Qualcomm extends benefits of 802.11ad Wi-Fi to enterprises and outdoor environments

Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. (QTI), a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM), announced today that it is bringing the benefits of its 802.11ad Wi-Fi technology to a variety of enterprise and outdoor environments. Qualcomm Technologies’ 802.11ad solutions already provide multi-gigabit wireless connectivity for laptops, wireless docks, smartphones and home networking products. Qualcomm Technologies has now expanded its 802.11ad portfolio to address the requirements of enterprises and carriers looking to improve network capacity and deliver fixed broadband access. Qualcomm Technologies is working with leading enterprise OEMs to bring tri-band access points and outdoor products to market this year – including the “Wireless Wire 60G” outdoor transparent link that was recently introduced by MikroTik.

Offering multi-gigabit speeds in the relatively interference-free 60 GHz band, 802.11ad can provide customers with a robust, cost-effective and “invisible” alternative to fiber and cable deployments. Qualcomm Technologies’ latest 802.11ad chipset combines the QCA6335 baseband and QCA6310 RF transceiver, which uses up to 256 antenna elements to maintain robust wireless connections for outdoor and long-range deployments (up to 1km). It brings additional benefits to demanding enterprise environments, including advanced beamforming and beam steering features to maintain strong connections in dense environments, highly-accurate positioning, as well as a low-power CMOS design to meet enterprise Power over Ethernet (PoE) requirements.

“802.11ad holds great promise for a wide variety of consumer applications, and can now provide enterprises and carriers with a highly robust and cost-effective way to extend their networks indoors and out,” said Irvind Ghai, vice president, product management, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. “Qualcomm Technologies is working with forward-thinking enterprise partners like MikroTik to take advantage of virtually untapped wireless spectrum to eliminate expensive fiber installs and unsightly aerial cable drops.”

In addition to outdoor deployments, tri-band access points (supporting 802.11ad in the 60 GHz band, and 802.11ac in the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands) are ideal for traditional enterprise-class networks, as they augment Wi-Fi capacity in dense places like conference rooms, cubical environments, auditoriums and public venues. Qualcomm Technologies solutions also support Fast Session Transfer (FST) features to provide a seamless transition to 802.11ac when roaming.

Mikrotik, a leading provider of Internet connectivity devices, is using Qualcomm Technologies’ 802.11ad solution to power its Wireless Wire 60G Gigabit Ethernet extender that provides advanced connectivity between buildings up to 100 meters.

“Our customers demand robust connectivity across campuses, and the unique characteristics of 802.11ad make it possible to offer a powerful, yet cost-effective alternative to cable and fiber,” said John Tully, chief executive officer, MikroTik. “Qualcomm Technologies’ strong enterprise presence and industry-leading 11ad technology helped us deliver a cutting-edge outdoor product with the right mix of performance, simple installation and cost-structure for the market.”