IEEE802.11ahOverview

Masakazu Shirota

January 22 2016

802.11ah standard overview

802.11ah usages and opportunity

Key benefits of .11ah technology

Technology Comparison

Challenges

802.11ah Overview; Topics

3

802.11ah Standard Overview

IEEE802.11ah Standardization Overview

IEEE task group 802.11ah is chartered to define an OFDM PHY operating in the license-

exempt bands below 1 GHz, and enhancements to the 802.11 MAC to support this PHY

Transmission range up to 1 km

Data rates > 100 Kbps

802.11ah categories of use cases

Internet of Everything (IoE)

Extended Range WLAN (e.g. for cellular offload and home coverage)

802.11ah standards timeline

Draft 5.0 completed March 2015

Final draft expected completion Mid- 2016

16 MHz

Rich Data Set Enables both IoE (sensors) andExtended Range Wi-Fi Applications

8 MHz

4 MHz

2 MHz

1 MHz

20 MHz

Minimum 11n/ac bandwidth

11ah Bandwidth

Modes

Higher Data Rates

150Kbps* – 4Mbps

650Kbps – 7.8Mbps

1.35Mbps – 18Mbps

2.9Mbps – 39Mbps

5.8Mbps – 78Mbps

Mandatory & Globally

Interoperable modes

optimized for sensor

networking

Optional higher

data rate modes for

extended range -

6.5Mbps – 78Mbps

* Single spatial stream rates shown. 150Kbps achieved via a new repetition modulation and coding scheme (MCS10)

Modulation and Coding Schemes (1 and 2 MHz, Single Spatial Stream)

MCS10 (1MHz only ) is the repetition MCS

Mandatory MCS in 11ah spec

Non-AP STA needs to support up to QPSK

Single spatial stream MCS0 to 2, and MCS10 (for 1MHz PPDU)

AP STA needs to support up to 64 QAM

Single spatial stream MCS0 to 7 and MCS10 (for 1MHz PPDU)

MCS Index Mod Code Rate

Data Rates for 1MHz BW (kbps) Data Rates for 2MHz BW (kbps)

8us GI 4us GI 8us GI 4us GI

0 BPSK 1/2 300.0 333.3 650.0 722.2

1 QPSK 1/2 600.0 666.7 1300.0 1444.4

2 QPSK 3/4 900.0 1000.0 1950.0 2166.7

3 16-QAM 1/2 1200.0 1333.3 2600.0 2888.9

4 16-QAM 3/4 1800.0 2000.0 3900.0 4333.3

5 64-QAM 2/3 2400.0 2666.7 5200.0 5777.8

6 64-QAM 3/4 2700.0 3000.0 5850.0 6500.0

7 64-QAM 5/6 3000.0 3333.3 6500.0 7222.2

8 256-QAM 3/4 3600.0 4000.0 7800.0 8666.7

9 256-QAM 5/6 4000.0 4444.4 8666.7 9629.6

10 (1 MHz BW only) BPSK 1/4 150.0 166.7 NA NA

7

802.11ah Value Proposition

Improving Wi-Fi User Experience with Sub-1GHz unlicensed spectrum

Improved Range >15 dB link budget advantage over 2.4 GHz technologies

• 900MHz Propagation advantage

• 1, 2 MHz Low bandwidth modes

• MCS0 repetition coding

Low Power Whole Home Sensor Coverage with 4dBm output power & no external Power Amplifier

Enhanced Power Save MAC Modes

Rich Data Rates 150kbit/s ~ 78 Mbits/s per spatial stream

Enables VoIP, Skype, Facetime, security camera, browsing, sensor, audio

Scalable Support thousands of nodes via compressed TIM (Traffic indication map) / Page

IP connectivity Same as Wi-Fi

Outdoor Coverage Support for larger delay spreads

Wi-Fi ecosystem WFA certified interoperability and user experience

8

11ah Usages and Opportunity

802.11ah Enables Internet of Everything

Security

Camera

Thermostat

Medical Device

Sensors

Wi-Fi Access

Point

Home

Entertainment

Smart

Meters

Electric Car / Charging Station

Lighting

Alarm

Appliances

Keyless

Entry

Use Case Example: Sensor Networking and Extended Range WLAN in Home setting

Security Camera

Smoke detector

Family room

Tablet

Moisture

sensor

HDTV

DVR

Lighting

Window shutter

Smartphone

Living/dining roomKeyless door knob

Bedroom 2

Garage

Smartphone

Heart rate monitor

Fitness

Security Camera

HDTV

Bedroom 4 Bedroom 3

Temperature sensor

Tri-Band Wi-Fi Access Point

Master bedroom

Sprinkler

DVR

remote

control

.11ah Sweet

Spot

Sweet spot for 802.11ah enabled IoT devices

ExistingDevices

New to the world

Blue Sky

Battery requirement

AC

Powered

Daily

Charge

1 Yr3 Mos 3 Yr 5 Yr 10Yr

Fire

Alarm

Sensor

Swarm

Remote

Control

Location

Position

Tag

Electronic

“noses”

