Introduction Key Features Conclusion

Wi-Fi 6 Features
IEEE 802.11 ax

Mohit Agarwala

EE Department
Indian Institute of Technology

Bombay
Introduction Key Features Conclusion

6th Generation Wifi

IEEE 802.11ax Standard

Introduction Key Features Conclusion

6th Generation Wifi

IEEE 802.11ax Standard

IEEE 802.11 is the IEEE working group developing
wirelesslocal area network specifications.
Introduction Key Features Conclusion

6th Generation Wifi

IEEE 802.11ax Standard

IEEE 802.11 is the IEEE working group developing
wirelesslocal area network specifications.
ax stands for 6th generation
Introduction Key Features Conclusion

6th Generation Wifi

IEEE 802.11ax Standard

IEEE 802.11 is the IEEE working group developing
wirelesslocal area network specifications.
ax stands for 6th generation
Main Drivers of Wifi 6 :
Introduction Key Features Conclusion

6th Generation Wifi

IEEE 802.11ax Standard

IEEE 802.11 is the IEEE working group developing
wirelesslocal area network specifications.
ax stands for 6th generation
Main Drivers of Wifi 6 :
More concurrent clients per AP
Introduction Key Features Conclusion

6th Generation Wifi

IEEE 802.11ax Standard

IEEE 802.11 is the IEEE working group developing
wirelesslocal area network specifications.
ax stands for 6th generation
Main Drivers of Wifi 6 :
More concurrent clients per AP
More APs per unit area
Introduction Key Features Conclusion

6th Generation Wifi

IEEE 802.11ax Standard

IEEE 802.11 is the IEEE working group developing
wirelesslocal area network specifications.
ax stands for 6th generation
Main Drivers of Wifi 6 :
More concurrent clients per AP
More APs per unit area
Uplink resource allocation
Introduction Key Features Conclusion

6th Generation Wifi

IEEE 802.11ax Standard

IEEE 802.11 is the IEEE working group developing
wirelesslocal area network specifications.
ax stands for 6th generation
Main Drivers of Wifi 6 :
More concurrent clients per AP
More APs per unit area
Uplink resource allocation
Applications with diverse QoS needs

Focus
Improving the efficiency of the radio link
Introduction Key Features Conclusion

Wifi 6 Key Features

Figure: source: Arista

Introduction Key Features Conclusion

1024 QAM
Introduction Key Features Conclusion

1024 QAM
WiFi 6 supports 1024-QAM ,i.e., 10 bits per modulation
symbol (the highest in 802.11ac is 256-QAM)

Figure: Google
Introduction Key Features Conclusion

1024 QAM
WiFi 6 supports 1024-QAM ,i.e., 10 bits per modulation
symbol (the highest in 802.11ac is 256-QAM)

Figure: Google

Higher maximum data rate

25% increase over last generation
Introduction Key Features Conclusion

1024 QAM
WiFi 6 supports 1024-QAM ,i.e., 10 bits per modulation
symbol (the highest in 802.11ac is 256-QAM)

Figure: Google

Higher maximum data rate

25% increase over last generation
Much like 256-QAM, very high SNR thresholds 35 dB will be
needed.
Introduction Key Features Conclusion

OFDMA

Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA)

divides the 20/40/80/160 MHz channel into resource units
(RUs)
Introduction Key Features Conclusion

OFDMA

Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA)

divides the 20/40/80/160 MHz channel into resource units
(RUs)
Each RU is further divided into subcarriers, also called
“tones”, each 78.125 KHz wide

Figure: source: Arista

Introduction Key Features Conclusion

Downlink OFDMA

OFDMA allows for flexible resource allocation in both uplink

and downlink.
Introduction Key Features Conclusion

Downlink OFDMA

OFDMA allows for flexible resource allocation in both uplink

and downlink.
A WiFi 6 AP intelligently schedules clients and allocates
resources.
Introduction Key Features Conclusion

Downlink OFDMA

OFDMA allows for flexible resource allocation in both uplink

and downlink.
A WiFi 6 AP intelligently schedules clients and allocates
resources.
An 802.11ax AP has the flexibility to allocate any
combination of RUs.

source: Arista
Introduction Key Features Conclusion

Uplink OFDMA

Enables AP to manage the uplink resource allocation.

