DATA COMMUNICATION AND

NETWORKING(case study)

WI-FI 6

SUBMITTED BY- HIMANSHU GUPTA (01451202816)

NISHANT (01951202816)
NAVEEN KUMAR(01751202816)
ANKIT PANWAR(00651202816)

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INTRODUCTION:
Wi-Fi 6, also called 802.11ax, is an upgrade on the current highest-speed Wi-Fi protocol in
wide use, 802.11ac. Wi-Fi 6 brings a dramatic improvement in efficiency across all existing
Wi-Fi bands, including older 2.4GHz frequencies. Wi-Fi 6 will also likely get new spectrum
in the 6GHz band in 2019 or 2020, further improving its speed.

The biggest improvement that comes with Wi-Fi 6 is that it increases the density of devices
that can co-exist in a single space, further increasing the speed of all devices when there is
more than one.

The new standard also improves performance by supporting deterministic (that is, not
random) packet scheduling, which, as well as increasing the efficiency of the use of any
given band, also makes for dramatic improvements in power utilization by mobile devices.

Wi-Fi 6 will eventually improve the experience for almost all wireless users, from office
workers, who will find that their devices communicate more reliably and quickly in crowded
offices, to people supporting constellations of IoT devices, who will find that they can pack
more low-power devices into a space with fewer access points. The reliably deterministic
nature of Wi-Fi 6, combined with its speed, means it should be usable for life-safety
applications, including things like remote surgery devices.

Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6™, the industry certification program based on the IEEE 802.11ax
standard, enables next generation Wi-Fi connectivity providing the capacity, coverage, and
performance required by users—even in environments with many connected devices such as
stadiums and other public venues. Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6 networks enable lower battery
consumption in devices, making it a solid choice for any environment, including smart home
and Internet of Things (IoT) uses.

Key benefits of Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6 technology include:

 Higher data rates

 Increased capacity
 Performance in environments with many connected devices
 Improved power efficiency

Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6 provides the foundation for a host of existing and emerging uses from
streaming ultra high-definition movies, to mission-critical business applications requiring
high bandwidth and low latency, to staying connected and productive while traversing large,
congested networks in airports and train stations.

The ubiquity of Wi-Fi and its ability to complement other wireless technologies helps bring
the promise of connecting everyone and everything, everywhere, closer to reality. It also
creates very diverse and densely populated Wi-Fi environments, requiring technological
advances to meet the needs of users. Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6 delivers improvements and new
features that enable Wi-Fi devices to operate efficiently even in dynamic environments
involving a large variety of device types.

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Key capabilities:

 Uplink and downlink orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) increases
efficiency and lowers latency for high demand environments
 Multi-user multiple input, multiple output (MU-MIMO) allows more data to be transferred
at one time, enabling access points (APs) to handle larger numbers of devices
simultaneously
 Transmit beamforming enables higher data rates at a given range to increase network
capacity
 1024 quadrature amplitude modulation mode (1024-QAM) increases throughput for
emerging, bandwidth-intensive use cases
 Target wake time (TWT) significantly improves battery life in Wi-Fi devices, including
IoT clients

Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6 devices bring enhanced performance to users in demanding

environments, from IoT and smart home, to businesses running large-scale, mission critical
deployments. Virtual and augmented reality applications such as e-Learning, telepresence,
and healthcare monitoring become more attainable using Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6 technology.
Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6 also provides carriers and public Wi-Fi operators with more capabilities
to support next generation connectivity uses in retail settings, stadiums, and transportation
hubs, including a growing array of location-based applications and services and bandwidth
intensive applications.

Wi-Fi generations

Identifying device technology

To help users identify devices that provide the latest Wi-Fi experience, Wi-Fi Alliance has
introduced simplified generational names that may appear in device names and product
descriptions. Wi-Fi devices supporting the latest generation of connectivity are based on the
802.11ax standard and are known as Wi-Fi 6 devices.

Identifying network connections

Wi-Fi devices may also use a user interface (UI) icon on the display to identify the generation
of a network connection. The icons will display a Wi-Fi signal indicator and a numerical
representation of the connection. Icons will adjust as users move between Wi-Fi networks
that provide a different user experience. When a user device displays a signal indicator icon
accompanied by the number 6, indicating a Wi-Fi 6 connection, that device is utilizing the
most advanced version of Wi-Fi available.Wi-Fi 6 is the next-generation wireless standard
that’s faster than 802.11ac. More than speed, it will provide better performance in congested
areas, from stadiums to your own device-packed home. It’s coming in 2019.

