Replacement for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth from China?

Wireless communication Replacement for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth from China?

2024-03-13 From Henrik Bork* | Translated by AI 4 min Reading Time

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Allegedly driven by US boycotts, China is developing a replacement for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. The technology called Nearlink is supposed to be practically better in all aspects – energy efficiency, data rates, latency. Doubts about this are appropriate.

The Chinese Nearlink is supposed to do everything Wi-Fi and Bluetooth can do – only better. In the domestic market, the technology will likely prevail because it is independent of US technology and approvals.(Image: freely licensed / Pixabay) — The Chinese Nearlink is supposed to do everything Wi-Fi and Bluetooth can do – only better. In the domestic market, the technology will likely prevail because it is independent of US technology and approvals.
(Image: freely licensed / Pixabay)

China's alternative to Wi-Fi and Bluetooth is apparently making progress: "Nearlink," a new wireless communication technology, has recently been found in the first smartphones and tablets on the market. Market observers like Jim Chien from Digitimes are already talking about the "emergence of a serious alternative to Wi-Fi and Bluetooth in the Chinese market."

Nearlink, sometimes also called "SparkLink," is a new type of wireless short-range connection. It combines technologies used in Bluetooth and Wi-Fi and is supposed to enable faster data transfer speeds with lower energy consumption.

Nearlink owes its creation to the trade and technology conflict between Washington and Beijing. After the USA placed the Chinese tech company Huawei on its "Entity List" for trade sanctions, it was temporarily also denied access to the bodies where the standards for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are formulated.

Developed by Huawei since 2019

In 2019, Huawei, later supported by the Chinese Ministry of Industry, began looking for a domestically developed alternative in response to these boycotts from the USA. However, this requires the establishment of an entire ecosystem of manufacturers, service providers, network operators, and standardization bodies.

This very ecosystem is now gradually taking concrete shape. By 2023, more than 430 companies had joined the "Nearlink Alliance" founded back then, according to market researchers at Digitimes.

With few exceptions, these are companies from the People's Republic, including Huawei and other consumer electronics manufacturers such as Lenovo, Xiaomi, and Haier, as well as network operators like China Mobile. However, one or two foreign companies have also joined by now.

Is the first China notebook with Nearlink coming soon?

Huawei has already equipped phones from its "Mate-60" series with Nearlink, as well as a tablet computer and the matching stylus "M-Pencil", and some of its wireless headphones. Since February, there has been the yet unconfirmed rumor that the first Chinese laptop with Nearlink technology, the new "Huawei MateBook X Pro," will soon come to market.

Apart from the clear advantage from a Chinese perspective that Nearlink does not require US technology or approvals, Nearlink is also said to have some objective technical advantages in direct comparison with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

Supposedly significantly better than Wi-Fi and Bluetooth

Compared to such "traditional wireless technologies," Nearlink devices are characterized by "a 60 percent reduced energy consumption, a six times higher data transmission speed, and a doubling of the transmission distance," according to Huawei.

Moreover, Nearlink has "one-thirtieth of the latency," and the radio interference suppression is 7 dB better, which allows for a more stable connection between various devices, according to Huawei. Additionally, up to ten times as many network connections are possible per device.

But already the indication of the maximum data rate reveals that Nearlink is not leading but significantly lagging behind: The current, widely available Wi-Fi 6 achieves up to nearly 10 Gbps, depending on the mode of operation, Nearlink a maximum of 1.2 Gbps – just as much as Wi-Fi 6 in its slowest mode of operation. And Wi-Fi 7, which is expected to be released in December 2024, is supposed to transfer data at up to 46 Gbps.

"revolutionary" – if the technology is successful

Thus, at least from a technical perspective, the great hopes that parts of the Chinese electronics industry have for Nearlink are understandable. "This technology, which will be immune to US sanctions, could prove to be revolutionary if it turns out to be a success," Global Times quotes the analyst Zhang Hong.

Despite the now begun commercialization, the development of the Nearlink ecosystem is still in its infancy. Chinese manufacturers still have many technical hurdles to overcome. For simple applications such as headphones, for example, semiconductors from generations that can now be produced in China itself without American parts or software are sufficient.

Chips with 7-nanometer technology required

However, for advanced Nearlink chips, which would also be suitable for industrial applications, such as in the automotive industry, chips with 7-nanometer technology are required, according to Digitimes experts. So far, Chinese chip manufacturers have only mastered the production of Nearlink communication chips based on 14-nanometer processes.

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However, it may be misleading to view Nearlink solely as a competitor or threat to American standards such as Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. Although it is theoretically conceivable that Nearlink, with its alleged technical advantages, could one day replace these communication technologies, a coexistence in the market is more likely.

Nearlink could prevail for specific applications for which it is particularly well-suited. With data transfer rates of up to 1,200 Mbps, it is well-suited for HD video streaming, online gaming, AR and VR devices, as well as the transfer of large files. In other scenarios, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth may still suffice. (me)