Qualcomm (QCOM) announced plans this week for new WiFi technology that it says can ‘talk’ to multiple computers at the same time and achieve up to triple the current WiFi speeds in homes, offices and on public hotspots.
At the moment, Wi-Fi systems can only serve one device at a time, alternating quickly among different users while creating lower speeds for everyone.
‘On a network like this, streaming or video chatting can be like sitting in the driver’s seat at rush hour: you’ll get to your destination, but it’s going to take some time,’ Qualcomm said.
Called multi-user, multiple input, multiple output, or ‘MU-Mimo’ for short, the new WiFi technology which the company says follows seven years of research, allows networks to transmit data to multiple groups of clients simultaneously using algorithms that multiply network capacity while using it more efficiently to speed up transmissions.
“Using MU-MIMO is like using the carpool lane: the Wi-Fi Highway doesn’t change, but grouping up with other users lets you go much faster while de-congesting the other lanes”.
However, to extract the fastest speeds, Qualcomm says it will require devices on both sides of the connection need to be enabled. Which is why the company is working on building a complete ecosystem of solutions for networking products, as well as smartphones, tablets, computers, consumer electronics and automobiles.
Qualcomm said it plans to start demonstrating the new technology within the next few months before beginning shipments to customers early next year.
Shares of Qualcomm fell 2.51% to $78.53 Friday, reducing their one year rally to 17.31%.
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