Andrew Zignani

Crossrope AMP, one of several connected jump-ropes vying for customer attention, is part of a growing trend. ABI Research expects unit shipments of connected consumer products to exceed 166 million annually by 2028. That's more than triple the 54 million units shipped in 2022. The sports equipment category of this market includes connected baseballs and footballs; sensor-equipped bats, rackets and golf clubs; and smart water bottles, according to ABI Research. This approach typifies the connected consumer market. "Bluetooth has rapidly become the primary technology choice for the majority of connected consumer product applications," said Andrew Zignani, research director at ABI Research. Connected product challenges

The one major drawback of this technology is that, much like cellphone service on the ground, it is dependent on the density and connectivity of towers, and so flights over rural areas, deserts or large water bodies are likely to suffer drops in connectivity. The maximum speeds for these systems are currently around 5 megabits per second (which is shared by hundreds of passengers), according to Andrew Zignani, a research director at technology intelligence firm ABI Research who specializes in wireless connectivity. By comparison, median global download speeds for mobile and fixed broadband are around 30 megabits per second and 67 megabits per second respectively, according to recent data from monitoring app Speedtest.

"Being able to determine precisely where you are in an environment is increasingly important," said ABI Research analyst Andrew Zignani, who expects shipments of UWB-enabled devices to surge from 150 million in 2020 to 1 billion in 2025. "Once a technology becomes embedded in a smartphone, that opens up very significant opportunities for wireless technology."

he increasing demand for Wi-Fi-enabled applications and the advent of new standards such as Wi-Fi 6, Wi-Fi 6E, and Wi-Fi 7 has created the need for new software and hardware components such as Wi-Fi chipsets and devices that can support the latest standards. “To meet the surging Wi-Fi demand, the Chinese market been ramping up manufacturing capabilities through support plans provided by the government and the emergence of new vendors to ease the strain felt from the global chip shortage,” says Andrew Zignani, Research Director at ABI Research. China’s continued rapidly growing economy and aspiring demographics are making a key contribution to global demand and consumption of Wi-Fi-enabled services such as smart home applications.

A study from global technology intelligence firm ABI Research has provided more evidence that broadband operators are reaching for the stars over the next few years. It calculates that the serviceable addressable market (SAM) for global satellite broadband over geostationary (GEO), medium earth orbit (MEO) and low earth orbit (LEO) satellites will be 330 million premises, equivalent to 1.3 billion household members, in 2026.

"Being able to determine precisely where you are in an environment is increasingly important," said ABI Research analyst Andrew Zignani, who expects shipments of UWB-enabled devices to surge from 150 million in 2020 to 1 billion in 2025. "Once a technology becomes embedded in a smartphone, that opens up very significant opportunities for wireless technology."

"Being able to determine precisely where you are in an environment is increasingly important," said ABI Research analyst Andrew Zignani, who expects shipments of UWB-enabled devices to surge from 150 million in 2020 to 1 billion in 2025. "Once a technology becomes embedded in a smartphone, that opens up very significant opportunities for wireless technology."

Future Tech: Wi-Fi Sensing The rise of ultra-fast Wi-Fi 6 has opened up possibilities for expanded security technologies in the home. In a report prepared for NXP Semiconductor, Andrew Zignani, Principal Analyst for ABI Research’s Strategic Technologies team, says: “New enhancements to Wi-Fi technology, such as Wi-Fi 6 and 6E, can help better serve a mixture of device types, from high-throughput video applications, such as smart TVs, AR/ VR, voice assistants, and IP cameras, to low-cost and power-sensitive sensor and monitoring devices, as well as a whole host of other devices ranging from thermostats and smart lighting to other connected home devices.”

"Being able to determine precisely where you are in an environment is increasingly important," said ABI Research analyst Andrew Zignani, who expects shipments of UWB-enabled devices to surge from 150 million in 2020 to 1 billion in 2025 "Once a technology becomes embedded in a smartphone, that opens up very significant opportunities for wireless technology."

n its new whitepaper, 68 Technology Trends That Will Shape 2021, ABI Research’s analysts identify 37 trends that will shape the technology market and 31 others that, although attracting huge amounts of speculation and commentary, are less likely to move the needle over the next twelve months. “For success in 2021, especially after a very challenging 2020, one must understand fundamental trends early, and take a view on those trends that are buoyed by hyperbole and those that are sure to be uncomfortable realities. Now is the time to double down on the right technology investment,” says Stuart Carlaw, Chief Research Officer at ABI Research. What Will Happen in 2021: Ultra-Wideband Ubiquity: “UWB’s rollout and increased adoption is due to wider chipset availability, adoption across multiple segments, and the formation of a healthy UWB ecosystem across the entire supply chain,” explains Andrew Zignani, Wi-Fi, While historically, the technology has been used primarily within high-accuracy RTLS applications, 2020 has propelled UWB into various new markets. To date, arguably the biggest news was Apple’s decision to develop and use its own UWB technology in its iPhone 11, iPhone 12, and iPhone SE devices. In addition, Samsung now supports the technology in its Galaxy Note 20, and Xiaomi added UWB to its Mi 10 series. Apple has also integrated the technology within its latest Apple Watch Series 6 and HomePod Mini speaker, demonstrating the importance of the technology going forward. Xiaomi also recently demonstrated UWB leveraged within a variety of smart home devices, such as fans, lamps, and smart speakers, highlighting the growing potential of the UWB ecosystem. Once embedded within a sizable installe

