Qualcomm Launches Networking Pro Series Chips With WiFi 7

Qualcomm has announced its Networking Pro Series Gen 3 platform family which includes Wi-Fi 7. The Gen3 platform is now available to global development partners. It is currently the world’s highest-performing Wi-Fi 7 network infrastructure platform line-up.

Last month, Broadcom had unveiled its Wi-Fi 7 portfolio, which includes several 802.11be radios for access points, a networking SoC designed with 802.11be bandwidth in mind, and a client radio for mobile applications. Qualcomm revealed details of their 802.11be client silicon aimed at mobile devices at MWC 2022. The FastConnect 7800, which will be released in H2 2022, combines Bluetooth 5.3 capability with essential Wi-Fi 7 functionalities.

The third-generation Networking Pro series has four models, with stream counts ranging from six in the Networking Pro 620 to sixteen in the Networking Pro 1620. In each of the 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz bands, radio options for two or four streams are available. Qualcomm claims peak system capacity of up to 33 Gbps and per-channel wireless capacity rates of more than 10 Gbps, with each channel capable of supporting more than 500 users. The availability of a 6 GHz Wi-Fi spectrum is not widespread. According to Qualcomm, several configurations of the Networking Pro 3rd Gen series are conceivable depending on the allocation.

In a nutshell, the Qualcomm Networking Pro Series Wi-Fi 7 supports 320MHz channels, making it ideal for gaming, streaming, video sharing, AR, VR, or mixed reality. Multi-Link technology provides dynamic band switching to mitigate wireless interference and deliver good results with low latency in busy areas. These platforms can enable HBS Multi-Link when combined with top Wi-Fi 7 client systems such as the Qualcomm FastConnect 7800. HBS Multi-Link boosts throughput and latency by utilising the high-speed 5 and 6GHz channels.

Qualcomm Networking Pro Series platforms are designed for Enterprise, small business, carrier gateways, mesh networks, and residential deployments, with customers able to select from four products according to their requirements. With quad-band, 16-stream, 33.1 Gbps peak wireless capabilities, the Qualcomm Networking Pro 1620 is geared towards large companies. With tri-band, 12-stream wireless capacity of 21.6 Gbps peak, the Networking Pro 1220 is aimed at enterprise, SMB, and prosumer markets. The Qualcomm Networking Pro 820 has a quad-band, 8-stream, 13.7 Gbps peak wireless capacity, whereas the Qualcomm Networking Pro 620 has a tri-band, 6-stream, 10.8 Gbps peak wireless capacity.