IEEE and the IEEE Standards Association (IEEE-SA) have formed a study group and topic interest group focused on a possible next-generation Wi-Fi standard.

The IEEE 802.11 Extremely High Throughput Study Group will start discussion on new IEEE 802.11 features for bands between 1 and 7.125 GHz, looking for ways to define requirements for a possible amendment to IEEE 802.11 designed to  increase peak throughput to support demanding applications such as video over wireless local area networks (WLANs), virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR).

Toward a Next-Generation Wi-Fi Standard

“We are seeking stakeholders throughout the IEEE 802.11 ecosystem to share their experiences with the standard and needs for features such as more spatial streams, higher bandwidth, multi-AP (access point) techniques and multiband switching, aggregation and operation,” said Michael Montemurro, chair of the IEEE 802.11 Extremely High Throughput Study Group, in a prepared statement. “We envision a rapidly paced effort over the next six to nine months, which we hope will bring into clear definition the most important requirements to be addressed in accelerated development of a possible future amendment to the IEEE 802.11 base standard.”

The Applications Topic Interest Group is quantifying performance lags and stability issues that have been observed with real-time applications such as mobile and multiplayer games, robotics and industrial automation, as well as the range of mechanisms in the industry to address those issues. The group is working to document usage models and requirements metrics for real-time applications.

Allan Jones, chair of the IEEE 802.11 Real Time Applications Topic Interest Group added that immersive gaming is very latency sensitive and requires a quick turnaround on packets for users to enjoy a high-quality experience. The group is attempting to define what these requirements are for this particular category of applications, toward the goal of informing ongoing IEEE 802.11 innovation.