WiFi chip has gone through 20 years, with both future and years to look back. After 6 generations, it has moved from the first generation 802.11b to the future Wifi 7 802.11be.. For domestic WiFi chip companies, the WiFi 6 chip is under development. In terms of quantity, there are more than 50 domestic WiFi 6 chip companies. The market is optimistic, the capital is enthusiastic, and the Internet of Things is massive. It seems that more WiFi chip companies can accommodate it.
What is the fact, and see where the domestic WiFi 6 chip goes.
Before introducing the domestic WiFi 6 chip, let’s first understand the origin of WiFi technology.
WiFi wireless network technology was invented by CSIRO, an Australian government research institute, in the 1990s, and successfully applied for a patent for wireless network technology in the United States in 1996. The inventor of the patent was Dr John O ‘Sullivan, an engineering graduate of the University of Sydney. Sullivan) led by a group of engineering graduates from the University of Sydney.
In fact, as early as 1990, a team began to formulate the wireless communication protocol 802.11 standard, which was three years earlier than the work of CSIRO, but the final result was that CSIRO applied for a patent.
IEEE once asked the Australian government to give up its wireless network patent and let the world use Wi-Fi technology for free, but it was rejected. The Australian government subsequently won the lawsuit or settled out of court in the United States, collecting patent royalties from companies such as Apple, Intel, Lenovo, Dell, AT&T, Sony, Toshiba, Microsoft, Acer and Asus.
By 2010, there were 3 billion electronic devices using WiFi wireless network technology in the world. By the end of 2013, the patent of WiFi wireless network of CSIRO, a research institution, expired, and the number of electronic devices using WiFi wireless technology increased to 5 billion+.
WiFi wireless network is regarded as the most important technological invention in Australia’s history, and its inventor, Dr John O’ Sullivan) is known as the "father of Wi-Fi", and has won the highest national science award in Australia and numerous praises all over the world, including the European Inventor Award 2012 awarded by the European Union, the European Patent Office and the European Patent Office(EPO).
According to the WiFi white paper released by Huawei, we can see the whole development process of WiFi technology.
Source: Huawei WiFi White Paper
In 1997, IEEE formulated the first wireless LAN communication standard, 802.11, which allowed devices to transmit data wirelessly at a speed of 2Mbps per second.
In 1999, IEEE released the 802.11b standard, with a transmission rate of 11Mbps and working in the 2.4GHz band. In the same year, IEEE released the 802.11a standard, but it works in the 5GHz band and the data transmission rate reaches 54Mbps.
In 2000, the first generation of WiFi chip products went on the market, with a maximum data rate of 11Mbps, operating in the 2.4GHz band.
In 2003, WiFi chip products with faster speed and wider range coverage were introduced, forming the 802.11g standard, and the data transmission speed was 54Mbps.
In 2009, the 802.11n protocol standard appeared, which introduced "Multiple Input Multiple Output" data (MIMO) and used multiple antennas to enhance the transmission and reception communication, with the maximum connection rate of 600 Mbit/s.. The 802.11n standard WiFi chip has been used up to now, and its working frequency band is 2.4GHz.
In 2014, IEEE released 802.11ac, with a speed of 3.5 Gbps, but only supported the 5GHz band.
In 2019, 802.11ax was proposed by the WiFi Alliance of wireless network standards, which supports both 2.4GHz and 5.8GHz. IEEE also named 802.11ax WiFi 6, and named the first two generations of technologies 802.11n and 802.11ac WiFi 4 and WiFi 5 respectively. After that, there are new names WiFi 5 and WiFi 4 in front of WiFi 6, but there is no WiFi 3/WiFi 2/WiFi 1; WiFi 6E, WiFi 7 are behind.
The speed of WiFi 6 is as high as 3.5 Gbps, which is nearly three times higher than that of WiFi 5. WiFi 6 not only has all the advanced MIMO characteristics of WiFi 5, but also the effects of OFDMA and MU-MIMO under WiFi 6 can be superimposed, showing a complementary relationship. OFDMA is suitable for parallel transmission of small data packets to improve channel utilization and transmission efficiency, while MU-MIMO is suitable for parallel transmission of large data packets to improve the effective bandwidth of a single user and also reduce the delay. Higher-order modulation technology (1024-QAM), space division multiplexing technology (SR)& BSS Coloring mechanism, and extended coverage (ER) enable WiFi 6 to better connect more devices, which can increase the speed of each device by at least 4 times.
