From Wi-Fi 7 to Wi-Fi 8: The Road to Ultra High Reliability
Every Wi-Fi generation to date has been defined by its peak data rate. Wi-Fi 7 (IEEE 802.11be) raised that figure to 46 Gbps with 320 MHz channels, 4096-QAM, and up to 16 spatial streams. Wi-Fi 8 (IEEE 802.11bn) leaves the peak rate unchanged. The amendment focuses on reliability instead, which is where its name, Ultra High Reliability (UHR), comes from: the targets are lower latency, less packet loss, and stable throughput under load rather than a higher headline number. This lecture examines that change in direction and what it means for the design and testing of Wi-Fi devices.
The lecture opens with the mechanisms that distinguish Wi-Fi 7 from earlier generations: 320 MHz channels, 4096-QAM, Multi-Link Operation, Multi-Resource Unit (MRU) allocation, preamble puncturing, and Automated Frequency Coordination (AFC) in the 6 GHz band. Each is presented as a response to a specific limitation of previous generations, along with its hardware and protocol complexity cost. The second part turns to Wi-Fi 8, where multi-AP coordination, coordinated spatial reuse, Unequal Modulation (UEQM), non-primary channel access, and enhanced long-range operation address interference, contention, and edge-of-coverage loss rather than raw bandwidth. Particular attention is given to why coordination between access points, rather than a wider channel, became the central idea of the new standard.
The final section looks at how these features are deployed in a real product and what they mean for the device manufacturer. Each one adds complexity on the manufacturer's side: in the chipset and the RF front end, in meeting regulatory limits such as the 6 GHz power rules, and in the measurements service providers run during acceptance testing. The lecture concludes with a short list of open problems suited to research directions and the skills that matter most for engineers entering the wireless field.
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- 1331 Palo Verde Ave
- Long Beach, California
- United States 90815
- Building: Vivian Engineering Center (VEC)
- Room Number: VEC 424
Speakers
Dr. Samet Yıldız
Biography:
Dr. Samet Yıldız is a Solutions Architect at Sercomm Corporation, where he works on Wi-Fi hardware for service-provider networks, from RF and system design through certification and operator acceptance. He has more than ten years of experience in Wi-Fi hardware development, regulatory compliance, and system-level optimization. Before joining Sercomm, he led the RF Systems Engineering Team at Airties, where he contributed to multiple Wi-Fi hardware platforms from concept to validation. Dr. Yıldız holds a Ph.D. in Electrical-Electronics Engineering from Özyeğin University (2022) and an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from California State University, Long Beach (2015).
Address:United States