Introduction Key Features Conclusion

Uplink OFDMA

Enables AP to manage the uplink resource allocation.

Uses CSMA-CA to ensure that the medium is available for
transmission.
Introduction Key Features Conclusion

Uplink OFDMA

Enables AP to manage the uplink resource allocation.

Uses CSMA-CA to ensure that the medium is available for
transmission.
The schedule is announced to clients using Trigger Frames.
Introduction Key Features Conclusion

Uplink OFDMA

Enables AP to manage the uplink resource allocation.

Uses CSMA-CA to ensure that the medium is available for
transmission.
The schedule is announced to clients using Trigger Frames.
This leads to reduced uplink contention, thereby improving
capacity and user experience.
Introduction Key Features Conclusion

MU-MIMO

Multiple User - Multiple Input, Multiple Output

Introduction Key Features Conclusion

MU-MIMO

Multiple User - Multiple Input, Multiple Output

Both Downlink and Uplink
Introduction Key Features Conclusion

MU-MIMO

Multiple User - Multiple Input, Multiple Output

Both Downlink and Uplink
Refers to the use of multiple antennas on WiFi APs and clients
to increase data rates (via spatial multiplexing) and reduce
interference (via beamforming).
Introduction Key Features Conclusion

MU-MIMO

Multiple User - Multiple Input, Multiple Output

Both Downlink and Uplink
Refers to the use of multiple antennas on WiFi APs and clients
to increase data rates (via spatial multiplexing) and reduce
interference (via beamforming).
Uplink MU-MIMO is especially useful for uplink-heavy
applications such as social media, content sharing, and video
calls.

source: Huawei
Introduction Key Features Conclusion

Long Symbol Duration and Guard Interval

A key characteristic of WiFi 6 is the narrower subcarrier

spacing (78.125 KHz, compared to 312.25 KHz for 802.11ac).
Introduction Key Features Conclusion

Long Symbol Duration and Guard Interval

A key characteristic of WiFi 6 is the narrower subcarrier

spacing (78.125 KHz, compared to 312.25 KHz for 802.11ac).
A smaller sub-carrier spacing results in a smaller fraction of
the sub-channel being used by pilots, thereby improving
spectral efficiency.
Introduction Key Features Conclusion

Long Symbol Duration and Guard Interval

A key characteristic of WiFi 6 is the narrower subcarrier

spacing (78.125 KHz, compared to 312.25 KHz for 802.11ac).
A smaller sub-carrier spacing results in a smaller fraction of
the sub-channel being used by pilots, thereby improving
spectral efficiency.
A smaller sub-carrier spacing also means a proportionately
longer OFDM symbol duration (12.8 s, compared to 3.2 s in
802.11ac).
Introduction Key Features Conclusion

Long Symbol Duration and Guard Interval

A key characteristic of WiFi 6 is the narrower subcarrier

spacing (78.125 KHz, compared to 312.25 KHz for 802.11ac).
A smaller sub-carrier spacing results in a smaller fraction of
the sub-channel being used by pilots, thereby improving
spectral efficiency.
A smaller sub-carrier spacing also means a proportionately
longer OFDM symbol duration (12.8 s, compared to 3.2 s in
802.11ac).
Longer symbol durations help in propagation environments
with large delay spreads; this makes 802.11ax better suited to
environments where the propagation distances are typically
large, such as outdoor deployments.
Introduction Key Features Conclusion

Long Symbol Duration and Guard Interval

Figure: source: Google

Introduction Key Features Conclusion

BSS Coloring
BSS Color with Spatial Reuse potentially solves the CCI
problem.
Introduction Key Features Conclusion

