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Qualcomm Dragonwing™
NPro A8 Elite Platform
NPA8

Elevate wireless networking with ultra-reliable Wi-Fi 8 performance and advanced edge intelligence.

The Dragonwing NPro A8 Elite Platform is Qualcomm Technologies’ most advanced Wi‑Fi 8 infrastructure solution, bringing together superior compute and native edge AI to support low‑latency, high‑capacity connectivity across home and enterprise deployments.

Purpose‑built for high‑performance enterprise access points and premium home routers, the Dragonwing NPro A8 Elite Platform pairs Wi‑Fi 8 with on‑device AI processing to excel in dense, demanding environments. Its penta‑core CPU, NPU‑based AI compute, and integrated Network AI Engine enable agentic AI at the edge while powering real‑time network intelligence and adaptive optimization.

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Featured DocumentsQualcomm Dragonwing NPro A8 Elite Platform Product Brief

Target Applications
 

Premium home routers and whole-home mesh systems icon
Premium home routers and whole-home mesh systems
High-density enterprise access points icon
High-density enterprise access points
Industrial access points for factory and warehouse environments icon
Industrial access points for factory and warehouse environments
Campus, public venue, and outdoor access points for large, high‑traffic spaces icon
Campus, public venue, and outdoor access points for large, high‑traffic spaces

Benefits

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Next-Level Wi-Fi 8 Performance
Designed to elevate core Wi-Fi 8 capabilities, the Dragonwing NPro A8 Elite Platform adds system-level enhancements beyond the standard feature set, including advanced 5x5 radio systems that strengthen mesh backhaul performance across the network and support sustained throughput for connected clients. Latency and responsiveness improve under load through advanced coordination features and an optimized processing pipeline, helping maintain consistent performance even during peak usage. Intelligent power optimization modes preserve full Wi-Fi 8 speed, range, and reliability while reducing overall power draw.
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Ultimate Networking and Edge Compute
Designed for AI-era networking demands, the Dragonwing NPro A8 Elite Platform features a carrier-grade Packet Processing Engine (PPE) designed for ultra‑high‑throughput networking at tens of gigabits, along with a penta-core CPU that provides ample compute resources to run containerized applications and value-added services, enabling operators and OEMs to innovate with differentiated features while keeping services responsive under load.
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Edge-Native Intelligence
Built to bring intelligence closer to where data is generated, the Dragonwing NPro A8 Elite Platform integrates an Agentic AI Engine powered by the Qualcomm® Hexagon™ NPU for low‑latency, on‑device inference across edge AI applications such as security, analytics, motion sensing, and context‑aware automation. Executing AI locally delivers faster response times and enhances privacy with reduced cloud dependency. Our second-generation Network AI Engine provides AI‑powered Wi‑Fi optimization and AIOps capabilities, including anomaly detection and intelligent troubleshooting, to continuously improve end user experience across the network.
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Developer-Ready, Integrated Platform
A unified software and hardware architecture streamlines integration by combining networking, compute, edge AI, Wi-Fi 8 radios, and RF Front End with a silicon-to-cloud software stack. Consistent APIs, service frameworks, telemetry, and AI tools shorten development cycles and simplify feature delivery.

Features

Wi-Fi 8

  • 802.11bn* PHY/MAC feature set
  • Up to penta-band operation with support for antenna configurations with up to 20 antennas
  • Up to 33 Gbps** peak wireless capacity with support for up to 1,500 simultaneous clients
  • Flexible radio configuration with 5x5 or split into dual band simultaneous 2x2 + 3x3
  • Dedicated scan radio for automatic channel selection (ACS), radar (DFS), and proactive interference avoidance
  • Support for Wi-Fi locationing (802.11az/bk) and Wi-Fi sensing (802.11bf)
  • Qualcomm Dragonwing Automatic Frequency Coordination (AFC) Suite

Artificial Intelligence

  • Agentic AI Engine powered by Hexagon NPU: Enables low‑latency, on‑device inference
  • Dragonwing Network AI Engine Gen 2: Integrated accelerator for Wi‑Fi and networking AI models that drive real-time QoE‑driven decisions at the edge
  • Dragonwing Network AI Suite: Dragonwing Traffic Sense, App Sense, Device Sense, and Anomaly Sense AI-driven applications for network optimization, device visibility, application classification, and AIOps

Platform

  • Penta‑core CPU (4x efficiency cores, 1x performance core)
  • Eco Adaptive Mode enables significant energy savings during low‑activity periods while maintaining responsiveness and returning to full performance seamlessly as traffic increases
  • OEM‑tunable power profiles
  • End-to-end QoE enablement with WAN-to-WLAN and WAN-to-LAN QoS management and Telemetry APIs
  • Software‑defined datapath with open‑source and middleware support (prplOS, OpenWRT, RDK, OpenSync)
  • Easy integration of IoT applications through platform extensions and coexistence interfaces
  • Security options include crypto engine (6.7 Gbps EIP197), post-quantum cryptography, TrustZone, DDR encryption
  • Carrier-grade Packet Processing Engine with advanced tunneling capacity

* Planned compliance with IEEE 802.11bn based on draft specifications.

Specifications
CPU
Number of Cores
5
Clock Speed
Up to 2.0 GHz
NPU
Name
Qualcomm® Hexagon™
Wi-Fi
Peak PHY Rate
Up to 33 Gbps1
Generation
Wi-Fi 8, Wi-Fi 7, Wi-Fi 6, Wi-Fi 5, Wi-Fi 4
Standards
802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, 802.11ac, 802.11ax, 802.11be, 802.11bn, 802.11i, 802.11w, 802.11d, 802.11h, 802.11u, 802.11r, 802.11k, 802.11v, 802.11mc, 802.11az, 802.11bf
Spectral Bands
6 GHz, 5 GHz, 2.4 GHz, 4.9 GHz2
Maximum Band Configuration
Penta-band
Channels
Up to 320 MHz
Peak QAM
4K QAM
Encryption
AES-CCMP, AES-GCMP
Security
WPA3 Enhanced Open, WPS, WPA2, TKIP, PRNG, WAPI2, WAPI1, 802.11i security, WPA3 Personal, WPA3 Enterprise, WPA3 Easy Connect
Features
Up to 1500 users, Up to 16-user OFDMA (UL/DL)3, Up to 4-user MU-MIMO (UL/DL)3, Advanced Scan Radio, Intermediate Modulation and Coding Schemes (MCS), Improved Low-Density Parity Check (LDPC), Distributed RU (DRU), Multi-Primary Operation (DSO/NPCA), Device Unavailability Operation (DUO), AP Periodic Unavailability Operation (PUO), Low Latency, Low Loss, Scalable Throughput (L4S), Coordinated Time Division Multiple Access (Co-TDMA), Coordinated Restricted Target Wake Time (Co-RTWT), Coordinated Spatial Reuse (Co-SR), Coordinated Beamforming (Co-BF), Single Mobility Domain (SMD) Roaming, Dynamic Bandwidth Expansion (DBE)
Ethernet
Number of Ports
6
Ports
2x 25 GE, 4x 2.5 GE
Memory
Type
DDR4, DDR5
Bit Width
32-bit
  1. Performance claims refer to maximum physical layer (PHY) performance
  2. public safety
  3. per radio
  4. (10G)
  5. (2x25G)
  6. Zigbee/Thread
Qualcomm relentlessly innovates to deliver intelligent computing everywhere, helping the world tackle some of its most important challenges. Our leading-edge AI, high performance, low-power computing, and unrivaled connectivity deliver proven solutions that transform major industries. At Qualcomm, we are engineering human progress.

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