The new IEEE 802.11ax amendment (Wi-Fi 6) intends to improve the WLAN system efficiency, focusing on the throughput per station in dense and outdoor environments. Wi-Fi 6 allows for the first time the scheduled communication of several stations (STA) at the same time, to and from the access point (AP) by introduction of OFDMA.

 

It enables several stations to serve simultaneously in order to improve overall capacity, latency and efficiency in high-density environments. Resource units (RU) are introduced to split the available spectrum in smaller parts. A scheduling procedure ensures synchronized uplink communication in OFDMA and MU-MIMO schemes. With many new features, there will be an impact on testing.

 

This white paper will give insight on the upcoming Wi-Fi 6 standard and explain, in detail new test requirements and solutions.