Joint development work by Cisco and Intel is aimed at delivering more reliable Wi-Fi connectivity and new capabilities for latency-sensitive applications.
Cisco and Intel have expanded their partnership to focus on jointly developing Wi-Fi 7 technologies and strengthening interoperability between Cisco access points and Intel client devices.
The agreement includes investments by both companies to develop next-gen Wi-Fi 7 solutions and deliver product interoperability through joint labs, early code sharing and testing, according to Thomas Hannaford, a communications manager with Intel, who wrote a blog about the agreement. Additional efforts are focused on technologies to handle latency-sensitive applications and enhanced traffic prioritization for more reliable connectivity, Hannaford stated.
Wi-Fi 7, also known as 802.11be, is expected to reduce latency, increase network capacity, boost efficiency, and support more connected devices. It’s still early days for Wi-Fi 7, however. The IEEE is expected to agree to the final spec later this year, and the Wi-Fi Alliance has only just begun its official certification program for Wi-Fi 7 devices and products.
Wi-Fi 7 employs Extremely High Throughput (EHT) to provide top data transfer rates of over 40Gbps, a significant leap compared to earlier Wi-Fi standards. The emphasis of this technology is on physical (PHY) and medium access control (MAC) enhancements that can sustain a maximum throughput of at least 30Gbps, as per expert insights.
Wi-Fi 7 also includes a multi-link operation (MLO) feature which lets devices send and receive data concurrently across varying frequency bands and channels. This improves the efficacy of wireless connections. Additional security measures like encryption and authentication via WPA3 Enterprise further amplify the security of Wi-Fi, as stated by Hannaford.
Hannaford further notes, “Intel and Cisco, through their mutual collaboration, will deliver substantially higher levels of reliability inclusive of strong high throughput, low latency, and deterministic Wi-Fi 7 performance. This is achieved by enhancing MLO and Quality of Service Management, and incorporating the 6ghz spectrum on Low Power Indoor and standard power Automated Frequency Coordination.”
Intel claims that the development of WiFi7 will supplement their newly unveiled AI PC platforms, equipped with an integrated neural processing unit as well as efficient AI acceleration and local inference on the PC. The amalgamation of Wi-Fi 7 technology into Intel’s AI PC platform assures better network performance, reduced latency, and increased bandwidth. These are all crucial in supporting AI software that demand speedy data transfers and connections with low latency.
Cisco and Intel have maintained a collaborative relationship over many years to improve wireless services.
In the previous year, the two companies revealed their plans to develop reference architectures for 5G services that are applicable in various sectors like internet of things (IoT), manufacturing, supply chain, or smart sites. Their goal is to provide these architectures to managed service provider partners.
Fueled by its mobile-core technology and extensive IoT portfolio which encompasses Cisco IoT Control Center and Cisco P5G Packet Core as well as IoT sensors and gateways, Cisco’s subscription-based, private 5G managed service also offers device management software and monitoring tools accessible via a single portal.
In their continued collaboration, Cisco and Intel have also teamed up with 5G device and radio access network (RAN) manufacturers, as well as enterprise application-software developers offering validated and personalized services. They plan to jointly develop edge AI frameworks that hinge on Intel’s Xeon processors, Intel Smart Edge for multi-access edge computing, and RAN offerings.
The vendors also operate 5G innovation labs in California, Germany, and Japan, where customers can test applications before putting them into production.
