At MWC 2022, Qualcomm has revealed the FastConnect 7800 chipset, which it says is “the world’s first Wi-Fi 7 product.”
FastConnect 7800 is a 14nm chip that supports Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.3, promising high-speed, low latency network connectivity, and wireless audio enhancements altogether. Among the supported 5GHz, 6GHz, and 2.4GhHz spectrums, Wi-Fi 7 utilizes the first two, whereas the lattermost is reserved for Bluetooth and lower-bandwidth Wi-Fi.
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With the use of High Band Simultaneous (HBS) multi-link technology and two Wi-Fi radios, the FastConnect 7800 allows up to four connections across the 6GHz and 5GHz bands. In the 6GHz band, the chipset uses a single 320MHz or two combined 160MHz channels to deliver ultra-fast speeds up to 5.8Gbps. When the 6Ghz spectrum is unavailable, it uses the 5GHz band, thereby reducing the peak network speed to 4.3Gbps.
There’s another supported tech called 4-Stream Dual-Band Simultaneous (DBS), which helps the chipset deliver a mere 2ms latency for a sustained, lag-free experience.
“With FastConnect 7800, Qualcomm Technologies reasserts its leadership by defining the future of wireless connectivity. Introducing the first Wi-Fi 7 solution to the industry might be enough for some, but with the introduction of HBS Multi-Link, we take performance to the next level, shattering expectations for speed and latency,” said Dino Bekis, vice president and general manager, Mobile Compute and Connectivity at Qualcomm Technologies.
Audio quality also sees some noteworthy upgrades with the FastConnect 7800. The chip supports Dual Bluetooth technology with LE Audio and Snapdragon Sound, helping it deliver 16-bit or 24-bit high-resolution lossless audio wirelessly. The dual Bluetooth radios also bring in a bunch of advantages. Connected devices would work at up to twice the range and pair a lot faster — all this with power consumption reduced by up to 50%.
Besides Wi-Fi 7, the FastConnect 7800 supports Wi-Fi 6 or 6E connectivity as well. Although Wi-Fi 7 is expected to fully mature and reach a wide variety of devices by 2024, Qualcomm says its solution will be commercially available starting the second half of this year. We might see it debut in Qualcomm’s upcoming flagship SoC for smartphones, probably the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2.