The future of Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi is present in every part of society, from the home, office, airport, coffee shop, or walking down the street. Wi-Fi coverage and availability has become a dependency and now influences network, system, and equipment development.

This phenomenon is generational and in constant evolution, although Wi-Fi 7 is not yet fully implemented, we keep driving forward; with Wi-Fi 8 being developed at the time of writing and deployment expected from 2028. Wi-Fi 8 will be known as IEEE 802.11bn Ultra High Reliability and will increase the reliability of the connection, rather than the speed like previous evolutions. Wi-Fi 8 will appear almost identical to Wi-Fi 7 in its throughput, bandwidth, and frequencies; the difference being the way your device interacts with multiple wireless access points to provide seamless coverage. The areas of improvement developers hope to include are:

• Coordinated Spatial Reuse (Co-SR) – This will enable the access points to coordinate their power consumption, ensuring that no access point becomes inaudible due to reduced power. Effective communication is key.
• Coordinated Beamforming (Co-BF) – This allows the router to stop signalling in certain directions to stop jamming devices that do not want to communicate with the router.
• Dynamic Sub-Channel Operation – This feature uses a subchannel to allow multiple devices to download the same file simultaneously. In Wi-Fi 8 the access point will assess each device’s needs and capabilities, then route the data accordingly.
• New Data Rates – This will include more of a gradient decrease in speed when moving around your house to stop a dramatic drop in speed.

Within a smart environment, one of the pressing issues is the range of connectivity. This is particularly important for Internet of Things (IoT) applications, which rely on sending data from sensors across buildings, campuses, or cities. IoT usually uses Long Range Wide Area Network (LoRaWAN) to provide extensive coverage across a large area, such as a campus or city. LoRa (Long Range) uses a radio communication technique that has a Chirp Spread Spectrum (CSS) modulation which enables data to be transferred over longer distances. This approach addresses the drawbacks of current Wi-Fi systems, which have shorter ranges and higher power consumption.

The main limitation of using LoRaWAN is its high latency and slower transfer speeds. This means that in a smart environment, there is a delay in responding to changes. A smart environment could hugely benefit from instant reactions to data, to create the best possible conditions for the occupants of the space.

Therefore, combining the two systems aims to create a network with extended range, higher transfer speeds and lower power consumption. This new development in Wi-Fi technology is called Wi-Lo and will combine the CSS technique from LoRaWAN with a traditional Wi-Fi network, achieving a greater connection distance. Wi-Lo has demonstrated success up to 500m with a 96% success rate. Although this distance may not seem extensive in the context of smart cities, it represents a more than 600% increase compared to a typical outdoor Wi-Fi network and an even greater improvement indoors.

This new technique, designed by Demin Gao, operates on existing, off-the-shelf hardware. “This reduces costs, complexity, and potential points of failure, making IoT deployments more efficient and scalable,” Gao says. Using standard Wi-Fi devices also reduces the environmental impact and makes the technology more accessible for application in ongoing projects. Additionally, the Wi-Lo system can communicate with existing LoRa devices, giving it an edge over other advancements, such as Wi-Fi HaLow, which can reach up to 1km in urban areas but requires more costly infrastructure and replacements.

This Wi-Lo system is still being developed and improved. Some drawbacks include its limited range, which can hopefully evolve with further advancements. Additionally, Wi-Fi devices will consume more power due to the simultaneous communication handling and signal emulation. Gao's team is working on addressing these issues, as well as optimising data rates and strengthening security. These applications will be beneficial in smart cities and agriculture, as they will enable fewer devices to be spaced further apart while still effectively managing and transmitting all IoT data.

The Wi-Lo system is essential as technology advances and the number of devices needing to connect to IoT systems continues to rise. According to IoT Analytics’ State of IoT Summer 2024 report, there were 16.6 billion connected IoT devices by the end of 2023 (a growth of 15% over 2022). The number of connected IoT devices is estimated to reach 40 billion by 2030. Although this growth is expected to slow due to current global political and economic conditions, high demand is still anticipated over the next 6 years truly showcasing the future of Wi-Fi.