Wireless communications and signal processing expert Dr Doron Ezri, the Wi-Fi CTO of Data Communications Product Line at Huawei, told an audience of industry professionals at the Huawei IP Club that Wi-Fi 6 – the latest W-Fi specification standard – promises to enhance connectivity in the business environment, thanks to its upgraded MU-MIMO (multi-user, multiple-input, multiple-output) technology.
The technology allows a router to communicate with multiple devices at the same time. This will mean offices, shopping malls, airports and public Wi-Fi spaces, where dozens and even hundreds of devices are connected, will enjoy a more reliable Wi-Fi service.
To provide even better coverage services in the Wi-Fi 6 network environment, mainstream vendors in the industry are introducing smart antenna technology. Dr Ezri pointed out that Wi-Fi smart antenna designs vary, and it was not only hardware, but also the algorithms used by various network vendors that determined the effectiveness of their smart antennas.
Dr Ezri explained how Huawei smart antennas were able to determine the locations of devices. The smart antenna selection algorithm could then select appropriate combinations of its multiple antennas to improve network performance.
“There is an important relationship between smart antennas and Wi-Fi 6,” said Dr Ezri. “Smart antennas are able to interconnect strongly with Wi-Fi 6 features like multi-user MIMOs.”
He said that smart antenna were not part of the Wi-Fi standard, and their implementation was purely proprietary.
The presentation saw Dr Ezri conduct a short demonstration which showed the improved performance of smart antennas compared to regular traditional MIMO set-ups. Dr Ezri said Huawei smart antenna had shown a 20-30% gain in field trials over their competition.
“With Huawei’s Wi-Fi 6 solution, we have managed to come up with a holistic offering that does more antenna control, together with scheduling multiple-user MIMO so that we can actually unleash the performance of smart antennas in Wi-Fi 6,” said Dr Ezri.
“We’ve been able to take all of Huawei’s industry-leading 5G research achievements, then craft them and optimise them for Wi-Fi.”
Huawei IP Club is an open, cooperative platform for IP industry opinion leaders and network technology experts to share perspectives on future network development trends and new opportunities.ed by its employees.
