Qualcomm has unveiled its Wi-Fi 8 (802.11bn) portfolio, which includes the FastConnect 8800 “Mobile Connectivity System”, also integrating Bluetooth 7 wireless technology, Ultra Wideband (UWB), and Thread, and five Dragonwing Networking platforms for access points and routers.
The Dragonwing NPro A8 Elite features a 5×5 Wi-Fi 8 radio system for high-performance enterprise access points and premium home routers, the Dragonwing FiberPro A8 Elite offers similar features but adds 10G fiber access (PON) for fiber-to-the-home gateways, the Dragonwing FWA Gen 5 Elite is designed for fixed wireless access using the Qualcomm X85 5G Modem-RF System, and the Qualcomm Dragonwing N8 and F8 platforms offer mainstream tier options for Ethernet and fiber broadband CPEs.
Qualcomm FastConnect 8800 Wi-Fi 8 mobile client
Qualcomm FastConnect 8800 (WCN885x) specifications:
Wi-Fi 8 with advanced features like
UWB, including and RADAR
Support for Snapdragon Sound™ Technology Suite, Bluetooth® High Data Throughput (HDT), and Qualcomm XPAN
Proximity AI for direction and distance across the globe
Wi-Fi connectivity
Peak Speed – 11.6 Gbps PHY rate
Generation – Wi-Fi 8, Wi-Fi 7, Wi-Fi 6E, Wi-Fi 6
Standards – IEEE 802.11bn, 802.11be, 802.11ax, 802.11ac, 802.11n, 802.11g, 802.11a, 802.11b
Spectral Bands – 6 GHz, 5 GHz, 2.4 GHz
Channels – Up to 320 MHz
Peak QAM – 4K QAM
Features
High Band Simultaneous (HBS) Multi-Link
MU-MIMO (UL/DL)
OFDMA (UL/DL)
Target Wake Time (TWT)
Extended Long Range (ELR)
Passpoint, Wi-Fi Aware R, Wi-Fi Location, Wi-Fi Optimized Connectivity, Wi-Fi QoS Management, TDLS, Miracast, Voice-Enterprise
Bluetooth connectivity – Bluetooth 7.0 with Channel Sounding and High Data Throughput (HDT) for speeds up to 7.5 Mbps
Audio
Qualcomm aptX audio technology support
Qualcomm aptX Audio, Qualcomm aptX Lossless, Qualcomm aptX Adaptive, Qualcomm aptX Voice
Audio Processing Technologies – Qualcomm Immersive Audio, Snapdragon Sound technology, LE Audio, Low latency Gaming mode with Voice back-channel, Spatial Audio
UWB
Standards – IEEE 802.15.4z, Fine Ranging (FiRa), Car Connectivity Consortium (CCC), CSA Aliro
Features – 1x Tx + 3x Rx chains with support for RADAR and NBA-MMS
Process Node – 6 nm
Qualcomm claims the FastConnect 8800 is the world’s first mobile solution with a 4×4 Wi-Fi radio configuration, and delivers up to twice the performance and three times the gigabit wireless range compared to the previous-generation FastConnect 7900 WiFi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, and UWB chip. It also supports High Data Throughput (HDT) for faster Bluetooth speeds, going from 2 Mbps to 7.5 Mbps.
While it’s mainly designed for premium smartphones, Qualcomm says its WiFi 8 client platform will also benefit high-end tablets, laptops, robotics, and more. A few more details may be found on the product page.
