Qualcomm has just presented FastConnect 7800, the first commercial chip compatible with the WiFi 7 standard. Available from the end of 2022, the component will support all the new features of this new standard.
Qualcomm took advantage of MWC 2022, the Barcelona mobile phone show, to announce the first WiFi 7 chip ready for commercialization. For the record, the American founder got down to manufacturing compatible chips from the first half of last year. Qualcomm had been imitated by its main rivals, MediaTek and Broadcom.
Title Fast Connect 7800, the Qualcomm chip stands out as the first commercial solution compatible with the WiFi 7 standard. For the record, WiFi 7 is the next generation of 802.11be wireless networks. With this new standard, Wi-Fi Alliance, the consortium that manages and owns the Wi-Fi brand, aims to quadruple the bandwidth of WiFi 6 technology, with at least 30 Gbps per access point and up to 48 Gbps theoretical.
Qualcomm pulls the rug out from under Mediatek and Broadcom with first WiFi 7 chip
According to Qualcomm, the chip will offer maximum theoretical speeds of 5.8 Gbit/s on the 6 GHz band with a latency of less than 2 ms. The component manages four streams simultaneously (up to 16 in Wi-Fi 7) with a latency of less than 2 ms. On the 5 GHz frequency band, FastConnect 7800 promises 240 MHz.
Unsurprisingly, the chip designed for WiFi 7 is also compatible with WiFi 6 and WiFi 6E, which are only beginning to become more popular. Finally, Bluetooth LE Audio, Bluetooth 5.3, Dual Bluetooth and ANT+ are also supported. The icing on the cake, Qualcomm ensures that the chip consumes 50% less energy than the previous solutions.
Read also: WiFi 7 (802.11be) could also detect the falls of elderly people
Thanks to this announcement, Qualcomm distances its competitors Mediatek and Broadcom, whose WiFi solutions are still in development, boasts of “reaffirm its leadership in defining the future of wireless connectivity”. The founder claims that the chip is compatible with all new features of WiFi 7 although the protocol has yet to be fully completed by the Wi-Fi Alliance.
Qualcomm will make the FastConnect 7800 chip available to smartphone manufacturers from the second half of this year. For now, we still don’t know which brand will be the first to turn to Qualcomm’s WiFi 7 solution.
