Wi-Fi 7 In Depth
Your guide to mastering Wi-Fi 7, the 802.11be protocol, and their deployment
Published on 4. October 2024
384 pages
978-0-13-532357-1 (ISBN)
Description
An essential guide for networking professionals responsible for implementing Wi-Fi 7
Join wireless networking experts Jerome Henry, Brian Hart, Binita Gupta, and Malcolm Smith on this deep dive into Wi-Fi 7 and 802.11be. The authors explore how to design and optimize your network to fully leverage Wi-Fi 7's new capabilities.
You will learn in detail the inner workings of Wi-Fi 7 improvements like rTWT, puncturing, triggered uplink access, and SCS QC. You will explore the new possibilities of multi-link operations and learn why clients will come in five possible MLO modes that dramatically change the expectations you can have for their performances. You'll gain practical, real-world insights into protocol implementation and its effects on cell design, roaming efficiency, and overall network performance.
This book is an invaluable resource for anyone who designs, manages, and optimizes wireless networks or works with 802.11, from network architects and wireless network administrators to network engineers and anyone whose job includes the need to face the Wi-Fi 7 wave or understand 802.11be and its challenges in depth.
Whether you are new to IEEE 802.11 standards or looking to deepen your understanding of the latest wireless networking advancements, this book gives you the knowledge and expertise to stay ahead in the evolving Wi-Fi technology landscape.
Includes a foreword by Matt MacPherson (CTO of Wireless, Cisco Systems)
In this book, you will:
Understand the foundational concepts of Wi-Fi and the 802.11be protocol
Explore the challenges and balance of backward compatibility in Wi-Fi 7 development
Learn about the enhancements introduced in Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E and their impact on 802.11be
Explore the enhancements in transmission and reception techniques, channel structure and multi-user access management
Learn about Multi-Link Operation (MLO) and its five different modes
Understand Quality of Service (QoS) mechanisms and priority scheduling
Examine site survey and network planning considerations specific to Wi-Fi 7 deployments
Join wireless networking experts Jerome Henry, Brian Hart, Binita Gupta, and Malcolm Smith on this deep dive into Wi-Fi 7 and 802.11be. The authors explore how to design and optimize your network to fully leverage Wi-Fi 7's new capabilities.
You will learn in detail the inner workings of Wi-Fi 7 improvements like rTWT, puncturing, triggered uplink access, and SCS QC. You will explore the new possibilities of multi-link operations and learn why clients will come in five possible MLO modes that dramatically change the expectations you can have for their performances. You'll gain practical, real-world insights into protocol implementation and its effects on cell design, roaming efficiency, and overall network performance.
This book is an invaluable resource for anyone who designs, manages, and optimizes wireless networks or works with 802.11, from network architects and wireless network administrators to network engineers and anyone whose job includes the need to face the Wi-Fi 7 wave or understand 802.11be and its challenges in depth.
Whether you are new to IEEE 802.11 standards or looking to deepen your understanding of the latest wireless networking advancements, this book gives you the knowledge and expertise to stay ahead in the evolving Wi-Fi technology landscape.
Includes a foreword by Matt MacPherson (CTO of Wireless, Cisco Systems)
In this book, you will:
Understand the foundational concepts of Wi-Fi and the 802.11be protocol
Explore the challenges and balance of backward compatibility in Wi-Fi 7 development
Learn about the enhancements introduced in Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E and their impact on 802.11be
Explore the enhancements in transmission and reception techniques, channel structure and multi-user access management
Learn about Multi-Link Operation (MLO) and its five different modes
Understand Quality of Service (QoS) mechanisms and priority scheduling
Examine site survey and network planning considerations specific to Wi-Fi 7 deployments
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Boston
United States
Publishing group
Pearson Education (US)
Target group
Professional and scholarly
File size
12,84 MB
ISBN-13
978-0-13-532357-1 (9780135323571)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Jerome Henry | Brian Hart | Binita Gupta
Wi-Fi 7 In Depth: Your guide to mastering Wi-Fi 7, the 802.11be protocol, and their deployment
Your guide to mastering Wi-Fi 7, the 802.11be protocol, and their deployment
Book
02/2025
1st Edition
Addison Wesley
€49.49
Available immediately
Persons
Jerome Henry is a Distinguished Engineer in the Office of the Wireless CTO at Cisco Systems. He is a certified wireless networking expert (CWNE No. 45), Wireless CCIE (No. 24750), and has authored multiple books and video courses focusing on wireless technologies.
Brian Hart is a Principal Engineer in the Cisco Wireless group. He has been an IEEE 802.11 Working Group voting member since 2006 and has made hundreds of contributions across tens of groups, including 802.11ac, 802.11ax and 802.11be.
Binita Gupta is a Senior Technical Leader in Wireless Engineering group at Cisco Systems. She has more than 20 years of experience leading technology development of wireless systems, products, and services across Wi-Fi, 5G, private networks and IoT.