 Wi-Fi 4 is 802.11n, released in 2009.

 Wi-Fi 5 is 802.11ac, released in 2014.
 Wi-Fi 6 is the new version, also known as 802.11ax. It’s scheduled for release in 2019.

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The Wi-Fi Alliance also announced would like to see these numbers appear in software so
you can tell which Wi-Fi network is newer and faster while connecting on your smartphone,
tablet, or laptop. You may be seeing Wi-Fi numbers on your phone, tablet, or laptop soon.

Older versions of Wi-Fi aren’t widely in use and aren’t officially being branded. But, if they
were, here’s what they’d be called:

 Wi-Fi 1 would have been 802.11b, released in 1999.

 Wi-Fi 2 would have been 802.11a, also released in 1999.
 Wi-Fi 3 would have been 802.11g, released in 2003.
Faster Wi-Fi

As usual, the latest Wi-Fi standard offers faster data transfer speeds. If you’re using a Wi-Fi
router with a single device, maximum potential speeds should be up to 40% higher with Wi-
Fi 6 compared to Wi-Fi 5.

Wi-Fi 6 accomplishes this through more efficient data encoding, resulting in higher
throughput. Mainly, more data is packed into the same radio waves. The chips that encode
and decode these signals keep getting more powerful and can handle the extra work.

This new standard even increases speeds on 2.4GHz networks. While the industry has shifted
to 5GHz Wi-Fi for less interference, 2.4GHz is still better at penetrating solid objects. And
there shouldn’t be as much interference for 2.4GHz as old cordless telephones and wireless
baby monitors are retired.

Longer Battery Life

A new “target wake time” (TWT) feature means your smartphone, laptop, and other Wi-Fi-
enabled devices should have longer battery life, too.

When the access point is talking to a device (like your smartphone), it can tell the device
exactly when to put its Wi-Fi radio to sleep and exactly when to wake it up to receive the
next transmission. This will conserve power, as it means the Wi-Fi radio can spend more time
in sleep mode. And that means longer battery life.

Better Performance in Crowded Areas

Wi-Fi tends to get bogged down when you’re in a crowded place with a lot of Wi-FI enabled
devices. Picture a busy stadium, airport, hotel, mall, or even a crowded office with everyone
connected to Wi-Fi. You’re probably going to have slow Wi-Fi.

The new Wi-Fi 6, also known as 802.11ax, incorporates many new technologies to help with
this. Intel trumpets that Wi-Fi 6 will improve each user’s average speed by “at least four
times” in congested areas with a lot of connected devices.

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Wi-Fi 6 can now divide a wireless channel into a large number of subchannels. Each of these
subchannels can carry data intended for a different device. This is achieved through
something called Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access, or OFDMA. The Wi-Fi
access point can talk to more devices at once.

The new riderless standard also has improved MIMO—Multiple In/Multiple Out. This
involves multiple antennas, which let the access point talk to multiple devices at once. With
Wi-Fi 5, the access point could talk to devices at the same time, but those devices couldn’t
respond at the same time. Wi-Fi 6 has an improved version of multi-user or MU-MIMO that
lets devices respond to the wireless access point at the same time.

Wireless access points near each other may be transmitting on the same channel. In this case,
the radio listens and waits for a clear signal before replying. With Wi-Fi 6, wireless access
points near each other can be configured to have different Basic Service Set (BSS) “colors.”
This “color” is just a number between 0 and 7. If a device is checking whether the channel is
all clear and listens in, it may notice a transmission with a weak signal and a different
“color.” It can then ignore this signal and transmit anyway without waiting, so this will
mprove performance in congested areas, and is also called “spatial frequency re-use.”

HOW FAST IS IT?

The short but incomplete answer: 9.6 Gbps. That’s up from 3.5 Gbps on Wi-Fi 5.

The real answer: both of those speeds are theoretical maximums that you’re unlikely to ever
reach in real-world Wi-Fi use. And even if you could reach those speeds, it’s not clear that
you’d need them. The typical download speed in the US is just 72 Mbps, or less than 1
percent of the theoretical maximum speed.