(bedbugs,

molds)

Physiological sensors

(ECG, pulse oxymeters,

Glucose monitors)Moisture sensors

(flooding, pipe-leak)

Security

(door lock,

Motion sensors)

Many ‘IOE’ devices are expected to be battery powered, small form-factor, headless devices

Temp

sensor

Dynamically Updateable

NFC tag

Gas meter

Water meter

Home

Appliance Module

(e.g. Washer/Dryer)

Motorized

Valves in

HVAC

AR Beacon

Tag

Market Segments

Use Case Examples1. Sensor networking and extended

range traffic for homes

2. Lighting control in large office and

venue

3. Wearables for health

4. Wearables for multimedia/

infotainment

5. Wireless field network for industry

automation

6. Wireless utility and parking meters

7. Extended range for campus network

• Sensor Networking

• Wearables

• Industrial Automation

• Utility Networking

• Extended Range WLAN

Projected Markets and Usages

Segment

1. Sensor Networking

2. Wearables

3. Industrial Automation

4 . Utility Networking

5 . Extended range WLAN

Examples of potential 802.11ah devices, per segmentAccess Point / Infrastructure Example Client Devices

• Home AP

• Enterprise AP

• Hotspot AP

• Smartphone with soft AP

• Sensor network gateway

• Lighting controller

• Temperature sensor

• Motion Sensor

• Thermostat

• Sound controller

• Agricultural sensor / controller

• Garden sensor (e.g. humidity sensor or sprinkler controller)

• Home AP

• Enterprise AP

• Hotspot AP

• Smartphone with soft AP

• Sensor network gateway

• Fitness monitor

• Medical device (weight, heart rate)

• Glasses

• Smart watch

• Enterprise AP

• Small and Midsize business AP

• Sensor network gateway

• Industrial equipment controller

• Temperature, Humidity, Wind speed/direction Monitor

• Water Level monitor

• Air quality / Pollution monitor

• Pole top / Aggregation point AP

• Outdoor backhaul AP

• Smart meter

• Electric charging controller

• Home AP

• Hotspot AP

• Enterprise AP

• Outdoor backhaul AP

• Cellphone tower AP

• Smartphone

• Tablet

• Laptop

• Webcam

14

Key Benefits of 802.11ah Technology

Mobile *

− Doubles Voice-over-WiFi range.

− 45% range improvement for 1 video-call. Provides twice the number of video-calls at 11b max range.

− Significant range & edge capacity increase for < 25Mbps Home Internet applications.

− Enables campus wide internet connectivity for < 30Mbps internet applications.

− Enables longer-range P2P discovery & connectivity when infrastructure is not available

Enables more Plug-In Video Cameras (1x1) at home boundaries *

Provides Whole Home Sensor Coverage with 4dBm output power & no external PA **

11ah Application Benefits

* Available in North & South Americas, Australia, NZ markets.

** Available globally.

802.11ah Provides Extended Range WLAN* for Mobile/Computingand support of VoWi-Fi / Wi-Fi Calling

Edge Rate

Mbps

(Range)

TX x RX

11ac/n

5 GHz

20 MHz BW

40 MHz BW

6.5

(27m)3x2

11n/b

2.4 GHz

20 MHz BW

6.5

(54m)3x2

11ah

900 MHz

8 MHz BW

(US Only)

5.9

(88m)2x2

11n/b @ 2.4 GHz

54m range

6.5 Mbps edge

11 ah @ 900 MHz

88m range

5.8 Mbps edge

11ac/n @5 GHz

27m range

6.5 Mbps edge

Smartphones, Tablets, Laptops can

be used in Garages, Backyards, and

Streets

*US has 26MHz spectrum in 900 MHz available. Simulation Assumptions: Minimum QoS 5Mbps, Retail AP, 21 dBm/Tx chain Tx power, Indoor to outdoor (d^4) channel model

17

Technology Comparison

900 MHz Technology Comparison

Maximum Zwave range is limited

due to FCC regulation

Simulation assumptions: 1x1 Antenna configuration, 1MHz mode 11ah, 4dBm Tx power (-1.25dBm for Zwave due to regulatory limit), D-NLOS channel model, Typical 80dB path loss

representative of an average 3500 sq ft US home based on real measurements of 10 US homes with randomly placed clients. BT and most Zigbee deployments are in 2.4Ghz todayQualcomm Atheros, Inc.

900MHz

11ah Receivers Support Coherent Combining UsingMultiple AP Antennas to Extend Range

Alternative technologies unable to extract the full benefit of multiple antennas due to lack of coherent combining Sensor11ah AP

Uplink

Maximum Ratio Combining (MRC) in 11ah extends range using multiple AP antennas

Maximum Zwave range is

limited due to FCC regulation

Using two Antennas provides up to 9dB

additional gain (consisting of array and

diversity gain)

Simulation assumptions: 1x1 antenna (except for 1x2 11ah), 1MHz 11ah, 4dBm Tx power (-1.25dBm for Zwave due to regulatory limit), D-NLOS channel model.

