Broadcom Extends 5G WiFi Leadership with New 802.11ac Chips for Enterprise and Wireless Cloud Networks

IRVINE, Calif., Feb. 13, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- 

News Highlights:

• Delivers industry's fastest and most reliable Wi-Fi connectivity that rivals Gigabit Ethernet
• 3x faster and 6x more power efficient than previous generation 802.11an devices
• Fully interoperable with legacy 802.11 technologies

Broadcom Corporation (NASDAQ: BRCM), a global innovation leader in semiconductor solutions for wired and wireless communications, today extended its leadership and momentum in 5G WiFi chips with the launch of the BCM43460, the world's first 5G WiFi system-on-chip (SoC) designed to address growing demand for Gigabit speeds in enterprise, wireless cloud networks and carrier access. Based on the new IEEE 802.11ac standard, the BCM43460 system-on-chip (SoC) is 3x faster and 6x more power efficient than previous generation 802.11n solutions and is interoperable with legacy 802.11 technologies. Visit www.broadcom.com to learn more or visit www.5gwifi.org.

"Enterprise networks are on the cusp of a new mobile computing era in which tablets and smartphones will be ubiquitous in the workplace," said Rajiv Ramaswami, executive vice president and general manager of Broadcom's Infrastructure and Networking Group. "Broadcom is at the forefront of developing the latest wireless technologies for the enterprise, delivering the connectivity capabilities needed to meet the growing demands of an unwired workforce." 

According to a recent enterprise survey conducted by analyst firm Infonetics(1), employees around the world are replacing the use of desktops and laptops with smartphones and tablets, and IT departments are scrambling to connect those devices. As the number of mobile devices and the deployment of cloud based enterprise networks continue to scale at a dramatic rate,  IT managers must reconsider how they provision, secure and control enterprise computing resources and information access.

About 5G Wi-Fi

Increased reliance on wireless networks, the explosion of video consumption and growing number of wireless devices are all putting tremendous stress on legacy 802.11a/b/g/n networks. With new innovations that allow for more reliable coverage, 5G WiFi addresses these challenges, allowing mobile device users to stream digital content between devices faster, and simultaneously connect more wireless devices to home and enterprise networks, while conserving battery power. Visit www.broadcom.com or  www.5gwifi.org to learn more.

New Features Optimized for Enterprise

Bandwidth-intensive content in the enterprise, such as video conferencing, and customer relationship management (CRM) applications, require speeds that rival Gigabit Ethernet and compatibility with centralized wired Gigabit speed networks.

The 2.4/5 GHz single-chip MAC/PHY/Radio BCM43460 is ideal for Enterprise and Carrier class access points, branch office routers and business class integrated services routers. New features such as Broadcom's revolutionary explicit and implicit transmit beam-forming technology significantly extends the range, coverage and network efficiency of Enterprise wireless networks, particularly in single antenna devices such as smartphones.

The new Enterprise focused airtime fairness feature enables better performance through its support for a denser environment of mixed speed Wi-Fi devices. Advanced spectrum analysis features combine in-depth RF analysis with real-time WLAN information for real-time trouble­shooting of performance problems. This feature is critical to Enterprise operators for deep monitoring of interference in the network, resulting in more reliable, consistent wireless service. State-of-the-art security is provided by industry standardized system support for WPA, WPA2, hardware accelerated AES encryption/decryption TKIP and IEEE 802.1X.

End-to-End Unified Networking

Broadcom's integrated FASTPATH® Unified Wireless Switching (UWS) and Unified Access Point (UAP) software with 5G WiFi device delivers a fully integrated solution for wireless LAN controllers, unified switches and access points. By combining its industry-leading wireless LAN (WLAN) silicon, switch silicon and networking software, Broadcom provides a complete platform for OEMs to deliver a unified wireless network solution. This highly integrated, low power enterprise WLAN solution enables seamless mobility around the office while delivering the same network management, scalability, security, performance and cost advantages of a wired network.

 Market Drivers

• Exponential growth forecasted in Enterprise mobile device deployment. Analysts tout mobility as the overriding trend in 2012 Enterprise networks(1)
• Mobile content consumption has created a need for faster and more reliable ways to access content across devices anytime, anywhere(1)
• Bandwidth-intensive content in the Enterprise requires Gigabit wireless connectivity speeds

Key Features

• Dual-band (2.4 and 5 GHz) IEEE 802.11ac draft 3 x 3 compliant MAC/PHY/Radio complete SoC
• Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) technology doubles spectral efficiency
• Fully integrated dual-band radio transceiver supports 3 x 3 antennas for date rates up to 1.3 Gbps
• Embedded hardware acceleration enables increased system performance and significant reduction in host-CPU utilization in access point configurations
• Airtime fairness for most efficient use of channel time in dense mixed speed client environments
• Integrated FASTPATH UAP software provides complete turnkey 11ac solution

Availability

The BCM43460 is now sampling with production volume slated for the second half of 2012.

Quotes:

Matthias Machowinski, Directing Analyst, Enterprise Networks – Infonetics

"As mobile devices proliferate among users, and enterprises centralize their data and applications in the cloud, enterprise wireless networks must evolve to deliver faster throughput, higher capacity, and broader coverage. 802.11ac delivers on all of these, and we expect enterprises to enthusiastically embrace this next generation wireless technology once it is available in the market place."

Swift Liu, Product General Manager, Enterprise Networking Group Datacom Product Line, Huawei

"With the rapid growth of Wi-Fi enabled devices permeating the enterprise network,11ac will be a defining technology in bringing mission critical capability to the enterprise wireless LAN. Huawei is pleased to be an early collaborator with Broadcom to drive 11ac products into the enterprise market and promote the development of the WLAN industrial chain."

Marc Randall, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Avaya Networking

"The Enterprise wireless LAN market will experience tremendous growth over the next five years, driven by the continued adoption of personal technology in the enterprise and the bandwidth demands of real-time collaborative applications. The enhanced performance and throughput of 802.11ac will allow Enterprises to do more with their wireless networks, including streaming high-definition voice and video seamlessly over Wi-Fi. We are excited to continue our partnership with Broadcom and bring to market the next generation of high-performance enterprise access points. Our unique wireless split-plane technology will further facilitate this high-bandwidth transformation for our customers."

Supporting Resources:

• BCM43460 Featured Product Page
• B-Connected Broadcom Blog
• Broadcom News Room
• Subscribe to Broadcom's RSS Feed: http://go.broadcom.com/sv2

About Broadcom

Broadcom Corporation (NASDAQ: BRCM), a FORTUNE 500® company, is a global leader and innovator in semiconductor solutions for wired and wireless communications. Broadcom® products seamlessly deliver voice, video, data and multimedia connectivity in the home, office and mobile environments. With the industry's broadest portfolio of state-of-the-art system-on-a-chip and embedded software solutions, Broadcom is changing the world by Connecting everything®. For more information, go to www.broadcom.com.

Broadcom®, the pulse logo, Connecting everything®, FASTPATH and the Connecting everything logo are among the trademarks of Broadcom Corporation and/or its affiliates in the United States, certain other countries and/or the EU.  Any other trademarks or trade names mentioned are the property of their respective owners.

(1) Infonetics CRS: Enterprise Networking in 2012--What's in Store?

SOURCE Broadcom Corporation; BRCM Infrastructure & Networking