MediaTek, Federated Wireless Complete AFC Testing on Wi-Fi 7 and 6E Chipsets

MediaTek, a global enabler in providing the latest in Wi-Fi technology, has completed interoperability testing for Automated Frequency Coordination (AFC) on MediaTek Filogic Wi-Fi 7 and Wi-Fi 6E chips, in collaboration with Federated Wireless, the leading innovator of private wireless and shared spectrum services.

Federated Wireless is conditionally approved by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to operate an AFC system, which manages access to spectrum by standard-power indoor and outdoor unlicensed devices in the 6 GHz band.

An AFC system enables standard power operation for indoor and outdoor unlicensed devices, such as 5G CPEs, fiber gateways, and ethernet gateways, to transmit over 850 MHz of spectrum in the 6 GHz frequency band. Doing so provides Wi-Fi products with improved range, faster connectivity speeds and improved capacity, which is particularly helpful as Wi-Fi 7 technology continues to proliferate.

“Our leadership in Wi-Fi technology would not be complete without ensuring our customers have easy access to AFC solutions,” said Alan Hsu, corporate vice president of Connectivity at MediaTek. “We are very happy to partner with Federated Wireless and to have finished an extensive series of integration testing. Our Filogic Wi-Fi 7 and 6E chips, including the CES 2023 Innovation Award-winning Filogic 880, will soon support Standard Power operation in the 6GHz spectrum for companies producing Wi-Fi devices.”

MediaTek and Federated Wireless successfully completed AFC Device-to-AFC System interoperability testing consisting of a comprehensive set of positive and negative tests drawn from the Wi-Fi Alliance (WFA) AFC System certification specification. The positive tests included verifying the proper AFC calculation and response of spectrum availability at several locations.

The negative tests included verifying proper AFC System error handling. In addition, all tests employed security measures that went above and beyond those specified by the WFA’s Standard Device Interface (WFA SDI) requirement documentation, ensuring the highest degree of privacy and data security across all AFC System communications.

“We are proud to partner with MediaTek to perform these critical interoperability tests to ensure that the commercial industry is ready for standard power device operations to begin,” said Kurt Schaubach, chief technology officer at Federated Wireless. “Federated Wireless prides itself on being a premier collaborator with our partners and customers interested in spectrum sharing solutions.”

The completion of these interoperability tests removes the final roadblock for customers to start utilizing Federated Wireless’ AFC system on MediaTek Filogic Wi-Fi 7 and 6E chips. This milestone enables customers to begin launching standard power indoor and outdoor device operations through an AFC system upon full approval by the FCC.