2019年Wi-Fi Alliance®计划释放下一代无线标准 - Wi-Fi 6（802.11AX）。RF组件提供商，芯片组制造商和运营商渴望并已经准备计划更新。
与Wi-Fi 5（.11ac）相比，Wi-Fi 6提供了几个主要优点：增加了更快的流式流的速度，增加了更好的同时访问的数据容量，以及家庭和办公室的扩展覆盖范围，可以进一步改进每个房间内无线接入吊舱的“网格”模型。虽然与其前身相比，Wi-Fi 5看到数据速率的一些小的改进，但它的重点主要是提高下载速度。但是，在当今共享视频和消费者创造的内容的更多关联世界中，上传率是真正需要的大修。随着正交频分多访问（OFDMA）的实现，Wi-Fi 6利用成功的LTE进步来大大减少网络拥塞。不是保持数据信道直到传输完成，而在使用OFDMA信道之前通过不同的频率将OFDMA通道细分为数百个较小的子信道。这种切割和堆叠信号提供了4-10倍电流速率的增加和吞吐量大大提高。现在，多个用户可以同时上传和下载，而不会在速度中牺牲。
These advantages bring some significant design challenges with them that engineers will need to solve in order to deliver on all of the benefits .11ax has to offer. As with any new standard, working closely with your wireless suppliers and chipset manufacturers can help provide guidance on what components and techniques are best in designing to the specification changes.
Increased connection speeds, extended coverage and longer battery life may well be worth the effort as a strong, reliable Wi-Fi connection is a fundamental necessity for businesses and consumers today. While the promise of Wi-Fi 6 is largely driven by powerful new software protocols, hardware solutions will need to hold up their end of the bargain for this new system to work as planned. When tackling these challenges at the component level, bulk acoustic wave (BAW) filters are ideally suited to address many of the obstacles in designing better hardware for the next-generation 802.11ax wireless standard. Here are a few of the specific use cases for BAW filters and how their improved performance can support new design solutions:
- Resolving interference:One of the main challenges in today's homes is interference. It can come from other devices – like LTE, 5G or IoT devices – and will certainly become an increasing issue in the future as new cell towers are planned to increase 5G network coverage. The main purpose of a BAW filter is to eliminate interference. Using BAW filters inside Wi-Fi access points or products allows the signal to be transmitted in the most efficient way and can improve coexistence between different radio technologies.
- 减少尺寸：在无线技术,规模很重要,特别是for operators who want to design small and sleek products for their customers. Reducing size involves designing more efficient boards that position all necessary components within a minimal amount of space. At the Front-End Module (FEM) level this is best accomplished with increased integration. Designing a BAW filter directly into your FEM can reduce board area by up to 40%. This is also a great way to reduce costs by lowering the overall component count.
- Increased speed:Wi-Fi 6 increases data speeds which are key when multiple users connect at the same time to stream 4K UHD videos, attend online conference calls, or play their favorite multi-player role playing game. The Wi-Fi 6 .11ax standard allows the use of more channels simultaneously, and BAW filters aid in this by reducing interference which will help improve data rates.
- Increased efficiency:由于前端模块使用更多通道，路由器内的温度可以增加，这需要更高的节能组件来补偿。BAW滤波器通过减少系统中的损耗并与SAW滤波器相比，降低功耗和耗散，提供较低的损耗解决方案。通过BAW过滤器，每0.5 dB改善导致效率的11％，导致内部热量较少。更高效的组件还允许较小的形状因素，因为需要在设计中包含风扇。
With the above considerations in mind, BAW filters can be a design engineer's best friend when used properly to reduce unwanted effects of increased interference or internal device heat. As more customer premise equipment is built to take advantage of the improved capabilities of Wi-Fi 6, keep these benefits in mind, and look to the BAW technology to make your next design go more smoothly!