Malcolm Smith is a Principal Engineer at Cisco Systems and serves as a wireless advisor in Cisco's Networking CTO office. Malcolm leads Wi-Fi university research and related strategy, innovation and partner ecosystem development.
Brian Hart is a Principal Engineer in the Cisco Wireless group. He has been an IEEE 802.11 Working Group voting member since 2006 and has made hundreds of contributions across tens of groups, including 802.11ac, 802.11ax and 802.11be.
Binita Gupta is a Senior Technical Leader in Wireless Engineering group at Cisco Systems. She has more than 20 years of experience leading technology development of wireless systems, products, and services across Wi-Fi, 5G, private networks and IoT.
Malcolm Smith is a Principal Engineer at Cisco Systems and serves as a wireless advisor in Cisco's Networking CTO office. Malcolm leads Wi-Fi university research and related strategy, innovation and partner ecosystem development.
Content
Foreword by Matt MacPherson
Preface
Chapter 1: Wi-Fi Fundamentals.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Evolution of 802.11 Standards.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
The 802.11 Architecture.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
The 802.11 Connection Process.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Channel Access Rules. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Summary.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Chapter 2: Reaching the Limits of Traditional Wi-Fi .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
The Burden of Roaming.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
A Limited QoS Scheme.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Coexistence Challenges.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
802.11 Security.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Summary.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Chapter 3: Building on the Wi-Fi 6 Revolution.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Channel Efficiency Improvements.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Functional Improvements.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Wi-Fi in the 6 GHz Band.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Summary.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Chapter 4: The Main Ideas in 802.11be and Wi-Fi 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Pressure from the Market and Previous Generations' Limitations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Wi-Fi 7 Expected Challenges.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Summary.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Chapter 5: EHT Physical Layer Enhancements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Wi-Fi7 in a Nutshell.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Purposes and Opportunities for the Physical Layer.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
PPDU Formats and Their Fields.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Construction of the Data Field.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Major Wi-Fi 7 PHY Innovations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Minor Wi-Fi 7 PHY Innovations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
PHY Capability Signaling.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .171
Summary.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .174
Chapter 6: EHT MAC Enhancements for Multi-Link Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
MLO Architecture. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
MLD Discovery and Association. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
MLD Data Plane.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
MLO Modes.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
ML Reconfiguration.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Link Management.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
Other MLO Enhancements.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
Summary.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Chapter 7: EHT MAC Operation and Key Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
EHT BSS Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
Enhanced SCS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
Restricted TWT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
Triggered TXOP Sharing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
EPCS Priority Access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
Wi-Fi 7 Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
Chapter 8: Wi-Fi 7 Network Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
WLAN Design Principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
Designing for Wi-Fi 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296
Chapter 9: Future Directions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298
Wi-Fi 8 Directions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298
Localization and Sensing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313
A Privacy-Respecting 802.11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328
Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340
Preface
Chapter 1: Wi-Fi Fundamentals.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Evolution of 802.11 Standards.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
The 802.11 Architecture.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
The 802.11 Connection Process.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Channel Access Rules. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Summary.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Chapter 2: Reaching the Limits of Traditional Wi-Fi .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
The Burden of Roaming.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
A Limited QoS Scheme.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Coexistence Challenges.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
802.11 Security.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Summary.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Chapter 3: Building on the Wi-Fi 6 Revolution.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Channel Efficiency Improvements.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Functional Improvements.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Wi-Fi in the 6 GHz Band.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Summary.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Chapter 4: The Main Ideas in 802.11be and Wi-Fi 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Pressure from the Market and Previous Generations' Limitations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Wi-Fi 7 Expected Challenges.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Summary.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Chapter 5: EHT Physical Layer Enhancements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Wi-Fi7 in a Nutshell.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Purposes and Opportunities for the Physical Layer.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
PPDU Formats and Their Fields.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Construction of the Data Field.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Major Wi-Fi 7 PHY Innovations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Minor Wi-Fi 7 PHY Innovations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
PHY Capability Signaling.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .171
Summary.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .174
Chapter 6: EHT MAC Enhancements for Multi-Link Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
MLO Architecture. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
MLD Discovery and Association. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
MLD Data Plane.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
MLO Modes.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
ML Reconfiguration.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Link Management.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
Other MLO Enhancements.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
Summary.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Chapter 7: EHT MAC Operation and Key Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
EHT BSS Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
Enhanced SCS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
Restricted TWT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
Triggered TXOP Sharing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
EPCS Priority Access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
Wi-Fi 7 Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
Chapter 8: Wi-Fi 7 Network Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
WLAN Design Principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
Designing for Wi-Fi 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296
Chapter 9: Future Directions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298
Wi-Fi 8 Directions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298
Localization and Sensing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313
A Privacy-Respecting 802.11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328
Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340