But the fact that Wi-Fi 6 has a much higher theoretical speed limit than its predecessor is still
important. That 9.6 Gbps doesn’t have to go to a single computer. It can be split up across a
whole network of devices. That means more potential speed for each device.

WI-FI 6 ISN’T ABOUT TOP SPEEDS

Instead of boosting the speed for individual devices, Wi-Fi 6 is all about improving the
network when a bunch of devices are connected.

That’s an important goal, and it arrives at an important time: when Wi-Fi 5 came out, the
average US household had about five Wi-Fi devices in it. Now, homes have nine Wi-Fi
devices on average, and various firms have predicted we’ll hit 50 on average within several
years.

Those added devices take a toll on your network. Your router can only communicate with so
many devices at once, so the more gadgets demanding Wi-Fi, the more the network overall is
going to slow down.

Wi-Fi 6 introduces some new technologies to help mitigate the issues that come with putting
dozens of Wi-Fi devices on a single network. It lets routers communicate with more devices
at once, lets routers send data to multiple devices in the same broadcast, and lets Wi-Fi

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devices schedule check-ins with the router. Together, those features should keep connections
strong even as more and more devices start demanding data.

HOW DO I GET WI-FI 6?

You’ll need to buy new devices.

Wi-Fi generations rely on new hardware, not just software updates, so you’ll need to buy new
phones, laptops, and so on to get the new version of Wi-Fi.

To be clear: this is not something you’ll want to run out to the store and buy a new laptop just
to get. It’s not that game-changing of an update for any one device.

A WI-FI 6 ROUTER IS REQUIRED

Instead, new devices will start coming with Wi-Fi 6 by default. As you replace your phone,
laptop, and game consoles over the next five years, you’ll bring home new ones that include
the latest version of Wi-Fi.

There is one thing you will have to make a point of going out and buying, though: a new
router. If your router doesn’t support Wi-Fi 6, you won’t see any benefits, no matter how
many Wi-Fi 6 devices you bring home. (You could actually see a benefit, though, connecting
Wi-Fi 5 gadgets to a Wi-Fi 6 router, because the router may be capable of communicating
with more devices at once.)

Again, this isn’t something worth rushing out and buying. But if your home is packed with
Wi-Fi-connected smart devices, and things start to get sluggish in a couple years, a Wi-Fi 6
router may be able to meaningfully help.

WHAT MAKES WI-FI 6 FASTER?

There are two key technologies speeding up Wi-Fi 6 connections: MU-MIMO and OFDMA.

MU-MIMO, which stands for “multi-user, multiple input, multiple output,” is already in use
in modern routers and devices, but Wi-Fi 6 upgrades it.

The technology allows a router to communicate with multiple devices at the same time, rather
than broadcasting to one device, and then the next, and the next. Right now, MU-MIMO
allows routers to communicate with four devices at a time. Wi-Fi 6 will allow devices to
communicate with up to eight.

You can think of adding MU-MIMO connections like adding delivery trucks to a fleet, says
Kevin Robinson, marketing leader for the Wi-Fi Alliance, an internationally backed tech-
industry group that oversees the implementation of Wi-Fi. “You can send each of those
trucks in different directions to different customers,” Robinson says. “Before, you had four
trucks to fill with goods and send to four customers. With Wi-Fi 6, you now have eight
trucks.”

The other new technology, OFDMA, which stands for “orthogonal frequency division
multiple access,” allows one transmission to deliver data to multiple devices at once.

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Extending the truck metaphor, Robinson says that OFDMA essentially allows one truck to
carry goods to be delivered to multiple locations. “With OFDMA, the network can look at a
truck, see ‘I’m only allocating 75 percent of that truck and this other customer is kind of on
the way,’” and then fill up that remaining space with a delivery for the second customer, he
says.

WI-FI 6 CAN ALSO IMPROVE BATTERY LIFE

Another new technology in Wi-Fi 6 allows devices to plan out communications with a router,
reducing the amount of time they need to keep their antennas powered on to transmit and
search for signals. That means less drain on batteries and improved battery life in turn.

This is all possible because of a feature called Target Wake Time, which lets routers schedule
check-in times with devices.

