Uniquely Positioned to Support IoT, New Transceiver Brings 1024 QAM Modulation and OFDMA to IoT Use Model
SANTA CLARA, Calif., May 4, 2020 — Palma Ceia SemiDesign, a provider of next-generation wireless connectivity solutions, today announced it has completed an RF transceiver supporting 802.11ax, also known as Wi-Fi 6. Palma Ceia’s Wi-Fi 6 RF transceiver tape-out is a notable milestone toward launching a new product offering later this year, greatly expanding applications for products requiring Wi-Fi connectivity.
“This IP, our first for Wi-Fi 6, will be critical as we broaden our wireless chip offerings,” said Greg Walker, chief administrative officer of Palma Ceia SemiDesign. “It’s an industry-leading, 20-MHz, single-chip RF transceiver that will take advantage of the increased speed Wi-Fi 6 allows.”
Wi-Fi 6, the Wi-Fi Alliance’s designation for 802.11ax, is the newest version of the 802.11 standard for wireless network transmissions commonly referred to as Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi 6 is backward-compatible with the previous version of the Wi-Fi standard, 802.11ac.
“Given how the rate of adoption of next-generation wireless connectivity has accelerated, we expect our customers will quickly find very creative applications using this new Wi-Fi 6 offering to enhance the productivity of their employees and their customers,” Walker said.
Advantages of Wi-Fi 6
The transition to 802.11ax from 802.11ac and earlier Wi-Fi standards delivers multiple advantages, including a much higher theoretical maximum speed of 9.6 Gbps, compared to 3.5 Gbps in 802.11ac, and Orthogonal Frequency Domain Multiple Access (OFDMA), a method for encoding digital data for wireless transmission.
“Along with the speed advantage, the introduction of OFDMA technology allows routers to communicate with multiple Wi-Fi devices simultaneously, thereby reducing the negative impacts of high station density within a single network,” said James E. Flowers, co-founder and chief operating officer of Palma Ceia. “Even as more devices demand data, the connections will remain robust. Taped out for a TSMC 28nm process, the new transceiver, optimized for minimum power operation, expands the company’s offering into the Wi-Fi 6 generation.
“By virtue of targeted wake time and dual-carrier modulation, major power savings and enhanced operating distance will deliver better performance for IoT devices that do not need to operate continuously, such as long-range sensors using daily or weekly communications,” Flowers said.
Applications
Environments where the superior speed and other operating advantages are expected to be readily received include:
- Large public venues
- Transportation hubs
- Smart cities and factories
- Campus and university environments
- Home offices
- Smart homes
In addition, Palma Ceia SemiDesign offers HaLow and NB-IOT products targeting many of these same applications, and their need to operate under battery power for 10 years or more.
Availability
Performance and characterization data for the PCS Wi-Fi 6 radio will be available in June 2020. Contact information is available on the Palma Ceia SemiDesign website.