MAPC builds upon the network management improvements of previous generations of Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi 7, or 802.11be, was only certified in January and its adoption is just beginning to ramp up; however, whispers of Wi-Fi 8, or 802.11bn, are beginning to circulate, with some of its technical details expected to be finalized this year. While many of Wi-Fi 8’s features remain uncertain, this new generation of wireless technology is expected to be aimed at industrial applications, providing high-reliability, ultra-low latency and support for extremely high node density. Specifically, one of the major features expected to make it into the standard is Multi-Access Point Coordination (MAPC), which builds upon the network management improvements of previous generations of Wi-Fi.
MAPC refers to the management of multiple access points in a wireless network to avoid interference and ensure efficient communication between the client devices and the network. Wi-Fi 6 introduced OFDMA, a traffic scheduling technique that results in significant speed gains in both crowded and uncrowded environments. Then, Wi-Fi 6E added a tremendous amount of capacity using the 6 GHz band. But, even with scheduled traffic and more capacity, quality of service limitations remained, particularly around latency. Now, we have high-band Multi-Link Operation (MLO) in Wi-Fi 7, which allows for rapid switching between two different Wi-Fi bands.
MAPC strategies in Wi-Fi 8, though, are going to take multiple AP management to a whole new level. One anticipated strategy includes coordinated Time Division Multiple Access (c-TDMA), which means APs will take turns transmitting on the same channel during a transmit opportunity (TXOP). INET describes TXOP as an IEEE 802.11 MAC feature that “increases throughput for high priority data by providing contention-free channel access for a period of time.”
Alternatively, coordinated Spatial Reuse (c-SR) is another MAC strategy that refers to a set of APs transmitting simultaneously on the same channel and during the same TXOP. This strategy, however, is proportional to the network capacity, as the spatial reuse technique is dependent on the number of simultaneous communication that a particular network can handle. Therefore, limited network capacity means limited ability for spatial reuse.
Other coordination techniques include using Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS) to configure APs in a way that they use non-overlapping channels to minimize interference, configuring APs so that they adjust their transmission power based on proximity to each other, and load balancing or AP configuration that directs clients to connect to the least congested access point.
Certification for Wi-Fi 8 is likely still three of four years away. However, the picture of what this generation of wireless technology will be and what it will enable is beginning to take shape.
