Highlights:

  • The highest number of streams that Wi-Fi 7 supports is 16, which is double what the previous version of the wireless standard allows for Qualcomm’s new Pro A7 Elite.
  • An AI coprocessor is built into the networking circuitry of the A7 Elite. A maximum performance of 40 TOPs, or 40 trillion calculations per second, is claimed by Qualcomm.

Qualcomm Inc. unveiled Networking Pro A7 Elite, the new processor that powers routers and network devices to facilitate Wi-Fi accessibility.

A new version of the Wi-Fi standard that was released earlier this year serves as the foundation for the chip. The technology, known as Wi-Fi 7, offers up to four times the bandwidth of its predecessor. Additional advantages of the new standard include reduced latency and more dependable connections.

“The Networking Pro A7 Elite integrates key elements – from broadband to antenna – including 10G Fiber, 5G, Ethernet, RF-Front End modules and filters into one integrated platform,” said Ganesh Swaminathan, Vice President and General Manager of Qualcomm’s wireless infrastructure and networking group.

Numerous Wi-Fi routers come equipped with multiple antennas, enabling them to simultaneously send and receive various data streams. A router’s maximum bandwidth increases with the number of data streams it can handle. The highest number of streams that Wi-Fi 7 supports is 16, which is double what the previous version of the wireless standard allows for Qualcomm’s new Pro A7 Elite.

Wi-Fi 7 also offers various more bandwidth-boosting improvements. It uses 4096-QAM, a technique that encodes 20% more information per each pulse than Wi-Fi 7’s transmission mechanism, to convert data into radio waves. MLO, another new feature, enables a Wi-Fi 7 router to distribute a connection across many radio frequency bands to increase data throughput.

According to Qualcomm, routers featuring the latest A7 Elite chip can offer wireless bandwidth of up to 33 GB per second. An RF frontend is one of several auxiliary parts that support the processor’s core Wi-Fi functions. This subsystem helps increase the dependability of wireless connections by eliminating interference from the data-carrying radio signals that a router’s antenna receives.

An AI coprocessor is developed into the network circuit of the A7 Elite. A maximum performance of 40 TOPs, or 40 trillion calculations per second, is claimed by Qualcomm. The module reduces latency compared to transmitting data to a cloud-based algorithm for processing by enabling Wi-Fi devices outfitted with the A7 Elite to run AI models locally.

Qualcomm sees a variety of use cases for the coprocessor in the A7 Elite being implemented by hardware manufacturers. For instance, a business might build a router that utilize AI to spot nefarious network activities. The A7 Elite’s installed neural networks can also handle additional functions, manage power consumption, and troubleshoot technical problems.

For network equipment manufacturers, the chipmaker provides a library of 100 preoptimized AI models to facilitate software development. A business can use the coprocessor of the A7 Elite to execute custom software if those algorithms don’t entirely satisfy its needs. The process of tuning external neural networks for Qualcomm silicon is made easier by a software toolset known as the Qualcomm AI Stack. Early adopters are presently receiving samples of the A7 Elite.