TechTheDay

The slow Wi-Fi connections speeds you have at home or at the cafés will soon experience significant improvements as Qualcomm recently announced a new Wi-Fi technology that is bound to speed up connections in crowded networks. The promise: three times the speed of current standard Wi-Fi connections.

In an April 3 press release, Qualcomm said that its subsidiary Qualcomm Atheros, Inc. has developed the Qualcomm VIVE 4-stream 802.11ac solution that comes with multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO). This improved Wi-Fi technology is said to be capable of delivering up to three times more network capacity. It is also said to be designed to optimize the way devices are served as they connect to Wi-Fi connections, to optimize the boost in capacity. This new technology is a solution to speed issues in busy hotspots.

What Is MU-MIMO

Multi-User Multiple Input, Multiple Output or MU-MIMO is a new method of operating Wi-Fi networks. It includes a set of algorithms that addresses the connection handling issues of standard connections. In standard connections, only one device is responsible for the sending and receiving of data. As such, only a small part of network capacity is utilized. When multiple devices go into the network, the resulting sequential events lead to a drop in throughput and capacity. The problem gets worse as multiple devices try to obtain huge amounts of data (videos in particular).

The product of several years of research and development efforts at Qualcomm, MU-MIMO is an efficient way of creating 802.11ac Wi-Fi networks as it provides several devices with simultaneous access to data streams. It addresses the standard setup wherein wireless signals jump from one device to another.

Making Use of the Technology

Unfortunately, this technology is hardware based. It is not something that can be adopted by pre-existing Wi-Fi setups. To have up to triple Wi-Fi speeds, you will have to wait for the availability of Qualcomm devices that support the technology. This means that you will have to buy a compatible Wi-Fi router or access point (AP). It is also likely to become a proprietary Qualcomm technology so your options will be somewhat limited.

Additionally, the technology also requires a compatible client device. The mobile phones, tablet computers, and laptops you are currently using likely don’t support the technology yet. Per Qualcomm’s announcement, the new technology will only be available with the Snapdragon 801 and 805. Snapdragon 801 is already being used by this year’s flagship smartphones and tablets. Most of them are not yet out on the market. HTC One (M8) is already out while Samsung’s Galaxy S5 and Sony Xperia Z2 are not yet widely available worldwide.

So yes, that’s the sad part of this new technology. It’s hardware based and both devices (AP and client) have to support it. Maybe “soon” will have to wait for next year or the latter two quarters of the year. Qualcomm said that they will be selling the compatible chips to router and mobile device manufacturers later this year.

Qualcomm Products that Carry the Technology

Aside from the Snapdragon 801 and 805 chips, the following upcoming and already available Qualcomm chips will also enable faster Wi-Fi speeds.

• QCA6174 – This chip is intended for tablets and high-end smartphones. It is a 2-stream 11ac that also bears Bluetooth 4.1 to enable  over 600 Mbps throughput speeds over Wi-Fi connections.

• WCN3680 – This is a 1-stream 11ac chip that also comes with Bluetooth 4.1. It is an “ultra low power near field communication (NFC) chip for mobile devices,” as described in Qualcomm’s official website. It is also intended for smartphones and tablets.

• QCA9378 – A 2-stream VIVE solution from Qualcomm Atheros, this chip is meant for connected TVs, set top boxes, and other devices that are mainly intended for entertainment purposes. It is optimized to enable excellent performance when handling 4k videos, games, and other latency sensitive media applications.

• QCA6574 – This chip is intended for media infotainment and point-to-point connections, automotive applications in particular. It is also a 2-stream 11ac with Bluetooth 4.1.

Qualcomm has been at the forefront of mobile processors in recent years. It’s not surprising that it’s also leading the advancement of Wi-Fi technology as most of the flagship smartphones available at present are powered by their chips. Even Samsung, the maker of the Exynos chips for mobile devices, is also using Qualcomm’s chips on their flagship devices.