The Qualcomm announced this week the QCA64x8 and QCA64x1 chips, which operate with the new standard of Wi-Fi 802.11ay. The technology delivers speeds up to 10 Gb / s and operates in the 60 GHz range, which comprises the so-called mmWave – high-frequency waves also used by the 5G . Wi-Fi is an evolution of 802.11ad, doubling its throughput and skipping the range from 10 to 100 meters.
QCA64x8 encompasses QCA6438 and QCA6428 solutions for infrastructure and fixed wireless access. The QCA64x1, which covers the QCA6421 and QCA6431 chips, is designed for mobile applications. Both are available for use by technology companies, most notably working on Terragraph , a project developed by Facebook in partnership with Qualcomm to distribute high-speed Wi-Fi on the street in large urban centers.
Qualcomm Announces Wi-Fi Chips for Faster Internet
Terragraph uses the QCA6438 and QCA6428 chips, not without reason. Operating on millimeter waves (mmWave) in the 60 GHz range, the components can transfer data up to 10 times faster than conventional Wi-Fi, 2.4 GHz and 5 Ghz waves.
The ay pattern works on a multi-node system, which has the same cable version latency rate. Thus, it can replace the optical fiber in the signal distribution with lower cost and greater ease of implementation.
The mmWave frequencies, however, have great difficulty in crossing physical obstacles such as walls. This feature is positive for projects such as Terragraph itself, since the waves, emitted from distribution nodes installed outside the buildings, are only in the streets, without suffering signal loss due to interference.
In spite of this, this peculiarity restricts the application to scenarios in which the devices are in the same environment. Qualcomm cites video streaming examples in UHD or use in Virtual Reality (VR) or Augmented Reality (RA) headsets. In this way, the technology could be used to replace the data cable of a VR glasses over a wireless connection, without losing quality or speed of transmission.
The popularization of the standard will depend on the adoption by manufacturers of chips and components that can work on Qualcomm’s 60 GHz waves. The QCA64x8 and QCA64x1 lines offer an immediate solution to this issue, allowing you to embed the technology into routers, smartphones and other day-to-day devices.