Where is Wireless Technology

going?
Adam White
Systems Engineer
4th December 2012

2010 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

 2010 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

Wi-Fi chipsets sold per annum

2010 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

Wi-Fi Alliance product certifications per annum (by category)

2010 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

LCD/Plasma TVs
Media
Viewer

E-book
Reader

Refrigerator
Projector

Internet Radio/Audio

Network Music
Player/Server

Blu-ray Player
2010 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Photo
Frames

Network Web
Camera

Automobile
Cisco Confidential

Monthly data traffic (by category)

2010 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

 2010 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

802.11b

802.11a

802.11n

802.11g

802.11ac

802.11ah

802.11af

The Past

2010 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

The Future

802.11ad

Cisco Confidential

 2010 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

 2010 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

10

10

MIMO (Multiple Input, Multiple Output)

Without MRC
Multiple Signals Sent;
One Signal Chosen

SISO AP
Performance

With MRC
Multiple Signals Sent and Combined at
the Receiver Increasing Fidelity

MIMO AP
Performance
2010 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

11

MIMO (Multiple Input, Multiple Output)

Information Is Split and Transmitted on Multiple Streams
stream 1

MIMO AP

Transmitter and
Receiver
Participate

2010 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

stream 2

Concurrent
Transmission on
Same Channel

Performance

Increases
Bandwidth

Requires 11n Client

Cisco Confidential

12

MIMO (Multiple
40Mhz
Input,
Channels
Multiple Output)
Moving from 2 to 4 Lanes

40-MHz = 2 aggregated 20-MHz channelstakes advantage of the reserved channel space

through bonding to gain more than double the data rate of 2 20-MHz channels

2010 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

13

802.11b

802.11a

802.11n

802.11g

802.11ac

802.11ah

802.11af

The Past

2010 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

The Future

802.11ad

Cisco Confidential

14

14

IEEE 802.11ac

Use cases

Technology

Functionality

Availability

2010 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Similar to 802.11n
Voice/video/data for consumer/enterprise

Extension of 802.11n in 5GHz only

Few cool, new features, eg MU-MIMO

Similar range to 802.11n

Faster than 802.11n realistically up to ~2.5Gb/s

First usable draft standard in early 2012

First wave of certification in early 2013

Cisco Confidential

15

15

Feature

Comments
5 GHz only

80MHz channels
256QAM
Up to 8 spatial streams
Beamforming
MU-MIMO
RTS/CTS

2010 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Avoids interference-plagued 2.4 GHz

Optional 160MHz and 80+80MHz
802.11n has lower modulations
1 SS mandatory, 2 SS for non-battery APs at WFA
Single mechanism this time
Cool new technology! MU = Multi-User
Improvements for wider bandwidths

Better CCA

Detects energy in secondary channel

Deletes stuff

Dark corners of 802.11n left to die

Cisco Confidential

16

16

Data Bits
per Subcarrier
802.11ac AP

256QAM@r5/6
64QAM@r5/6

4
Spatial
streams
2010 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

802.11n AP

40

80

160

Channel
Bandwidth
(MHz)

8
Cisco Confidential

17

17

 Single User MIMO in 802.11n

sends one frame to one receiver

Multi-user MIMO in 802.11ac

sends multiple frames to multiple

receivers
AP with 4 antennas can send 1 stream each to 3 smartphones, all at
the same time
AP must beamform 1 space-time stream to the each receiver &
simultaneously null-steer that space-time streams to the two other
receivers

2010 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

18

18

 Initiator transmits multiple

RTSes on free channels

Initiator

Responder

RTS

CTS

Other

on channels it:

Received an RTS
Senses as free
Supports bandwidth-wise
Initiator transmits data only

over free channels

Frequency

Responder transmits CTSes

Data frame
RTS
RTS
RTS

CTS
Channels not clear
at receiver
Time

2010 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

19

19

802.11
2010 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

1997

802.11b

802.11a/g

High
Thruput
802.11n

Very High
Thruput
802.11ac
2013

Cisco Confidential

20

20

PHY Data Rate (Mbps)

11ac Wave 2

11ac Wave 1

11n 3->3

Range (ft)
2010 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

21

21

802.11b

802.11a

802.11n

802.11g

802.11ac

802.11ah

802.11af

The Past

2010 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

The Future

802.11ad

Cisco Confidential

22

22

Lots of spectrum

Small wavelength

About 7 GHz of 60 GHz

spectrum available (varies
by country)