In 2020, the WiFi Alliance announced an Extended version of WiFi 6, WiFi 6E(E stands for extended). In addition to the original 2.4GHz and 5GHz, the operating band has been increased by 6GHz (5925-7125 MHz, with a total bandwidth of 1.2 GHz). The brand-new 6 GHz band has a width of 1.2 GHz, which can accommodate 7 160MHz bands or 14 80MHz bands. The Federal Communications Commission of the United States allocated the 6GHz 1200 MHz unlicensed band to WiFi 6, while the European Union allocated the 6GHz 400MHz band to WiFi 6.
In 2021, WiFi 7, the 802.11be protocol, was announced. Chip companies such as Qualcomm, Broadcom and MediaTek are actively developing WiFi 7 chips. Compared with the maximum 8 data streams of WiFi 6, WiFi 7 will support 16 data streams and CMU-MIMO technology. Where c stands for Coordinated, which means that 16 data streams may not be provided by one access point, but by multiple access points at the same time. Secondly, WiFi 7 will continue to support the 6GHz band, and the three bands can be connected at the same time to expand the width of a single channel from 160MHz to 320MHz.
WiFi 7 also upgraded the signal modulation mode to 4096QAM to have greater data capacity. Therefore, the final speed of WiFi 7 can reach 30Gbps, which is three times the speed of 9.6Gbps, the fastest Wi-Fi 6 currently launched.
Comparison between WiFi 6 and WiFi 7 (Source: Huawei official website)
The field of smart phones is an important entrance for major chip manufacturers to enter the WiFi 6 market. According to the latest report of market research organization Strategy Analytics, by 2021, the market size of smart phone WiFi chips will reach 4.3 billion US dollars, and Qualcomm, Broadcom and MediaTek will occupy the top three in this market.
At present, mobile phone SoC processors supporting WiFi 6 include Snapdragon 888 and Snapdragon 865 of Qualcomm, Kirin 9000/9000E, Kirin 900 and Kirin 985 of Huawei HiSilicon, A14 of Apple, Dimensity 1000+ of MediaTek, and BCM4375 module of WiFi 6 chip of Broadcom.
However, domestic WiFi 6 chips can’t enter the smart phone market, and only Broadcom’s four-in-one module is immune to its excellent performance indicators, otherwise it will be integrated in SOC processors.
For the current domestic WiFi 6 chip manufacturers, where is the market that really belongs to them is a problem that needs to be considered and solved at present. In addition to the smart phone market, where should the domestic WiFi 6 chip go? Let’s analyze and discuss it together.
WiFi chips are widely used in smart home and intelligent monitoring, such as white goods market (refrigerator, air conditioner, etc.), module market, lamps market, intelligent speaker monitoring, doorbell, cat’s eye and other products. Among them, network cameras, smart plug, WiFi smart lights and other applications have a large market scale and are the mainstream smart home products at present.
NEST, Xiaomi, Graffiti Intelligence, Haier, Gree and Midea have launched a series of smart home products. Overseas giant NEST has launched smart cameras, Hello smart visual doorbells, NEST Yale locks and Thermostat thermostats in the field of smart home. These application WiFi 4 chips can meet the demand. WiFi 4 only supports 802.11n 2.4GHz band, do you need to upgrade to WiFi 6 chip?
Judging from the existing market applications, there is no need for WiFi 6 chips, just like whether our mobile phone is 5G or 4G, which is the same for consumers now. 5G is almost the price of 4G, and more people will choose 5 G. In the same way, if the WiFi 6 chip achieves the price of the WiFi 4 chip, there will be a market. This is also the case. At present, WiFi 4 chips are the most shipped on the market.