It isn’t going to be helpful across the board, though. Your laptop needs constant internet
access, so it’s unlikely to make heavy use of this feature (except, perhaps, when it moves into
a sleep state).

Instead, this feature is meant more for smaller, already low-power Wi-Fi devices that just
need to update their status every now and then. (Think small sensors placed around a home to
monitor things like leaks or smart home devices that sit unused most of the day.)

WI-FI 6 ALSO MEANS BETTER SECURITY

Last year, Wi-Fi started getting its biggest security update in a decade, with a new security
protocol called WPA3. WPA3 makes it harder for hackers to crack passwords by constantly
guessing them, and it makes some data less useful even if hackers manage to obtain it.

Current devices and routers can support WPA3, but it’s optional. For a Wi-Fi 6 device to
receive certification from the Wi-Fi Alliance, WPA3 is required, so most Wi-Fi 6 devices are
likely to include the stronger security once the certification program launches.

WI-FI 6 IS JUST GETTING STARTED

Devices supporting Wi-Fi 6 are just starting to trickle out. You can already buy Wi-Fi 6
routers, but so far, they’re expensive high-end devices. A handful of laptops include the new
generation of Wi-Fi, too, but it’s not widespread just yet.

Wi-Fi 6 will start arriving on high-end phones this year, though. Qualcomm’s latest flagship
processor, the Snapdragon 855, includes support for Wi-Fi 6, and it’s destined for the next
wave of top-of-the-line phones. The Snapdragon 855’s inclusion doesn’t guarantee that a
phone will have Wi-Fi 6, but it’s a good sign: Samsung’s Galaxy S10 is one of the first
phones with the new processor, and it supports the newest generation of Wi-Fi.

The inclusion of Wi-Fi 6 is likely to become even more common next year. The Wi-Fi
Alliance will launch its Wi-Fi 6 certification program this fall, which guarantees
compatibility across Wi-Fi devices. Devices don’t need to pass that certification, but its
launch will signify that the industry is ready for Wi-Fi 6’s arrival.

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 Wi-Fi 6 addresses the increasing number of devices in individual networks. Wi-Fi 6 operates
in the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands and features improvements in throughput, multiple-device
support, and Wi-Fi spectrum efficiency. The following are major features of Wi-Fi 6:
Efficiency and capacity improvements
 Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (OFDMA). This feature enables your
router and devices to use your bandwidth more efficiently by reducing the time between
data transmissions. As a result, more bandwidth is available for other devices.
 High-bandwidth traffic efficiency with 8-stream Multi-User-Multiple-Input
Multiple-Output (MU-MIMO). This technology enables your router to communicate
with many devices simultaneously. Wi-Fi 6 also allows 8x8 APs to use all eight streams to
transmit information.
Note: Downlink MU-MIMO is not new in Wi-Fi 6. For more information about MU-
MIMO, see What is MU-MIMO and how can this technology be useful in my network?.
Speed improvements
 Improvements in data speeds and signal encoding. Wi-Fi 6 enables devices to send
more data in one transmission, resulting in speed improvements of up to 20%.
 Improvements through higher order modulation (1024-QAM). Higher order
modulation increases the efficiency and speed of data transmission on your network. This
technology can give up to 25% improvements in speed.
Together, these two features provide up to 40% improvement in connection speeds.
Range improvements
 20MHz-only devices and OFDMA’s ability to use smaller subcarriers means such devices
can reach longer distances.
Future improvements
 Further improvements through uplink MU-MIMO. Uplink MU-MIMO allows more of
your devices to transmit data to your AP, improving network efficiency.
 Better neighborhood, urban, and city-wide WiFi through spatial re-use (BSS color).
BSS coloring enables devices operating in the Wi-Fi 6 standard to differentiate between
signals from their own network and signals from other networks. This feature increases
the efficiency and capacity of your network.
 Extended battery for mobile and smart home devices with Target Wake Time
(TWT). TWT makes communication between your devices and your router’s Wi-Fi
channels more efficient. Devices that support TWT enter a sleep state until their scheduled
wake time. TWT reduces energy consumption and bandwidth use.
 6 GHz spectrum. The development of a 6 GHz band in the future means more unlicensed
bands available for high-bandwidth applications.