Qualcomm Dragonwing Wi-Fi 8 networking platforms
Qualcomm Dragonwing NPro A8 Elite (IPQ96) highlights:
The Qualcomm Dragonwing FiberPro A8 Elite (also listed with IPQ96 part number) has exactly the same specifications as the Dragonwing NPro A8 Elite, except it adds Passive Optical Network (PON) support:
Deployment types – ITU-T G.984.3 GPON, G.987.3 XG-PON, ITU-T G.9807.1 XGS-PON
Peak Downstream Rate – 10 GB/s
Peak Upstream Rate – 10 GB/s
Qualcomm Dragonwing FWA Gen 5 Elite specifications:
NPU – Qualcomm Hexagon
Cellular
Qualcomm X85 5G Modem-RF
Peak Download Speed – 12.5 Gbps (FR1+FR2),10.3 Gbps (FR1)
Peak Upload Speed – 3.7 Gbps
Range – Up to 14kn with mmWave
Technology
3GPP R18-ready (5G Advanced-ready)
6xCA sub-6 downlink carrier aggregation, 6xCA sub-6 downlink carrier aggregation
Wi-Fi
Generation – Wi-Fi 8, Wi-Fi 7, Wi-Fi 6, Wi-Fi 6E, Wi-Fi 5, Wi-Fi 4
Standards – 802.11bn, 802.11be, 802.11ax, 802.11ac, 802.11n, 802.11g, 802.11b, 802.11a
Spectral Bands – 6 GHz, 5 GHz, 2.4 GHz
Maximum Band Configuration – Tri-band
Spatial Streams – Up to 12
Peak QAM – Up to 4K QAM
Encryption – AES-CCMP, AES-GCMP
Security – WPA3 Personal, WPA3 Enterprise, WPA3 Enhanced Open, WPA3 Easy Connect, WPA2, WPS, 802.11i security, PRNG, TKIP, WAPI2, WAPI1, WEP
Features – Simultaneous & Alternating Multi Link, Adaptive Interference Puncturing, OFDMA (UL/DL), MU-MIMO (UL/DL)
Ethernet -2x 10GbE
The WiFi 8 + 5G FWA chip runs OpenWrt, RDK-B, or prplOS and is supported by the Qualcomm AI Stack.
Qualcomm Dragonwing N8/N7 (IPQ52) specifications:
CPU – Quad-core processor up to 1.4 GHz
Memory – 16-bit DDR3L, DDR4
Storage – eMMC, NAND, and NOR flash
Wi-Fi
Peak PHY Rate – Up to 23 Gbps
Generation – Wi-Fi 8, Wi-Fi 7, Wi-Fi 6E, Wi-Fi 6, Wi-Fi 5, Wi-Fi 4
Standards – 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, 802.11ac, 802.11ax, 802.11be, 802.11bn
Spectral Bands – 6 GHz, 5 GHz, 2.4 GHz
Maximum Band Configuration – Tri-band
Channels – Up to 320 MHz
Peak QAM – 4K QAM
Encryption – AES-CCMP, AES-GCMP
Security – WPA3 Enhanced Open, WPS, WPA2, WEP, TKIP, PRNG, WAPI2, WAPI1, 802.11i security, WPA3 Personal, WPA3 Enterprise, WPA3 Easy Connect
Features
Up to 750 users
MU-MIMO (UL/DL), OFDMA (UL/DL), Advanced Scan Radio, Intermediate Modulation and Coding Schemes (MCS), Improved Low-Density Parity Check (LDPC), Distributed RU (DRU), Unequal Modulation (UEQM), Enhanced Long Range (ELR), Multi-Primary Operation (DSO/NPCA), Device Unavailability Operation (DUO), AP Periodic Unavailability Operation (PUO), Low Latency, Low Loss, Scalable Throughput (L4S), Coordinated Time Division Multiple Access (Co-TDMA), Coordinated Restricted Target Wake Time (Co-RTWT), Coordinated Spatial Reuse (Co-SR), Coordinated Beamforming (Co-BF), Single Mobility Domain (SMD) Roaming, Dynamic Bandwidth Expansion (DBE)
Ethernet – 2x 10GbE, 4x 2.5GbE
Supported Interfaces
1x 10Gbps USXGMII-M
2x 10Gbps USXGMII
2-lane PCIe 3.0, 1-lane PCIe 3.0
USB 3.0
SLIC PCM, UART, SPI, Slave I²C, GPIO
Platform Extensions – 4G/5G FWA, 802.15.4, Bluetooth
F8 only – Passive Optical Network (PON)
Deployment types – ITU-T G.984.3 GPON, G.987.3 XG-PON, ITU-T G.9807.1 XGS-PON
Peak Downstream Rate – 10 GB/s
Peak Upstream Rate – 10 GB/s
As a reminder, Wi-Fi 8 (802.11bn) is also named “Ultra High Reliability (UHR)” Wi-Fi, and it does not provide much benefit over Wi-Fi 7 when using a couple of clients, since the maximum PHY rate is the same. However, it improves Wi-Fi reliability, network efficiency, and power consumption in IoT use cases, which should end up improving the overall WLAN performance when many nodes are connected. Other companies that introduced or teased WiFi 8 chips for clients and access points include Broadcom and MediaTek.
Additional information about the new Qualcomm Dragonwing Wi-Fi 8 networking platforms can be found on the Qualcomm website and the press release.
Thanks to TLS for the tip.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
Support CNX Software! Donate via cryptocurrencies, become a Patron on Patreon, or purchase goods on Amazon or Aliexpress. We also use affiliate links in articles to earn commissions if you make a purchase after clicking on those links.