Optimized Multi-Access-Point Beamforming in Ultra High Reliability WLAN

Ultra-high reliability (UHR) is the main goal for the next IEEE wireless LAN standard 802.11bn, the future Wi-Fi 8. Coordination of multiple access points (APs) is a key feature of the new generation to ensure reliable operation and high performance. With the release of the first draft 802.11bn standard, a realistic evaluation of Wi-Fi 8 multi-AP coordination is possible. This paper presents performance simulations of 802.11bn multi-AP coordination with focus on coordinated beamforming (CoBF), where MIMO techniques are used to suppress interference between neighboring WLANs. The standard methods are compared with a novel optimized spatial nulling method, based on iterative phase optimization.