Qualcomm Immersive Home Called 'Game Changer'

Qualcomm began sampling its next-generation Immersive Home Platforms, successor to its mesh networking platforms, said the company Tuesday. Its Wi-Fi 6 and 6E products are due in the market next year, it said. For consumers who lack a mesh network, the Immersive Home Platforms ensure “high-performance” gigabit connectivity is available anywhere in a home, emailed Nick Kucharewski, general manager-wireless infrastructure and networking. FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly called Qualcomm’s Wi-Fi 6E announcement “great news” and a “massive game changer.” With some more work by the FCC this year, “we can expand unlicensed opportunities in band even further,” he tweeted. Pending FCC certification, consumers will get the benefits of Wi-Fi 6E in mobile, at home and in the enterprise, said Kucharewski. Tri-band Wi-Fi 6 platforms are designed to simultaneously leverage all three spectrum bands to support 2.4 GHz IoT-class devices and current legacy 5 GHz media devices and to enable “congestion-relieving migration” of node-to-node backhaul traffic from 5 GHz to the 6 GHz band, Kucharewski said.