5mm wavelength, with

range 20% of 5GHz

Can go very fast even

with only one RF chain

Multiple (<64) antennas

can beam form for more
range & less interference

Potential for lower cost

and lower energy per bit

Device sync needed in

dense environments

Rates >1Gb/s
2010 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Beam forming

Propagates like light

Easily blocked by
humans, whiteboards,
books, wall & concrete
This means poor range in
typical environments
But also less interference
from neighbours

Room area networking

Cisco Confidential

23

23

WiGig Alliance
specifications

Wireless Display
Extensions
Wireless Serial
Extensions
Wireless Bus
Extensions, etc
IEEE 802.11 WG
standard

802.11ad
2010 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Potential issues
Potential
applications

Wireless docking
Wireless peripherals
Syncngo
HDMI replacement
WLAN applications

Not clear 802.11ad

rates needed in WLAN
SiBeam 60GHz HDMI
replacement failed
commercially ($600)
802.11ac may be
good enough,
particularly if video
compression is
acceptable!

Cisco Confidential

24

24

 Is this the work environment of the future?

2010 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

25

25

802.11b

802.11a

802.11n

802.11g

802.11ac

802.11ah

802.11af

The Past

2010 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

The Future

802.11ad

Cisco Confidential

26

26

Proposed niche use cases

Smartgrid Primary application
Strong requirement for low power, low rate and long range
Including bridging and mesh backhaul solutions
Video surveillance
Consumer electronics, e.g. cameras
Healthcare, e.g. bio-sensors

2010 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

27

27

What is 802.11ah specification?

Spectrum

Channel
width
PHY
Coexistence
2010 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Europe: 868-868.6 MHz

Japan: 950-958 MHz
China: 314-316, 390-434,
470-510 & 779-787 MHz
Kor: 917-923.5 MHz
USA: 902-928 MHz
1,2,4,8,16 MHz
(compared to 20/40 MHz
in 802.11n)
Probably based on
802.11ac

What will 802.11ah achieve?

Rate

> 100kb/s
(less than traditional
802.11)

Range

< 1km

Feel?

the IEEE 802.11 WLAN

user experience for fixed,
outdoor, point to multi
point applications
(source: IEEE PAR)

Especially 802.15.4g
Cisco Confidential

28

28

802.11b

802.11a

802.11n

802.11g

802.11ac

802.11ah

802.11af

The Past

2010 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

The Future

802.11ad

Cisco Confidential

29

29

 The repacking of TV bands in many countries has resulted

in opportunity for new unlicensed spectrum

This spectrum is often called TV White Space (TVWS)

New rules are being designed to protect existing users from

interference from unlicensed devices

Especially protecting digital TV & wireless microphones

An amendment of 802.11, called 802.11af, is being defined

to enable the use of this new spectrum

2010 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

30

30

What is 802.11af specification?

Spectrum

470-698 MHz (UHF)

VHF varies by country

Channel
width

6, 7, 8 MHz (vs 20/40

MHz in 802.11n)

PHY

Coexistence

2010 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Probably based on
802.11ac
Database enablement
to avoid interfering
with TV & licensed
microphones

What will 802.11af achieve?

Rate

Range

Less than traditional

802.11 due to narrow
channels
More (3.5x) than
traditional 802.11 due to
superior propagation of
TVWS

Geolocation data base will contain information

about protected users; it will be able to
authorise the use of a channel at a particular
time, location & power for unlicensed operation
Cisco Confidential

31

31

 IEEE 802.11ac is of most interest to enterprises

Higher throughput
Supports more devices
Supports high bandwidth applications
Other IEEE standards in development
Utilise other bands of free spectrum
Spectrum is a precious resource

Questions?
2010 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

32

32

Thank you.

 2010 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

34

Cisco
802.11ac: The Fifth Generation of Wi-Fi Technical White Paper

2010 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

35

35

Cisco
http://www.cisco.com/go/wireless

2010 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

36

36

Wi-Fi Alliance
http://www.wi-fi.org/

2010 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

37

37

 Cisco Visual Networking Index

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/netsol/ns827/networking_solutions_sub_solution.html
Wi-Fi Alliance (1 billion Wi-Fi devices sold in 2012)
http://www.wi-fi.org/media/press-releases/wi-fi-alliance-launch-wi-fi-certified-miracast-deliverdisplay-applications
Reports on ABI Research (WiFi device growth)
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/ABI-Research-Smart-TV-Miracast-Netflic-OnLive,18354.html
http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/network-wifi/3404582/15-billion-wi-fi-devices-ship-in-2012networking-connected-tv/

2010 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

38

38