Improving the Wi-Fi user experience.
Qualcomm is leading the way in developing IEEE802.11ai based
technologies that significantly improve Wi-Fi user experience as well as
address many Wi-Fi deployment pain points for operators.
Operators
are increasingly relying on Wi-Fi to enable Cellular offload and offer
Wi-Fi-as-a-Service. However, users often turn off Wi-Fi when they encounter an
unsatisfying experience such as poor connectivity, long connection times, poor
roaming experience, reduced bandwidth due to spectral inefficiency (excessive management
frames), etc. Qualcomm Research has developed 802.11ai based technology to
solve such issues which are pervasive in today’s public Wi-Fi networks.
Benefits of 802.11ai
·
Fast Initial Link Setup (FILS): Legacy
Wi-Fi link setup in operator managed networks may require exchange of up to 27
messages between the STA, AP and Authentication Server. 802.11ai based FILS
reduces the number of link-setup messages to 4, significantly improving
link-setup speed and robustness, while also reducing signaling overhead. By
using FILS, the initial link set-up time can be improved ~15x.
·
Fast Wi-Fi Roaming: Good user experience in operator managed Public
and Community Wi-Fi networks requires fast and seamless roaming of STAs across
APs with different SSIDs and Subnets. Legacy Wi-Fi link setup and roaming
procedures either completely stall or cause a 9-10 second outage when roaming
across different SSIDs and/or Subnets, thereby inhibiting seamless user
experience and making it unsuitable for real-time voice and video applications.
802.11ai enables fast Wi-Fi roaming by assisting STAs to quickly choose and
connect to the right AP, bringing the interruption down to less than ½ a
second.
·
Increased Capacity: For users already connected to a Wi-Fi AP, the
arrival of a large number of new users can cause what is known as “probe
storms” and/or “association storms” and consequently lead to a temporary service
outage. This is a common problem in busy train or subway stations and airports.
Also, operators of dense Wi-Fi networks observe decreased capacity as 20-60% of
the medium is occupied by management frames overhead.
802.11ai
FILS and probe storm reduction techniques can significantly reduce the medium
overhead attributable to probe requests/responses, beacons and link setup
signaling, resulting in increased capacity and better user experience even as
hundreds of new users try to access the Wi-Fi network.
·
Additional Operator Benefits: 802.11ai enables a flexible Wi-Fi deployment
model for operators, with no need for a central AP controller. APs from
multiple OEMs can be easily deployed and the network can be configured with
different SSIDs and subnets while maintaining good user experience and roaming
performance. Additionally, 802.11ai authentication methods are designed to
eliminate interaction with and reduce load on operator HLR/HSS.