Article by Andrew Zignani

“If you go onto any [location tracking] vendor website now, the first thing you’ll see is their response to Covid-19 and what their offerings are. There is an opportunity there, as morbid as it sounds,” says Andrew Zignani, an analyst for ABI Research, which tracks wireless communication industries and other digital transformation.

“Generally speaking, it’s a massive increase in capacity,” said Andrew Zignani, Wireless Connectivity Principal Analyst at ABI Research and author of “The Future of WiFi.” “It’s an additional 1.2 gigahertz in additional spectrum. This increases the number of channels, it has less inherent congestion, won’t be interfered with by legacy devices. As a result, you can enable lower latency, more dense deployments and greater reliability. WiFi 6 adds better resource allocation.”

That's according to The Future of Wi-Fi, a new white paper released this week by ABI Research. The paper projected that the number of Wi-Fi-enabled devices will jump from 3.3 billion this year to 4.6 billion by 2024, thanks to Internet of Things devices and other newer technologies. The paper also says that growth will be driven by the new Wi-Fi 6 standard, and the upcoming availability of Wi-Fi 6E. The FCC voted last week to let the latter go forward, and the equivalent agencies in other countries are expected to take similar measures. “It is hard to overstate the potential that 6 GHz and Wi-Fi 6E can bring to Wi-Fi networks,” Andrew Zignani, Principal Analyst, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Wireless Connectivity at ABI Research, said as part of the release of the white paper.

“The outbreak of COVID-19 is creating a need for flexibility that will fuel the future of connectivity,” noted Andrew Zignani, Principal Analyst at ABI Research,

An 80 per cent surge in wi-fi upload traffic during the Covid-19 pandemic is re-affirming the need for wi-fi 6/6E and wi-fi mesh adoption, states ABI Research.

According to ABI Research, COVID-19's impact on WiFi infrastructure indicates that existing infrastructure is inadequate. Wireless networks are now facing higher demand with more traffic, and users are finding their existing home WiFi networks, and the wider broadband infrastructure, inadequate or incapable of supporting the recent 80% increase in upload traffic. "The outbreak of COVID-19 is creating a need for flexibility that will fuel the future of connectivity," said Andrew Zignani, principal analyst at ABI. Many users are still using older WiFi equipment with legacy WiFi standards, such as 802.11n, rather than the latest WiFi 6, which has specifically been designed to deal with better provision in more crowded networks.

on will need to be provided on how to optimise and get the best out of home Wi-Fi networks,” said ABI Research principal analyst Andrew Zignani, explaining what could be incumbent on firms. “Employees will need equipment that can support robust, efficient and low-latency Wi-Fi standards, while various organisations around the globe will need to open up additional spectrum, such as 6GHz, to ensure the capacity of Wi-Fi networks can meet a global increase in demand for video, collaborative tools and other data-heavy traffic going forward.

And this increased demand is hampered by the proliferation of outdated Wi-Fi equipment, such as those that can only access the 802.11a/b/g/n standards. These older standards are particularly less capable at handling crowded networks than, say, Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax, aka AX Wi-Fi). And with members of the same household working, studying and playing under the same roof, ABI Research predicts a need for mesh Wi-Fi products. Although these lockdowns are intended to be temporary, they may drag on, as national governments work to implement effective tracking/tracing programmes and continuing efforts are made on potential vaccines. Beyond that, ABI Research suggests the lockdown may encourage more workplaces to embrace remote working – which in turn may increase demand for home-networking and VPN gear. "The hope, of course, is that the impact of COVID-19 will be very short lived, and that people will be able to return to work, school, and normality as swiftly as possible," said Andrew Zignani, principal analyst at ABI Research. "In the longer term, today's necessities could lead to an increased desire and testbed for flexible and remote working and learning in the future, while companies may shift marketing and business resources away from conference-centric approaches toward new online and virtual marketing tools, particularly as additional concern

Internet of things (IoT) devices, specifically those designed for the smart home, are forecasted to push device connectivity shipments to new heights in the coming years, according to a new report from ABI Research. Smart home devices are set to account for more than 13% of Bluetooth device shipments by 2024, or about 815 million Bluetooth-enabled products. This will include all device types such as smart lighting, voice-control front ends, smart appliances and sensors. ABI said these devices will propel the market to grow from 250 million units in 2019 to become one of Bluetooth’s largest market opportunities in the next five years. “The smart home market is beginning to ramp up, and strong growth for wireless devices and services is anticipated over the next few years as an increasing number of homes deploy solutions,” said Andrew Zignani, principal analyst for Bluetooth at ABI Research. “Bluetooth’s growing presence in voice control front ends from the likes of Amazon, Alibaba, Google, Baidu and Xiaomi makes up a significant portion of this growth, alongside increased traction within smart lighting, smart appliances, door locks, sensors and many other device types.”

