Solutions for Design and Test of 802.11ac MIMO and Beamforming
应用文章
Overview
IEEE 802 is a family of wireless standards designed for a variety of applications. The 802.11ac variant specifically addresses emerging applications requiring very high data throughput, in excess of 1 Gbps. Such data rates, driven by the increasing use of high-definition video and desire for wireless connections, are needed to support transmission of large data files between devices located in a home, office or workplace environment.
802.11ac meets the need for higher data rates with four key enhancements including: wider channels (40 and 80 MHz channels are mandatory, with optional support for 160 MHz and 80+80 MHz modes) and higher-order modulation (256QAM modulation has been added as an optional feature). Additionally, Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) support with up to 8 spatial streams and antennas has been added, although only 1 is mandatory, along with support for multi-user MIMO to increase downlink transmission efficiency. MIMO technology specifies the manner in which multiple transmit and receive antennas (two or more) can be used to communicate through the radio channel. Its ability to allow multiple different streams of data is critical to enabling the single-user data throughput increase that 802.11ac boasts.