Qualcomm Atheros, Inc.

Advantages over 2.4GH Wi-Fi; Long Range (US/Australia/NZ)

Up to 30dBm EIRP

11ah for Extended Range

Indoor AP, Outdoor Pico, P2P

Voice Wi-Fi

Video-chat

Texts

Browser

YouTube

Working with regulators to open-up additional spectrum in EU/China

802.11ah Technology Advantages

Longer range compared to 2.4GHz WiFi

− Indoor AP: 1.5x DL range improvement* at 6Mbps

− Outdoor AP: 2.25x DL range improvement* at 6Mbps

− 10x delay spread tolerance for outdoor channels vs. 11n.

Whole home coverage for low rate apps & Voice over Wi-Fi

− Doubles voice call-capacity per household at 11n max range.

− 1.6x range improvement over 11n for 1 active voice call

Scalable Data Rate for variety of low rate apps

− 150Kbps – 39Mbps per Spatial Stream, using {1,2,4,8} MHz

modes

Free from 2.4GHz Interference

− In practice, 2.4GHz range and throughputs are limited due to

interference

2.4/5G /900MHz 2.4/5G /900MHz

* Assume 4x2 11n, 2x2 11ah current product configurations

Advantages over 2.4GHz Wi-Fi: Hub for Wearables, IoT, P2P- Global Market

< 4dBm Transmit Power. 1, 2 MHz BWs

Text, VoIP

(sports use-case)

Audio

entertainment

802.11ah Technology Advantages over Zigbee/BT

Improved Rate vs Range and coverage

− > 10 dB Link budget advantage over 2.4GHz technologies

− Scalable data rates (150Kbps-8Mbps using 1,2 MHz modes)

− Compare to 1-3Mbps BT and 250Kbps Zigbee

IP connectivity, Wi-Fi stack

Free from 2.4GHz Wi-Fi interference

Low Power MAC Protocols, leading to longer battery life

Low Power Paging and Discovery Channel for 2.4/5GHz WiFi

− 0.16x power consumption and 0.1x discovery latencies compared to BT.

NAN P2P Discovery

& PageCellular

2.4/5GHz WiFi

Wearable

Health sensors

11ah

Locationing

11ah range provides extended range at high data rates at 900 MHz

− 10-20 dB link budget advantage over 2.4 GHz technologies

11ah implements energy efficient protocols to extend the battery life for sensors

− Supports multi-year battery life sensor operation

Scalable

− 11ah is optimized to scale with thousands of nodes

11ah provides a rich set of data rates

− 150Kbit/s ~ 78 Mbits/s per spatial stream (sensor, audio, security camera, internet)

Part of Wi-Fi ecosystem

− WFA certified interoperability and Wi-Fi user experience

− IP Connectivity – similar to Wi-Fi

Outdoor Coverage

− Support for larger delay spreads

Summary of Benefits

Qualcomm Atheros, Inc.

23

Challenges

General inertia in moving to a new band for Wi-Fi

Fragmentation in IoT enabling technologies markets

Time to market disadvantage vis a vis ZigBee / 15.4 and Bluetooth for IoT

Global spectrum availability

− Not as good as 2.4GH band

− More stringent rules in Japanese regulation

Market development challenges

Qualcomm Atheros, Inc.

25

11ah Global Spectrum

Country Band

(MHz)

Channels

(MHz)

Max EIRP

USA 902-928 1,2,4,8 1 W

Canada 902-928 1,2,4,8 1 W

Mexico 902-928 1,2,4,8 4 W

Argentina 902-928

MHz<= 4 W

Brazil 902-907.5

915-928

1,2,4,8 1W

Columbia 902-928 1,2,4,8 1 W

Peru 915-928

MHz

1,2,4,8 1 W (indoor)

4W (outdoor)

Chile 915-928

MHz

1,2,4,8 <= 100 mW

(inside buildings)

Australia 915-928 1,2,4,8 1 W

New

Zealand

921.5-928

915-928

1,2,4

1,2,4

4 W

5dBm (sensor)

Range Extension & Sensors

Region Tx power regulations On-going spectrum activity

EU max erp <=14 dBm

PSD <= -4.5 dBm/100KHz (863~868.6MHz)

PSD <= 6.2 dBm/100KHz (865~868MHz)

Working with MNOs for joint lobbying at Ofcom,

ETSI & EC.. Target 915-921 MHz band for increasing

EIRP & >1 MHZ channels

Korea 3 mW or 10 mW (920.6~923.5MHz and six 200

KHz channels below 920.6 MHz)

Lobbying for raising EIRP

China Max e.r.p. <= 5 mW (755 – 779 MHz)

Max e.r.p. <= 10 mW (779 – 787 MHz)

Working to open Range extension & sensors

Japan 1mW , 20 mW or 250 mW (915.9~928.1MHz)

Max BW <= 1 MHz

Working to enable more BW (2 MHz channel)

Sensors Only

(Ongoing work to enable Range Extension)

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