BSS Coloring
BSS Color with Spatial Reuse potentially solves the CCI
problem.
BSS color information is communicated to both the PHY
layer and the MAC sublayer.
Introduction Key Features Conclusion

BSS Coloring
BSS Color with Spatial Reuse potentially solves the CCI
problem.
BSS color information is communicated to both the PHY
layer and the MAC sublayer.
Channel access behavior will be dependent on the color
detected.
Introduction Key Features Conclusion

BSS Coloring
BSS Color with Spatial Reuse potentially solves the CCI
problem.
BSS color information is communicated to both the PHY
layer and the MAC sublayer.
Channel access behavior will be dependent on the color
detected.
AP radios and client radios will be able to apply adaptive CCA
thresholds via Spatial Reuse.

source: Huawei
Introduction Key Features Conclusion

Target Wake Time

Target Wake Time is a power saving mechanism negotiated

between a STA and its AP, which allows the STA to sleep for
periods of time, and wake up in target times to exchange
information with its AP.
Introduction Key Features Conclusion

Target Wake Time

Target Wake Time is a power saving mechanism negotiated

between a STA and its AP, which allows the STA to sleep for
periods of time, and wake up in target times to exchange
information with its AP.
Allows the station to ’sleep’ longer and reduce energy
consumption.
Introduction Key Features Conclusion

Target Wake Time

Target Wake Time is a power saving mechanism negotiated

between a STA and its AP, which allows the STA to sleep for
periods of time, and wake up in target times to exchange
information with its AP.
Allows the station to ’sleep’ longer and reduce energy
consumption.
Key feature of IoT type sensors.
Introduction Key Features Conclusion

More features :
Introduction Key Features Conclusion

More features :

Extended Range
To support large cells, WiFi 6 also defines the Extended Range
(ER) BSS.
The same AP can advertise two types of BSS: ER and non-ER,
with the former expected to have a larger coverage area than
the latter.
Introduction Key Features Conclusion

More features :

Extended Range
To support large cells, WiFi 6 also defines the Extended Range
(ER) BSS.
The same AP can advertise two types of BSS: ER and non-ER,
with the former expected to have a larger coverage area than
the latter.
Dual Carrier Modulation(DCM)
For robust reception in challenging scenarios, WiFi 6 also
supports DCM for MCS 0,1,3, and 4 (BPSK, QPSK and
16-QAM modulations).
Introduction Key Features Conclusion

Comparison with older generations

Introduction Key Features Conclusion

Comparison with older generations

WiFi 6 is a technological leap for next-generation enterprise

wireless networks.

WiFi 5 vs WiFi 6
Introduction Key Features Conclusion

Comparison with older generations

WiFi 6 is a technological leap for next-generation enterprise

wireless networks.

WiFi 5 vs WiFi 6

2.4 GHz is back !

11ac focused only on 5GHz
11ax operates in both bands
Most IoT devices works on 2.4 GHz band
Introduction Key Features Conclusion

Summary

Efficiency of OFDMA fully optimizing every transmission.

Introduction Key Features Conclusion

Summary

Efficiency of OFDMA fully optimizing every transmission.

BSS coloring getting rid of unnecessary wait time.
Introduction Key Features Conclusion

Summary

Efficiency of OFDMA fully optimizing every transmission.

BSS coloring getting rid of unnecessary wait time.
ALL with more capacity than ever before, thanks to
MU-MIMO. It is one of the most promising features of WiFi
6, especially for high-density, high-throughput scenarios.
Introduction Key Features Conclusion

Summary

Efficiency of OFDMA fully optimizing every transmission.

BSS coloring getting rid of unnecessary wait time.
ALL with more capacity than ever before, thanks to
MU-MIMO. It is one of the most promising features of WiFi
6, especially for high-density, high-throughput scenarios.
Combining MU-MIMO and OFDMA further boosts
performance by multiplexing users in both frequency and
spatial domains.
Introduction Key Features Conclusion

Summary

source: cisco
Introduction Key Features Conclusion

Thank You