London, Dec. 5, 2019: The Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) has announced it had successfully completed phase one trial of Wi-Fi 6 infrastructure and services at the Mettis Aerospace factory in the UK. The trial was an important part of the WBA’s Wi-Fi 6 test and development program.
Founded in 2003, the vision of the Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) is to drive seamless, interoperable service experiences via Wi-Fi within the global wireless ecosystem. WBA’s mission is to enable collaboration between service providers, technology companies and organizations to achieve that vision.
According to a press release isused by the WBA, the Wireless Broadband Alliance trial tests included applications of 4K video streaming, large scale file transfers, messaging and voice/video communications as well as the first stage of the Internet of Things (IoT) sensor and mixed reality testing.
During the trial, speeds of 700 Mbps using 80 MHz channels were achieved and low latency applications, like video calling and video streaming, performed well with results below 6ms. These results proved that Wi-Fi 6 infrastructure can operate well in the presence of interference and noise in a complex and challenging factory environment as well as deliver high quality services for monitoring and maximizing machinery performance, minimizing downtime, and improving communications on the factory floor.
“The completion of this initial phase marks a significant milestone for the adoption of Wi-Fi 6,” said WBA CEO, Tiago Rodrigues, in a written statement. “The Mettis facility is an especially challenging environment for wireless communications with furnaces, presses and heat, a lot of moving heavy machinery and the presence of dust and in-air particulates. Nevertheless, the field tests in this highly charged atmosphere have proven that Wi-Fi 6 technology works well and can play a vital role within the industrial enterprise and IoT ecosystem. If Wi-Fi 6 can deliver highly reliable, high quality and high bandwidth communications in this type of factory environment, then it can deliver it almost anywhere,” he added.
The trial took place at the 27-acre Mettis Aerospace facility in the West Midlands in collaboration with WBA member companies including Broadcom, Cisco, iBwave and Intel as well as Concurrent Engineering and Keysight. Mettis Aerospace supplies companies such as Airbus, Boeing and Rolls-Royce.
Using devices such as smartphones, tablets, laptops and webcams equipped with the Broadcom (R) BCM4375 and Intel AX200 Wi-Fi 6 chipsets, the following tests were among those included in the Phase 1 trial:
· 4k streaming from a webcam mounted on machinery within the factory
· 4k YouTube streaming from a laptop with Intel AX200 chip
· Uploads of very large video files over Wi-Fi
· Roaming, Latency and persistent connectivity during Wi-Fi video calling using smartphones equipped with Broadcom’s BCM4375 chip
· Augmented reality testing of machinery using devices with Wi-Fi 6 chipset
Phase Two of the trial will focus on further tests of the Mixed reality applications and IoT sensing of key assets.
The WBA Board includes AT&T, Boingo Wireless, BT, Cisco Systems, Comcast, Deutsche Telekom AG, GlobalReach Technology, Intel and KT Corporation. For a complete list of current WBA members, click here.
Image Credit: WBA