Qualcomm today announced its plans for the next generation of mesh networks. Using its Mesh Networking Platform, Qualcomm is ushering the new era of connected devices in the house that do more than just one thing.
Over the past four years, Qualcomm has been working behind the scenes in developing mesh network routers. The first generation of these devices were seen with the Eero and Google Wifi router systems. But the next step to this evolution is adding more functionality to those devices.
Speaking with Qualcomm Vice President of Product Management, Gopi Sirineni, he stated there are now three main functions with the next mesh network solutions: diagnostic data, self-healing and mic and assistant functionality.
The diagnostic data element will understand if there are any hiccups in the service. If your service was cut off at a specific time, diagnostic data will keep track of the interruption and keep a log to understand why it happened. Self-healing will allow the router to adjust on the fly if there are any interruptions with the service. If the 5GHz Wi-fi connection goes down, it will automatically hand over a device to the 2.4GHz Wi-fi if it's still functioning properly. When one thing goes down, another takes over.
The last part of the puzzle is the integration of a mic to allow assistants like Alexa or Google Assistant to make their way into the mesh router system that will be controlled through voice dictation. This will be possible through cloud integration.
Not too long ago, there were rumors that Google thought of doing this same thing with the first generation of the Google Wifi but opted not to. This is now possible with Qualcomm's new Mesh Networking Platform.
The new systems will also integrate better with smarthome systems like Phillips Hue through Qualcomm's IoT Connectivity suite. Instead of requiring Hue's hub to connect with all the home accessories, it will now be configured into the router. The IoT feature acts as a universal translator to connect different technologies like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, CSRmesh connectivity and 801.015.4-based systems. Phillips Hue's hub falls under this umbrella.
Qualcomm is promising the new system will be an out of the box experience; super easy to use even to a person who knows absolutely nothing about routers and Wi-fi bands
Aside for all the new features, the new routers will support the latest Wi-Fi technology life 802.11.ac.
New products featuring Qualcomm's Mesh Networking Platform will start proliferating into the market some time later this year.
