Qualcomm allies with Airties for 5G fixed wireless, home Wi-Fi

Over the course of 2023, analysts have predicted a rosy future ahead for fixed wireless access (FWA) as 5G networks flourish on a global basis, and based on the principle that fixed wireless is now unquestionably reshaping the home broadband market worldwide, managed Wi-Fi services provider Airties is collaborating with Qualcomm Technologies for FWA connectivity offerings.

Specifically, the two companies are collaborating to optimise the Airties managed Wi-Fi offerings to integrate more easily on broadband carrier platforms, featuring the Qualcomm 5G fixed wireless access platform Gen 2 and Gen 3 Platforms.

The Qualcomm 5G Fixed Wireless Access Gen 3 Platform is claimed to be the world’s first fully integrated 5G advanced-ready FWA platform, which includes support for Sub-6 GHz, mmWave and Wi-Fi 7 connectivity. It’s boosted with quad-core CPU and hardware acceleration to drive a range of applications and value-added services.

The platform features the Snapdragon X75 5G Modem-RF, enabling what the technology firm says is “breakthrough 5G performance to achieve unmatched speeds, coverage and link robustness”.

It also includes the Qualcomm QTM567 mmWave Antenna Module, providing extended mmWave coverage and Wi-Fi 7 with 10Gb ethernet, delivering multi-gigabit speeds and wire-like latency to virtually every device in the home. Qualcomm 5G Fixed Wireless Access Gen 3 Platform also provides converged mmWave-sub 6 hardware architecture, reducing footprint, cost, board complexity and power consumption. 

The Airties hybrid cloud-edge architecture is designed to use both embedded intelligence in customer premises equipment (such as Wi-Fi 7, Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 6) and the cloud to maximise responsiveness and performance. Airties Edge, smart Wi-Fi software for gateways/routers, intelligently directs consumers’ devices (such as laptops, tablets, smartphones, game consoles, and internet of things) to the optimal available Wi-Fi access point and frequency band based on real-time network conditions. 

The software, based on Wi-Fi EasyMesh, turns existing home gateways/modems into an intelligent Wi-Fi mesh access point, improving the quality and stability of connectivity in the home. Airties Cloud monitors and orchestrates Wi-Fi across homes, optimising broadband gateways and mesh extenders to ensure a better quality of experience for consumers, while providing insights on connected devices.

Commenting on the deployment, Airties founder and co-CEO Metin Taskin said: “Technical challenges such as interference, signal attenuation, congestion, channel allocation and spectrum management are common across both Wi-Fi and 5G, and today’s operators deserve visibility and optimisations that encompass both wireless technologies. It is also critical to understand the end user experience through both 5G and home Wi-Fi to assess the end-to-end performance of a Fixed Wireless Access service. We are extremely proud to forge this new strategic relationship with Qualcomm Technologies to further enhance FWA for wireless service providers around the globe.”

Enrico Salvatori, president of Qualcomm Europe, said: “For several decades now, Qualcomm Technologies has established its leadership in wireless, spanning from 5G to Wi-Fi, with these technologies coming together in our Qualcomm 5G Fixed Wireless Access Platform and more.

“User experience is at the heart of our relentless pursuit of managed network optimisations, and we’re delighted to work with Airties to accelerate the delivery of these advanced capabilities to broadband carriers,” he said.