By Claus Hetting, WiFi NOW CEO & Chairman
Wi-Fi 7 connectivity chipsets for PCs have been available from Intel for a while but last week the company launched its first processor platform with integrated Wi-Fi 7. The new Intel Core Ultra 200V series platform will power a new generation of Intel Evo Edition PCs that delivers up to 5 Gbps of raw Wi-Fi 7 connectivity as well as the Intel Connectivity Performance Suite (ICPS) for optimisation. More than that, connectivity is essential for delivering the right AI experience, Intel says.
Looking for a good reason to upgrade your laptop PC? Intel’s latest platform – which was released September 3 at this launch event – now packs a whopping 5.8 Gbps of Wi-Fi 7 connectivity (peak rate) as well as loads of other improvements that are bound to attract high-end consumers. This is the first time that an Intel processor platform incorporates integrated Wi-Fi 7 capabilities, Intel says. And that opens up for both lower hardware costs and plenty of innovation.
“Reduced power consumption is one benefit of integrated Wi-Fi 7. But incorporating Wi-Fi into the SoC also means it’s easier to integrate features such as Wi-Fi sensing. And of course it also leads to faster adoption of Wi-Fi 7 into the laptop market when connectivity capabilities are inseparable from the processor platform itself,” says Carlos Aguirre, Senior Director Wireless Marketing at Intel.
As of end of this month, the new Intel Core Ultra 200V platform will power more than 80 unique designs from more than 20 top PC OEMs, Intel says. The new platform also represents the latest in a long history of Intel Wi-Fi technology being integrated into platform SoCs (Intel calls this “CNVi” aka “connectivity integration”) going back to Wi-Fi 5 in 2018, Wi-Fi 6 in 2019, Wi-Fi 6E in 2021, and now Wi-Fi 7 this year.
Meanwhile Intel argues that the value of AI is strongly linked to great connectivity. “If you think about it, connectivity – whether wired or wireless – is the first entry point of data into the platform, and the last exit point of data out of the platform. This means connectivity is in the perfect architectural position to apply AI. We’re using this fact to bring about AI PC experiences using connectivity,” says Carlos Cordeiro, Intel Fellow & CTO Wireless Communications.
He points to three examples: Using AI to optimise connectivity with the Intel Connectivity Performance Suite and with Intel Connectivity Analytics (ICA) (read more here) as well as applying machine learning to Wi-Fi sensing for such use cases as human proximity detection. “There’s a powerful positive feedback loop between the AI PC and connectivity: Connectivity feeds the AI experience, and at the same time we use the NPU on the AI PC to create the models to optimise connectivity and sensing,” Carlos Cordeiro says.
Also watch below the excellent presentation by Carlos Cordeiro on Intel connectivity architectures including Wi-Fi 7 features recorded last month. At the time ‘Lunar Lake’ was the code name for the platform now released under the commercial name Intel Core Ultra 200V. For more information about Intel® Wireless Solutions also check out www.intel.com/wireless.
/Claus.