Internet of things (IoT) devices, specifically those designed for the smart home, are forecasted to push device connectivity shipments to new heights in the coming years, according to a new report from ABI Research. Smart home devices are set to account for more than 13% of Bluetooth device shipments by 2024, or about 815 million Bluetooth-enabled products. This will include all device types such as smart lighting, voice-control front ends, smart appliances and sensors. ABI said these devices will propel the market to grow from 250 million units in 2019 to become one of Bluetooth’s largest market opportunities in the next five years. “The smart home market is beginning to ramp up, and strong growth for wireless devices and services is anticipated over the next few years as an increasing number of homes deploy solutions,” said Andrew Zignani, principal analyst for Bluetooth at ABI Research. “Bluetooth’s growing presence in voice control front ends from the likes of Amazon, Alibaba, Google, Baidu and Xiaomi makes up a significant portion of this growth, alongside increased traction within smart lighting, smart appliances, door locks, sensors and many other device types.”

In February of this year, the IEEE 802.15.4z standard was announced to make mobile transactions interoperable and secure, further propelling UWB developments. The standard has not yet been released, but is in its final stages prior to that release. Apple is an early member of the UWB 802.15.4z Task Group, which also includes Samsung and NXP Semiconductors, according to Andrew Zignani, a principal analyst at global technology market advisory firm ABI Research. "ABI Research believes it is only a matter of time before other mobile devices support UWB technology," he states. Apple did not respond to a request for comment. In recent years, ABI Research and other analysts have seen growing traction for UWB technology, particularly within real-time location system (RTLS) deployments in manufacturing environments. In April 2018, Zignani says, Siemens announced the acquisition of RTLS company Agilion for industrial applications. A number of other companies, such as Sewio, Zebra Technologies and IoT technology firm KINEXON, are targeting this space, he adds. By 2025, Zignani predicts, "ABI Research anticipates there will be nearly 16,000 UWB implementations in manufacturing environments alone."

"Bluetooth will continue to grow in other areas, such as speakers, headsets, mobile, and PC accessories, and both technologies will continue to push into other consumer electronics devices such as connected toys and home entertainment. However, IoT is beginning to take an increasingly significant share of the market," said Andrew Zignani, principal analyst for ABI.

Unlocking future gains is likely to come from more intelligent and easily reprogrammable robots such as AMRs, which are predicted by ABI Research to comprise 80% of all commercial robot shipments by 2027. All AMRs must possess mapping and localisation capabilities to react to the fast-changing environment inside factories to avoid collisions with other machines and humans. Therefore, most industrial robots are expected to have SLAM capabilities in the next decade, powered by sophisticated algorithms to work smoothly and accurately. Data generated by these robots’ SLAM capabilities can also be integrated into a centralised digital factory platform to be analysed for KPIs. “The 2020s are going to kick off with drastic changes in industrial environments,” notes Andrew Zignani, principal analyst for Location Technologies at ABI Research. “AI, IoT, RTLS, and connectivity technologies such as 5G will interact and improve each other in complex ways, and not all levels of the robotics value chain are ready for it. There are great opportunities in software development yet to be explored, SLAM being a big part of it.”

According to report by global tech market advisory firm, ABI Research, the installed base of SLAM-enabled commercial and industrial robots will exceed 15 million by 2030. Andrew Zignani, principal analyst for location technologies at ABI Research, says: “In these first years of the Industry 4.0, few factories will have a Real-Time Location System (RTLS) established, making it essential that AMRs can dynamically map their immediate environment using SLAM. “Still, factories which already have an RTLS system deployed, can use RTLS and SLAM together to provide valuable IoT data to a digital platform that can be used to optimize processes and make factories even leaner, thereby driving much faster ROI.”

Put it all together and you want to start getting ready to upgrade to Wi-Fi 6. That said, don't be in too much of a hurry. Wait until the technology is fully baked. Sure, as ABI Research Senior Analyst Andrew Zignani noted "Wi-Fi 6 pre-standard chipsets are readily available from numerous vendors including Broadcom, Qualcomm, Marvell, Quantenna, Intel, and Celenom," but they are "pre-standard." The Wi-Fi 6 standard hasn't been nailed down yet. It will be completed later this year.

Mr Andrew Zignani, senior analyst at market research firm ABI Research, says 802.11ax's better performance in dense environments is why it will ...