News: Microelectronics
12 January 2021
Skyworks partners with ASUS on first ultra-fast Wi-Fi 6E extended-band router
Skyworks Solutions Inc of Woburn, MA, USA (which manufactures analog and mixed-signal semiconductors) says that its high-performance Wi-Fi 6E front-end modules are featured on the first ultra-fast Wi-Fi 6E gaming router from ASUS.
Utilizing the FCC’s newly allocated 6~7GHz extended band to double the capacity of traditional Wi-Fi, the Wi-Fi 6E standard enables faster connectivity and supports an increased number of connected users, meeting the unprecedented demand for increased video conferencing, online gaming, streaming TV, augmented/virtual reality (AR/VR), home security cameras and online exercise apps. ASUS is said to be first to deliver the increased and wider-bandwidth 160MHz channels of Wi-Fi 6E with its ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000 gaming router.
The report ‘6GHz Wi-Fi opportunites and challenges’ (15 September 2020) from ABI Research forecasts 1.4 billion Wi-Fi 6E chipset shipments by 2025, while noting that the addition of the 6GHz band is coming at a critical time as home Wi-Fi communications faces increased data demand, with operators worldwide having reported major surges in Wi-Fi traffic. The addition of the 6GHz band will help to provide faster Wi-Fi with less interference, ensuring that this increased use of home Wi-Fi can be supported with high-quality connectivity.
Skyworks says that its Wi-Fi 6E solutions expedite time-to-market by incorporating all the required functionality to deliver the maximum allowed performance and contain a logarithmic power detector to support wide dynamic ranges, low power consumption and improved thermal management. It adds that its Wi-Fi 6E wireless products are enabling faster download and upload speeds along with enhanced coverage, highly reliable connectivity in dense traffic areas and improved power efficiency.
Designed with three concurrent frequency bands of operation and 802.11ax Wi-Fi 6E connectivity, the ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000 (said to be the first Wi-Fi 6E router) supports speeds of up to 11Gb/s and features WAN aggregation for wired connectivity up to 2Gb/s. With 4x4 Wi-Fi 6 and a 2.5Gb/s wired LAN port, both wired and wireless networks can achieve sustained speeds of more than 1Gb/s, yielding true multi-gigabit performance. The GT-AXE11000 leverages Skyworks’ latest 6GHz front-end modules to maximize RF performance in signal coverage, quality and power efficiency.
“This year people have been spending more time than ever at home working, learning and playing, and for gamers this has also meant seeking out the latest and greatest gear to level up their play,” says Ten-Long Deng, corporate VP at ASUS. “Leveraging Skyworks’ vast experience developing cutting-edge technologies has enabled us to bring true multi-gigabit performance to life for those looking to gain an advantage while upgrading their gaming experiences with the new ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000,” he adds.
“Faster, highly reliable and efficient Wi-Fi coverage has never been more important as more and more devices and users have shifted to virtually connecting while staying safe at home,” says Dave Stasey, VP & general manager of diversified analog solutions at Skyworks. “Through our portfolio of high-performance solutions, Skyworks is proud to continue our partnership with an industry leader like ASUS by providing functionality to optimize Wi-Fi coverage and speeds to address the insatiable demand for always-on connectivity.”
Wi-Fi 6E technology takes advantage of the newly available radio spectrum in the 6GHz band, which offers three times more bandwidth than the 5GHz band. It also adds seven new 160MHz channels to the current Wi-Fi 6 standard, provides lower latency, and will be dedicated to Wi-Fi 6E devices for maintaining high speeds that will not be affected by legacy devices.
Part of Skyworks’ portfolio of Wi-Fi 6E products, SKY85780-11 and SKY85784-11 are highly integrated, front-end modules (FEM) incorporating a single-pole, double-throw (SPDT) transmit/receive (T/R) switch, a high-gain low-noise amplifier (LNA) with bypass, and a power amplifier (PA) intended for high-power Wi-Fi 6E applications and systems. Housed in a compact, 24-pin 3mm x 5mm package, the FEMs can reduce front-end board space by more than 50%, it is reckoned, making them suitable for routers, gateways and wireless audio/video applications.
