A complete suite of embeddable Wi-Fi IPs and platforms, spanning from Wi-Fi 4 to Wi-Fi 7

The RivieraWaves® Wi-Fi IP family is a comprehensive suite of IPs and platforms for embedding Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n (Wi-Fi 4), 802.11ac (Wi-Fi 5) or 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6/6E) or 802.11be (Wi-Fi 7) into SoC/ASSP. Together with the Bluetooth connectivity IP family – both Bluetooth Low Energy and Bluetooth dual mode versions ­– the Wi-Fi IP family forms part of Ceva’s popular and production-proven RivieraWaves Wireless Connectivity portfolio.

Each RivieraWaves Wi-Fi solution incorporates PHY modem functions and MAC functions, including Lower MAC (LMAC) and Full MAC software protocol stacks. The IP is provided with an integration-ready processor and operating-system- agnostic platform, simplifying deployment in SoC/ASSP designs. An optimized Wi-Fi & Bluetooth coexistence interface with a Packet Traffic Arbiter is also available for smooth simultaneous operation.

The modem is a hardwired function for minimal die area and extremely low power consumption.

The RivieraWaves Wi-Fi IP family addresses a broad range of applications and contains a suite of solutions, each optimized for various target products, with a range of configurations. The Wi-Fi family is organized into 3 categories:

  • Wi-Fi IoT STA: optimized for small, low cost and low power IoT devices, wearables, medical and wireless audio. It includes 802.11n 1×1 (Wi-Fi 4) and 802.11ax 1×1 20/40MHz (Wi-Fi 6) configurations. These IPs also support mobile access point mode.
  • Wi-Fi High Performance STA: addressing a vast array of media-sharing consumer devices, including smartphones, tablets, TV, STB, AR/VR headsets, cameras, and smart-home products, it supports configurations such as 802.11n 2×2 40MHz (Wi-Fi 4), 802.11ac 1×1 & 2×2 80MHz (Wi-Fi 5) and 802.11ax 1×1 & 2×2 80/160MHz (Wi-Fi 6/6E). These IPs also support mobile access point mode.
  • Wi-Fi Access Point: tailored for advanced products dealing with high data traffic including access points, gateways, and Wi-Fi offload in small cells, supporting connections to hundreds of clients, it provides 802.11ax 2×2 160MHz (Wi-Fi 6/6E) and 802.11be 2×2 160MHz (Wi-Fi 7).

WiFi diagram

Benefits

The RivieraWaves Wi-Fi IP family offers designers a choice of small footprint, ultra-low power consumption, high bandwidth, and high performance solutions. Optimized implementations are available that target a broad range of connected devices, including smartphones, wearables, smart-home, consumer & industrial IoT, gateways & access points, and automotive applications.

Small footprint allows integration into SoCs/ASSPs
Low power consumption makes it ideal for mobile and wearable applications
Provides an easy-to-integrate, off-the-shelf, market-leading solution

Main Features

  • Full support for 802.11a/b/g/n (Wi-Fi 4), 802.11ac (Wi-Fi 5), 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6/6E) and 802.11be (Wi-Fi 7)
  • Optimized solutions to match target application in terms of power, area, performance and flexibility, spanning 1x1 and 2x2 configurations
  • Supports 2.4GHz, 5GHz and 6GHz bands
  • Bandwidths up to 160MHz
  • Modulations up to 1024QAM Wi-Fi 6/6E and 4K QAM (Wi-Fi 7)
  • Throughputs from 1Mbps up to Multi-Gbps
  • Supports OFDMA, MU-MIMO, TWT
  • Wi-Fi 7 support with 4K QAM, MLO and MRU
  • Wi-Fi & Bluetooth coexistence interface

Block Diagram

Microprocessor Report

Ceva First to Launch 802.11AX IP

The IEEE’s next-generation 802.11ax Wi-Fi specifications are more than a year from ratification, but (as usual) several wireless-chip vendors have already announced pre-standard products.