Wi-Fi 8 is the first wireless upgrade in years that isn’t chasing speed

Wi-Fi 8 是多年来首次不再单纯追求速度的无线技术升级

Wi-Fi upgrades have boiled down to a lot of similar talking points over the past decade or so. Every few years, a new generation of Wi-Fi comes along and promises more speed, more bandwidth, more range, and so on. But now, with Wi-Fi 7 still slowly making its way into homes around the world, things are looking different. Wi-Fi 8 is already starting to take shape, and for the first time in a while, it isn’t about speed at all. The IEEE has dubbed this version of Wi-Fi “Ultra High Reliability”, and it’s about time this became the focus. It may not be the most exciting upgrade on paper, but it could be the one you’ll feel the most.

在过去十年左右的时间里，Wi-Fi 的升级总是围绕着相似的话题。每隔几年，新一代 Wi-Fi 就会问世，承诺提供更快的速度、更大的带宽、更广的覆盖范围等等。但现在，随着 Wi-Fi 7 仍在缓慢进入全球家庭，情况发生了变化。Wi-Fi 8 已经开始成型，这是很久以来第一次，它完全不再以速度为核心。IEEE 将这一版本的 Wi-Fi 称为“超高可靠性”（Ultra High Reliability），现在确实是时候将重点转向这一领域了。它在纸面上可能不是最令人兴奋的升级，但它可能是你感受最明显的升级。

Speeds aren’t changing

速度不再改变

At least, not on paper. Since the introduction of Wi-Fi 4 (corresponding to the IEEE 802.11n standard) back in 2009, the maximum theoretical data rate for new versions of Wi-Fi has always increased significantly with each release. Wi-Fi 5 increased the maximum data rate by more than 10 times, and while further increments have been smaller in percentage, speeds have always increased very significantly. Some improvements have been made to help fight interference and improve throughput in areas with lots of devices connected, but they always felt secondary to the improvements in maximum theoretical speeds. But with Wi-Fi 7 reaching a maximum theoretical throughput of 23Gbit per band, that’s more than enough for the current internet speeds most users have, so it’s arguably time to slow down.

至少在纸面上是这样。自 2009 年 Wi-Fi 4（对应 IEEE 802.11n 标准）推出以来，每一代新 Wi-Fi 的最大理论数据速率都有显著提升。Wi-Fi 5 将最大数据速率提高了 10 倍以上，虽然随后的增幅在百分比上有所减小，但速度始终在大幅提升。尽管此前也进行了一些改进以帮助对抗干扰并提高多设备连接区域的吞吐量，但这些改进在最大理论速度的提升面前总是显得次要。然而，随着 Wi-Fi 7 的单频段最大理论吞吐量达到 23Gbit，这对于大多数用户目前的互联网速度来说已经绰绰有余，因此可以说，是时候放慢脚步了。

While Wi-Fi 8 is still in development, the goal this time is very different. This new standard will have approximately the same maximum data rate, support the same number of spatial streams, use the same 4096-QAM modulation, work on the same bands, and support the same 320MHz channel bandwidth compared to Wi-Fi 7. Instead, the organization is focusing on improving the reliability and the effective throughput of Wi-Fi networks by reducing interference and handling non-ideal conditions more effectively. The stated goals of Wi-Fi 8 include a 25% increase in throughput at different signal-to-interference-and-noise ratio (SINR) levels, reduce latency by 25% for the 95th percentile scenarios with latency, and decrease MAC protocol data unit loss (MPDU) by 25%.

虽然 Wi-Fi 8 仍处于开发阶段，但这次的目标截然不同。与 Wi-Fi 7 相比，这一新标准将拥有大致相同的最大数据速率、支持相同数量的空间流、使用相同的 4096-QAM 调制、在相同的频段上工作，并支持相同的 320MHz 信道带宽。相反，该组织正致力于通过减少干扰和更有效地处理非理想条件，来提高 Wi-Fi 网络的可靠性和有效吞吐量。Wi-Fi 8 的既定目标包括：在不同的信干噪比（SINR）水平下将吞吐量提高 25%，将 95% 分位数的延迟场景下的延迟降低 25%，并将 MAC 协议数据单元（MPDU）的丢失率降低 25%。

The official introduction to Wi-Fi 8 pits it against cellular networks, specifically 6G, which it will likely be competing against for a good chunk of its life (Wi-Fi 8 is expected to be finalized in 2028, while 6G should arrive in the early 2030s). Cellular networks notoriously have to handle massive numbers of devices connected at once, so the focus with Wi-Fi 8 is to improve the experience when there are lots of Wi-Fi devices nearby as well.