In order to seize the WiFi 4 chip market, domestic WiFi 6 chip companies are launching 2.4GHz WiFi 6 single-frequency chips to replace WiFi 4 chips at the same price. It is not too difficult to realize the technology, the underlying protocol/communication protocol and algorithm are much easier, and the RF front-end (PA+LNA+SW) does not really need to meet the 802.11ax standard, just meet the 802.11n standard.
In order to meet the demand of video transmission, WiFi 5 chip was applied. WiFi 5 chip market is mainly smart phone, set-top box market, module market, drone and airplane model market, game machine market, computer market and so on.
According to the data source of China Academy of Puhua Industry, the market size of WiFi chips was 16.8 billion yuan in 2019, and it rose to 18.02 billion yuan in 2020. It is estimated that the market size will reach 21.08 billion yuan in 2021. It is estimated that by 2025, the market size of China WiFi chip will exceed 30 billion yuan, reaching 33.51 billion yuan, and the average compound annual growth rate of the market size will reach 12.2% from 2021 to 2025. From the perspective of shipments, according to Gartner data, 4.4 billion WiFi chips were shipped globally in 2020, and it is expected to reach about 4.9 billion chips in 2022.
Source: Academia Sinica Puhua Industrial Research Institute.
On December 31st, 2021, DIGITIMES Research, a market analysis organization, announced the shipment of smartphones in 2021, and the annual shipment was about 1.32 billion units, with an annual increase of only 6.1%. Smartphones are the largest market for WiFi chips, accounting for about 30% in terms of the number of shipments. Since WiFi5 or WiFi6 chips are basically used on mobile phones, the estimated sales account for more than 60%.
In addition to smart phones, the number of WiFi 5 chips accounts for only about 20%, most of which come from the WiFi 5 router market; Nearly 80% of the shipments come from WiFi 4 chips. Eventually, 20% of WiFi 5 chips will be replaced by WiFi 6 chips.
In the past two years, the performance requirements of WiFi chips in the fields of Internet of Things such as video transmission, video surveillance and smart cities have been continuously improved. WiFi 6 technology has high applicability in new high-speed application scenarios such as VR/AR and ultra-high definition video, and WiFi 6 chips for such applications will continue to increase in the future.
It has been reported that WiFi 6 and WiFi 6E have promoted the market of smart phone Wi-Fi chips, and the rapid adoption of these technologies has provided growth opportunities for WiFi6/WiFi6E routers and the development of the Internet of Things, making domestic router WiFi6 chips usher in spring. From the perspective of the router market, the domestic market size of WiFi 6 router chips is about 530 million yuan in 2019, and it is expected to exceed 10 billion yuan in 2023. As the leader of domestic router WiFi 6 chip, Xichang Communication will launch the first domestic WiFi 6 router chip in 2022. This previously neglected track has also attracted new startups, and its strength cannot be underestimated.
In the mobile phone WiFi 6 market, Broadcom is the only supplier except baseband chip manufacturers. Broadcom cooperates with Apple, and the iPhone 13 adopts Broadcom products. In addition, Broadcom’s BCM4375 products have been applied to Samsung S20 series mobile phones. Broadcom has always maintained a leading position in the field of high-end WiFi chips. As early as 2020, Broadcom released the world’s first WiFi 6E chip BCM4389 for smart phone mobile platforms, with a 16nm process and a data transmission rate of 2.4Gbps. In this market, domestic WiFi 6 chip manufacturers can only watch in the short term.
In the highly competitive WiFi track, domestic chip manufacturers are looking for new market segments. In addition to international manufacturers such as Qualcomm, Broadcom and Mediatek, domestic WiFi chip manufacturers such as Lexin Technology, Broadcom Integration, Aoxiang Technology and Boliu are also stepping up the layout of the WiFi 6 market. Lexin Technology and Broadcom Integration have launched IoT chips supporting WiFi 6. Pan Qiwei takes advantage of being the first in the field of drones to accelerate the development of WiFi 6 chips. Zhuhai Taixin’s low-power and long-distance Wi-Fi Halow & Trade based on Wi-Fi Alliance and IEEE; The new standard develops WiFi chips, and at the same time actively enters WiFi 6 chips with the help of its market advantages.
