Editing IEEE 802.11 (section)

===802.11ax===
{{Main|IEEE 802.11ax}}

IEEE 802.11ax is the successor to 802.11ac, marketed as '''{{nowrap|Wi-Fi 6}}''' (2.4&nbsp;GHz and 5&nbsp;GHz)<ref name="generational">{{cite web |url=https://www.wi-fi.org/file/generational-wi-fi-user-guide |title=Generational Wi-Fi® User Guide |website=[[Wi-Fi Alliance|www.wi{{nbh}}fi.org]] |format=PDF |date=October 2018 |access-date=22 March 2021}}</ref> and {{nowrap|Wi-Fi 6E}} (6&nbsp;GHz)<ref name="6e">{{cite web |url=https://www.wi-fi.org/file/wi-fi-6e-highlights |title=Wi-Fi 6E expands Wi-Fi® into 6 GHz |website=[[Wi-Fi Alliance|www.wi{{nbh}}fi.org]] |format=PDF |date=January 2021 |access-date=22 March 2021}}</ref> by the [[Wi-Fi Alliance]]. It is also known as ''High Efficiency'' {{nowrap|Wi-Fi}}, for the overall improvements to {{nowrap|Wi-Fi 6}} clients in ''dense environments''.<ref name="atutorial" /> For an individual client, the maximum improvement in data rate ([[PHY]] speed) against the predecessor (802.11ac) is only 39%{{efn|802.11ax with '''2402&nbsp;Mbit/s''' (MCS Index 11, 2 spatial streams, 160&nbsp;MHz); versus 802.11ac with '''1733.3&nbsp;Mbit/s''' (MCS Index 9, 2 spatial streams, 160&nbsp;MHz).<ref name="semfio">{{cite web |url=https://www.semfionetworks.com/blog/mcs-table-updated-with-80211ax-data-rates |title=MCS Table (Updated with 802.11ax Data Rates) |website=www.semfionetworks.com |date=11 April 2019 |access-date=22 March 2021}}</ref>}} (for comparison, this improvement was nearly 500%{{efn|802.11ac with '''1733.3&nbsp;Mbit/s''' (MCS Index 9, 2 spatial streams, 160&nbsp;MHz); versus 802.11n with '''300&nbsp;Mbit/s''' (MCS Index 7, 2 spatial streams, 40&nbsp;MHz}}{{efn-lr|This improvement is 1100% if we consider 144.4&nbsp;Mbit/s (MCS Index 15, 2 spatial streams, '''20&nbsp;MHz'''), due to 40&nbsp;MHz mode from 802.11n (at 2.4&nbsp;GHz) having little practical use in most scenarios.<ref name="duckware">{{cite web |url=https://www.duckware.com/tech/wifi-in-the-us.html#wifi6 |title=Understanding Wi-Fi 4/5/6/6E (802.11 n/ac/ax) |website=www.duckware.com |last=Jongerius |first=Jerry |date=25 November 2020 |access-date=22 March 2021}}</ref>{{rp|qt|q="in virtually all circumstances, you will only get 1/2 of the advertised speed (only be able to use a 20&nbsp;MHz channel)!"}}).<ref name="semfio" />}} for the predecessors).{{efn|An [[IEEE]] article considers only a 37% growth for 802.11ax and a 1000% growth for both 802.11ac and 802.11n.<ref name="atutorial" />}} Yet, even with this comparatively minor 39% figure, the goal was to provide ''4 times'' the [[throughput]]-per-area{{efn|Throughput-per-area, as defined by [[IEEE]], is the ratio of the total network throughput to the network area.<ref name="atutorial" />}} of 802.11ac (hence ''High Efficiency''). The motivation behind this goal was the deployment of [[WLAN]] in dense environments such as corporate offices, shopping malls and dense residential apartments.<ref name="atutorial" /> This is achieved by means of a technique called [[OFDMA]], which is basically multiplexing in the [[Frequency-division multiplexing|''frequency domain'']] (as opposed to [[spatial multiplexing|''spatial'' multiplexing]], as in 802.11ac). This is equivalent to [[Cellular network|cellular technology]] applied into {{nowrap|Wi-Fi}}.<ref name="atutorial">{{cite journal |doi=10.1109/COMST.2018.2871099|doi-access=free |title=A Tutorial on IEEE 802.11ax High Efficiency WLANs |year=2019 |last1=Khorov |first1=Evgeny |last2=Kiryanov |first2=Anton |last3=Lyakhov |first3=Andrey |last4=Bianchi |first4=Giuseppe |journal=IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials |volume=21 |pages=197–216 }}</ref>{{rp|qt|q="The key feature of 802.11ax is the adoption of an OFDMA approach, an approach widely used in cellular networks, but brand new in Wi-Fi."}}

The IEEE 802.11ax{{nbh}}2021 standard was approved on February 9, 2021.<ref name="ieeefeb">{{cite web |url=https://standards.ieee.org/about/sasb/sba/feb2021/ |title=IEEE SA Standards Board Approvals - 09/10 February 2021 |website=[[IEEE]] |date=9 February 2021 |access-date=11 March 2021}}</ref><ref name="ieeeapproval">{{cite web |url=https://standards.ieee.org/ieee/802.11ax/7180/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210314171855/https://standards.ieee.org/standard/802_11ax-2021.html |url-status=live |archive-date=14 March 2021 |title=IEEE 802.11ax-2021 - IEEE Approved Draft Standard for Information technology&nbsp;[...] |website=[[IEEE|www.ieee.org]] |date=9 February 2021 |access-date=11 March 2021}}</ref>