions? Wi-Fi 6
How to enhance the core competitiveness of products in many wireless technology products, let's wait and see.