Recently, domestic MCU manufacturers have been finding Sanwuwei, hoping to cooperate with WiFi RF front-end chips. Sanwuwei has advantages in WiFi FEM performance and cost.
Lexin Technology has successfully moved from WiFi to MCU, but domestic MCU is moving towards WiFi 6. Ganyao Electronics, a domestic MCU manufacturer, is one of them. The G32L473xx series MCU developed by Ganyao Electronics integrates WIFI protocol stack and AFE front-end transceiver, and the WiFi RF front-end is externally connected with Sanwu Micro WiFi FEM.
WiFi 6 MCU system block diagram
In 2020, the domestic MCU company shipped more than 600 million Zhongying Electronics, and Zhaoyi Innovation MCU shipped nearly 200 million. Although the shipment of Lexin Technology was only 134 million, it accounted for 30% of the market share (by sales volume) of WiFi MCU in the Internet of Things, ranking first in the world. In 2020, Lexin Technology’s net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies was about 104 million yuan, and its operating income was about 831 million yuan. From the business income of MCU, Zhongying Electronics is ahead of Zhaoyi Innovation and Lexin Technology. In 2020, Zhongying Electronics’ MCU business income will reach 950 million yuan.
Source: Company Financial Report
In recent years, the technology of Internet of Things has developed vigorously, and new objects such as smart speakers, smart household appliances (smart refrigerators, washing machines), sweeping robots, WiFi connections, industrial equipment interfaces and so on have emerged one after another, and the field of WiFi MCU chips is the key device to realize the Internet of Things.
In September, 2021, Zhaoyi Innovation announced that it would launch WiFi MCU products, aiming at improving solutions around MCU ecology and supporting the company’s core and universal MCU business and customer needs. This means that Zhaoyi Innovation has officially entered the field of WiFi 6 MCU.
From the perspective of market layout, Zhaoyi innovative MCU products are mainly used in automotive electronics, industry and other fields; Zhongying electronic products are mainly used in the field of small household appliances; Lexin technology products are mainly used in the field of Internet of Things. With the rise of the Internet of Vehicles and the Industrial Internet of Things, Zhaoyi’s innovative WiFi 6 MCU will have advantages in this field. In recent years, the development of smart home appliances has also been very rapid. As the MCU leader in the field of small household appliances, Zhongying Electronics has a very focused strategic layout and has its own profound understanding of the ecology. Through the acquisition of the technology WiFi business, horizontal integration has driven synergy and joined the WiFi 6 MCU track.
From the current point of view, the research and development of WiFi 6 MCU products, Lexin Technology is better, and it is in a leading position in research and development technology and technology. Short-distance communication is the main connection mode of the Internet of Things in the future, and WiFi is the main application technology of short-distance communication. WiFi MCU with high cost performance will be the trend, and WiFi 6 is more difficult in the integration process of WiFi 6 and MCU.
From the perspective of domestic and foreign enterprises, the acquisition of WiFi business can strengthen their layout in the Internet of Things, smart homes, smart cities, etc. From the perspective of the whole industry, it has played a certain role in forming the current market structure of WiFi 6 MCU, making WiFi 6 MCU accelerate its entry into the new IoT application field in the industrial and consumer markets.
Source: Network
Tides come and go, and the world changes. With the development of science and technology, everything is connected. 5G and WiFi 6, one changes the world and the other changes life.
In the entrepreneurial tide of domestic WiFi 6 chips, how many years have passed, how many times have gone forever, and how many chip companies have joined it. If the domestic WiFi 6 chip can grow up under this capital wave and grasp the opportunities given by the times, it will be full of gains.
Finally, I would like to share with you a classic story: during the gold rush in the western United States in the 19th century, speculators from all over the world flocked to California, Oregon and other places to seek gold, hoping to get rich overnight. There are so many people searching for gold, and the competition between them is fierce. Only a few people get rich overnight, most of them return empty-handed, and some even lose everything. However, some people came to the west to sell shovels, and the tide receded, and the people who earned the most were "shovels".
Who will make the most money in the WiFi 6 chip entrepreneurial craze? Maybe it’s CEVA.