This article was compiled from IEEE by Semiconductor Industry Perspectives (ID: ICviews).
The FastConnect 7900 relies on AI to improve connectivity while reducing power consumption.
The wireless spectrum is always very "crowded", and if you've ever tried to connect to Wi-Fi in a crowded airport or stadium, you know the pain that comes with using the congested spectrum. That's why the industry is constantly looking for ways to make the most of the available spectrum. The latest example is Qualcomm's FastConnect 7900 chip at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
Qualcomm advertised the FastConnect 7900 as a provider of "AI-enhanced" Wi-Fi 7, which the company sees as an opportunity to create more reliable wireless connectivity. The chip will also better integrate different technologies such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and ultra-wideband for consumer applications. In addition, the chip can support two connections to the same device on the same frequency band.
The FastConnect 7900 comes at a time when the wireless industry is refocusing on the reliability of the latest generation of wireless technology standard, Wi-Fi 7. The focus is also on increasing throughput and reducing latency, which is what every generation of Wi-Fi contributes.
Wi-Fi is a bit like the Wild West," said J**ier del Prado, vice president of mobile connectivity at Qualcomm. "There's all sorts of devices out there, congestion, devices coming in and out, access points that do this, access points that do this — it's very difficult to guarantee service. Del Prado said AI is the "perfect tool" to change that.
The key to the functionality of the FastConnect 7900 is the chip's ability to detect which applications are being used by the device. Different applications use Wi-Fi in different ways: for example, streaming** may require more data throughput, while voice chat needs to prioritize low latency. After the chip determines which application is being used, it can optimize power consumption and latency on a case-by-case basis.
Using artificial intelligence to manage wireless spectrum connections isn't a new problem or solution, but Qualcomm's chips benefit from running everything on the device. "It has to run on the device to be effective," del Prado said. "We need to make decisions in the microseconds. ”
In other words, utilizing the Wi-Fi connection itself to transmit information on how to adjust the Wi-Fi connection defeats the purpose of AI management from the start. By the time the chip receives the information, it is already outdated.
Equally important: the chip does not consume electricity – in fact, it saves electricity overall. "These are fairly simple models," del Prado said. "This is not an AI with 5 billion parameters. This is a much smaller model. The key performance indicators are speed and accuracy. ”
According to del Prado, the chip's power consumption is negligible. In fact, thanks to the chip's ability to optimize power consumption based on the application running, it can save up to 30 percent of the device's power consumption.
Aside from cellular networks, Wi-Fi is the most common way our phones connect with the world. But it's not the only technology – Bluetooth can be used in devices like wireless earbuds, and ultra-wideband (UWB) can also be used for applications like item tracking (such as Apple's AirPods) and remotely locking and unlocking cars. All three of these technologies rely heavily on proximity and distance ranging to maintain wireless connectivity.
All of these use cases use proximity and use different technologies," del Prado said. "Different technologies bring different benefits. There's not always one technology that fits all. But this creates complexity. ”
Del Prado said Qualcomm's FastConnect 7900 will hide this complexity. "We make it technology-agnostic to consumers. ”
The final trick offered by the FastConnect 7900 is the ability to host two Wi-Fi connections on the same frequency band. The chip is built on previous generations of FastConnect. "We've introduced what's called 'hybrid sync', which is the ability to process multiple channels simultaneously on the 5 and 6 GHz bands," said Del Prado.
Del Prado said the new addition to the 7900 is via Wi-Fi** audio. Qualcomm refers to it as "xpan", and it is a separate channel for audio that only works in the 5 GHz and 6 GHz bands.
This is important because unlike in 2The 4 GHz band can provide higher audio quality to the device compared to Bluetooth. Del Prado says that by opening up a separate channel specifically for audio, the 7900 chip can deliver better audio quality without succumbing to the pressures that typically occur when multiple connections require the same wireless signal. "This is something that Bluetooth can't do at the moment because it has limited bandwidth," del Prado said.
Qualcomm has made samples of the FastConnect 7900 available to its customers, i.e., manufacturers of mobile phones and similar devices. Del Prado estimates that the first products equipped with the chip will be available in the second half of this year. "When a new round of high-end Android phones hit the market later this year, they should support this feature. ”
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