WLAN 802.11ax Wave1 | 802.11ax Wave2 features comparison

This page mentions comparison between WLAN 802.11ax wave1 features and 802.11ax wave2 features.

What is WLAN 802.11ax ?

Introduction:
• IEEE 802.11ax technology is 6th generation of WiFi and hence it is known as Wifi-6. Due to its high efficiency performance, it is also known as HEW (High Efficiency WLAN).
• It has been developed to overcome limitations of 802.11ac such as contention based uplink access etc.
• Major features have been introduced in this version of WLAN standard in order to offer better efficiency, network capacity, performance, power savings, user experience at reduced latency and so on.

Image Courtesy: Ruckus Networks

• The stable version of the 802.11ax draft 2.0 was released in Sep. 2017. Many chipsets have already been developed based on this version.
• The final version of the standard has been planned to release in the year 2019.

802.11ax Wave1 Features

Following are the features of 802.11ax wave1 release.
• Downlink and Uplink OFDMA
• Downlink MU-MIMO (Multi-User MIMO)
• Target Wake Time (TWT)
• BSS Coloring
• 20 MHz only

802.11ax Wave2 Features

Following are the features of 802.11ax wave2 release.
• Uplink Multi-User MIMO
• Spatial Re-use
• Long Range 802.11ax

As we know any WLAN network consists of two elements viz. AP (Access Point) or router and Client devices. Following are the mandatory and optional features planned to be incorporated in WLAN 802.11ax AP (Access Point) and 11ax client devices.

802.11ax Access Point
Mandatory	Optional
• Downlink OFDMA Transmit • Uplink OFDMA Receive • Downlink MU-MIMO Transmit (if 4+SS) • Transmit Beamforming (if 4+SS) • SU MIMO Transmit & receive with up to 2xSS • 20, 40, 80 MHz operation if supporting 5GHz • 20 MHz operation if supporting 2.4 GHz • 20 MHz only operation in wideband OFDMA • Individual TWT • BSS Coloring • Transmit & Receive Operating Mode	• Downlink MU-MIMO Transmit (if <4 SS) • SU MIMO with 3 +SS • Spatial Reuse • MCS 8, MCS9, MCS10, MCS 11 (256 & 1024 QAM) • 160 MHz operation (if supporting 5 GHz)

802.11ax Client
Mandatory	Optional
• Downlink OFDMA Receive • Uplink OFDMA Transmit • Downlink MU-MIMO Receive (Upto 4 x SS) • Receive Beamforming • SU MIMO Transmit & Receive • 20, 40, 80 MHz operation if supporting 5 GHz • 20 MHz operation if supporting 2.4 GHz • BSS coloring • Transmit & Receive Operating Mode	• Individual TWT • Spatial Reuse

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