WiFi IPC is the main product line of consumer IPC, accounting for 70% of the market share, and 80% of it uses WiFi 4 transmission. As users demand higher image quality, interactive experience, and application scenarios, the market requires higher speed, lower power consumption, and more stable transmission technologies. The development of WiFi 6 technology can meet the needs of industry development. From WiFi 4 and WiFi 5 to WiFi 6, from single frequency to dual frequency, all are in line with the trend of technology and standard iteration.
WiFi6 IPC has the following advantages over WiFi4 IPC:
1. High speed: WiFi6 has a speed about 50% higher than WiFi4 of the same specifications, ensuring smooth video experience at the same distance.
2. Low power consumption: WiFi6 chips generally use processes of 22nm and below, while WiFi4 mostly uses processes of 28 or 40nm. WiFi6 allows devices to plan communication with routers, reducing the time required to keep the antenna powered to transmit and search for signals. This means reducing battery consumption and improving battery life performance. In actual testing, the power consumption is 20% -30% lower than WiFi4, which optimizes the battery life of constant power IPC single board heating and low-power IPC.
3. Stability: WiFi6 introduces cellular OFDMA technology to achieve high-density access routing, with high real-time parallel transmission. WiFi4 devices use time-division multiplexing to compete for network speed when routing, so WiFi6 can solve the probability of WiFi4 disconnection and lagging problems.
4. The iteration trend of new and old standards: WiFi4 to WiFi6 is the iteration of new and old standards, similar to cellular 2G to 4G; As the price approaches or remains stable, it will accelerate the implementation of iterations. At present, WiFi6 has not only performance advantages but also a new selling point differentiation advantage compared to WiFi4.
5. Complete replacement: WiFi6 protocol is backward compatible with WiFi4, and mainstream modules in the market are also pin to pin.
Is 40MHz bandwidth also considered WiFi6? Basic parameters of WiFi6:
| Wi-Fi protocol | frequency(GHz) | bandwidth(MHz) | maximum rate(Mbps) | Theoretical maximum rate(Mbps) |
| Wi-Fi 4 | 2.4/5 | 20 | 72.2 | 288.9 |
| 2.4/5 | 40 | 150 | 600 | |
| Wi-Fi 5 | 5 | 20 | 86.7 | 693.3 |
| 5 | 40 | 200 | 1600 | |
| 5 | 80 | 433.3 | 3466.7 | |
| 5 | 160 | 866.7 | 6933.3 | |
| Wi-Fi 6 | 2.4/5 | 20 | 143.4 | 1147.1 |
| 2.4/5 | 40 | 286.8 | 2294.1 | |
| 5 | 80 | 600.5 | 4803.9 | |
| 5 | 160 | 1201 | 9607.8 |
We found that WiFi6 has different channel bandwidths of 20MHz, 40MHz, 80MHz, and 160MHz, so the 40MHz channel bandwidth cannot be used as a basis for judging the authenticity of WiFi6. The key is still the 802.11AX protocol standard, similar to 4G networks with CAT1, CAT4, and CAT6. It cannot be said that it is not 4G just because the bandwidth of CAT1 is small and the rate is low; Similarly, WiFi 6 has single frequency and dual frequency, with bandwidths of 40MHz, 80MHz, and 160MHz. Manufacturers design chips with different bandwidths based on different product positioning and cost demands.
