Wi-Fi 7 brings enterprise-caliber predictability to wireless networks, says Cisco CTO

Wi-Fi 7 features and capabilities

Wi-Fi 6E adoption is still growing, but industry watchers predict Wi-Fi 7 will eclipse previous generations in 2025. 

Wi-Fi 7 is expected to reduce latency, increase network capacity, boost efficiency, and support more connected devices. Also known as 802.11be Extremely High Throughput (EHT), Wi-Fi 7 is promised to deliver peak data rates of more than 40Gbps, making it significantly faster than previous generations.

A key feature of Wi-Fi 7 is multi-link operation (MLO), which lets devices simultaneously send and receive data across different frequency bands and channels, enhancing the efficiency of wireless connections. Additional features such as encryption and authentication further strengthen Wi-Fi security.

There are a number of core Wi-Fi 7 features that will improve determinism and QoS delivery, MacPherson said. Those include:

• Wi-Fi multimedia: This feature defines the ability to prioritize voice and video over “best effort” and background traffic. 
• Triggered uplink access: This feature optimizes the Wi-Fi 6 definition to accommodate latency-sensitive streams and deliver QoS requirements. The idea is that when a wireless device or station has data to deliver, the wireless access point can schedule a slot on the network for transmission.
• Stream classification service: This capability defines how to intelligently categorize and make sure the bandwidth is available for different types of data traffic based on their characteristics and priorities. The idea is to prioritize time-sensitive or mission-critical data, such as real-time video streaming or voice calls.
• Restricted target wait time: This feature defines how to slot or schedule traffic to avoid collisions.
• Puncturing: Defined in the Wi-Fi 6 spec as an optional implementation, puncturing is now mandatory in Wi-Fi 7. It’s a technique used to adjust wireless modulation to adapt to channel conditions such as such as signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and interference levels. The idea is to reduce the number of errors and boost QoS.

Triggered uplink access, in an oversimplified way, is basically letting a device say, “Hey, I have traffic to send. If I don’t send this traffic, my queues are going to back up,” MacPherson said. “So, the device tells the network. And remember, in Wi-Fi 6 we could schedule from the network, but Wi-Fi 7 actually lets a device communicate to the network what it needs.”

With the stream classification service, the communicating device tells the network, “Hey, I’ve got this prioritization I need for this upstream traffic, but when the traffic comes back, I need you to properly prioritize that as well,” MacPherson said. “So, the station is basically saying when you see this traffic, apply this QoS to it.”