Cisco, Intel expand Wi-Fi 7 partnership

Cisco and Intel have expanded their partnership to focus on jointly developing Wi-Fi 7 technologies and strengthening interoperability between Cisco access points and Intel client devices.

The agreement includes investments by both companies to develop next-gen Wi-Fi 7 solutions and deliver product interoperability through joint labs, early code sharing and testing, according to Thomas Hannaford, a communications manager with Intel, who wrote a blog about the agreement. Additional efforts are focused on technologies to handle latency-sensitive applications and enhanced traffic prioritization for more reliable connectivity, Hannaford stated.  

Wi-Fi 7 also known as 802.11be, is expected to reduce latency, increase network capacity, boost efficiency, and support more connected devices. It’s still early days for Wi-Fi 7, however. The IEEE is expected to agree to the final spec later this year, and the Wi-Fi Alliance has only just begun its official certification program for Wi-Fi 7 devices and products.

Wi-Fi 7 will utilize Extremely High Throughput (EHT) to deliver peak data rates of more than 40Gbps, making it significantly faster than previous generations of the Wi-Fi standard. The technology targets mostly physical (PHY) and medium access control (MAC) improvements capable of supporting a maximum throughput of at least 30Gbps, experts say.

Another feature of Wi-Fi 7 is multi-link operation (MLO), which allows devices to simultaneously send and receive data across different frequency bands and channels, enhancing the efficiency of wireless connections. Additional features such as encryption and authentication over WPA3 Enterprise further strengthen Wi-Fi security, Hannaford stated.

“Through this cooperation, Intel and Cisco will provide a significantly higher level of end-to-end reliability, robust high throughput, low latency and deterministic Wi-Fi 7 performance by optimizing MLO and Quality of Service Management, as well as utilizing 6ghz spectrum on Low Power Indoor and standard power Automated Frequency Coordination,” Hannaford stated.