Wi-Fi 8 的官方介绍将其与蜂窝网络（特别是 6G）进行了对比，在 Wi-Fi 8 的生命周期中，它很可能会与 6G 展开竞争（Wi-Fi 8 预计于 2028 年定稿，而 6G 预计在 2030 年代初到来）。众所周知，蜂窝网络必须处理海量设备同时连接的情况，因此 Wi-Fi 8 的重点在于改善周围存在大量 Wi-Fi 设备时的使用体验。

What’s actually new

到底有哪些新东西

Lots of new technology at play. Since the aim is to improve effective throughput and the overall experience in real-world scenarios, Wi-Fi 8 focuses on introducing or enhancing features that help with those specific aspects. One example are Distributed-tone resource units, or DRUs, which allows devices distribute its transmissions across a wider range of bandwidth, resulting in higher transmit power without violating regulations around how much power can be transmitted in a given piece of bandwidth. In practice, this means devices with lower transmit power can still offer more reliable connectivity, which can be especially useful for things like smart home devices that may have weaker antennas.

许多新技术正在发挥作用。由于目标是提高实际场景中的有效吞吐量和整体体验，Wi-Fi 8 专注于引入或增强有助于实现这些特定方面的功能。一个例子是分布式音调资源单元（Distributed-tone resource units，简称 DRUs），它允许设备将传输分布在更宽的带宽范围内，从而在不违反特定带宽传输功率限制规定的前提下，实现更高的发射功率。在实践中，这意味着发射功率较低的设备仍然可以提供更可靠的连接，这对于天线较弱的智能家居设备尤其有用。

Interference mitigation pilots are another notable feature, which aim to help resist interference from unexpected interferences, particularly in unlicensed bands. This new standard will also leverage unequal modulations, allowing each spatial stream to be used more efficiently by adjusting the modulation individually based on the SINR for each one. This also goes along with new Modulation and Coding Schemes (MCS) being added to improve throughput even more. Latency reductions come from new features such as P-EDCA, which helps speed up channel access for prioritized devices while mitigating the effects on non-prioritized devices. Wi-Fi 8 also allows devices to communicate exclusively on non-primary channels, even when the primary channel is busy, allowing for throughput improvements by reducing wasted bandwidth. Other scenarios being addressed include seamless roaming, meaning the transition from one access point to another. The goal is to ensure next to no downtime when moving between access points. Additionally, Wi-Fi 8 should improve connectivity when using multiple access points at the same time, leveraging various coordination features to ensure a more reliable connection and higher throughput in these scenarios.

干扰缓解导频（Interference mitigation pilots）是另一个值得注意的功能，旨在帮助抵御来自意外干扰的干扰，特别是在非授权频段。这一新标准还将利用不等调制（unequal modulations），通过根据每个空间流的信干噪比（SINR）单独调整调制方式，从而更有效地利用每个空间流。此外，新增加的调制与编码方案（MCS）也将进一步提高吞吐量。延迟的降低得益于 P-EDCA 等新功能，它有助于加快优先设备的信道接入速度，同时减轻对非优先设备的影响。Wi-Fi 8 还允许设备在主信道繁忙时，仅在非主信道上进行通信，从而通过减少带宽浪费来提高吞吐量。其他正在解决的场景包括无缝漫游，即从一个接入点切换到另一个接入点。其目标是确保在接入点之间移动时几乎没有停机时间。此外，Wi-Fi 8 还应改善同时使用多个接入点时的连接性，利用各种协调功能确保在这些场景下实现更可靠的连接和更高的吞吐量。

A much-needed change

一项急需的改变

There are just too many devices now. As much as raw speed improvements are appreciated, the reliability focus for Wi-Fi 8 is sorely needed both at home and in work environments. There are simply massive numbers of devices connected to Wi-Fi networks nowadays, and they’ll only keep increasing as smart home tech becomes more prevalent. Smart lights and appliances, streaming boxes, and devices like phones and PCs continue to increase the demand for Wi-Fi networks to serve multiple devices at the same time. Even though smart home products often don’t need a lot of bandwidth, their mere existence can slow down your more demanding connections, and Wi-Fi 8 is aiming to improve connectivity for all those devices. At the same time, if you’ve been fighting off degrading network quality by adding more access points, Wi-Fi 8 is addressing that too, so it’s looking like a very ambitious.

现在设备实在太多了。尽管原始速度的提升值得赞赏，但 Wi-Fi 8 对可靠性的关注在家庭和工作环境中都非常迫切。如今连接到 Wi-Fi 网络的设备数量极其庞大，而且随着智能家居技术的普及，这一数字只会持续增加。智能灯具、家电、流媒体盒子以及手机和电脑等设备，不断增加着 Wi-Fi 网络同时服务多台设备的需求。尽管智能家居产品通常不需要太大的带宽，但它们的存在本身就可能拖慢你对带宽要求更高的连接，而 Wi-Fi 8 正旨在改善所有这些设备的连接性。同时，如果你一直通过增加接入点来应对网络质量下降的问题，Wi-Fi 8 也在解决这一痛点，因此这看起来是一个非常雄心勃勃的计划。