Broadcom Announces Single-Chip 802.11n USB Solution For Dual-Band Wi-Fi Adapters
TAIPEI, Taiwan, -- Broadcom Corporation recently announced the company's first single-chip dual-band 802.11n solution for universal serial bus (USB) adapters. The newest member of Broadcom's Intensi-fi XLR wireless LAN (WLAN) family enables very small and cost-effective USB adapters that consumers can use to connect PCs, TVs, set-top boxes, personal video recorders, and other devices to a Wi-Fi network. The new Broadcom dual-band chip also features the company's new Accelerange technology to provide the wireless performance and range that is required to transfer high-definition (HD) content between devices throughout a home.
Most Wi-Fi equipment vendors now offer USB adapters (often called dongles) that connect non-wireless devices to a wireless network. According to ABI Research, annual shipments of Wi-Fi USB adapters will reach 15 million by 2011. A majority of these will be dual-band 802.11n adapters, to serve the growing number of consumers who are using the 5 GHz portion of their wireless network for video streaming and voice over IP (VoIP) calls. With greater network capacity and less interference than the 2.4 GHz band, the 5 GHz band is ideal for multimedia applications that require higher bandwidth, more robust signals and lower latency.
Announced recently is the Broadcom BCM4323 USB solution. Designed using 65 nanometer (nm) CMOS technology, the single-chip solution enables 20mm x 52mm USB modules that are half the size of those built with multi-chip solutions. The highly-integrated chip also offers the industry's lowest bill of materials (BOM) cost, which enables manufacturers to build dual-band 802.11n USB adapters with form factors and price points that are comparable to most of today's single band 802.11n adapters. The BCM4323 also features an integrated ARM(R) processor and on-chip RAM that can offload wireless functions from the host processor in consumer devices.
This enables manufacturers to easily embed dual-band 802.11n capabilities directly into multimedia products, such as digital TVs, set-top boxes and DVD players.
"BCM4323-based USB adapters will help many consumers realize the dream of a high definition digital home by extending wireless connectivity to all kinds of multimedia devices beyond PCs," said Satish Ganesan, Product Manager for Broadcom's Wireless LAN line of business. "Our new USB solution provides a very small and affordable way for consumers to reap the performance benefits of 802.11n for a variety of data-only and multimedia applications."
The BCM4323 offers best-in-class 802.11n performance to provide a superior multimedia experience for video, voice, and other bandwidth-intensive applications. Broadcom has enhanced its 2x2 Intensi-fi architecture with hardware and software features that improve the performance and range of 802.11n devices to ensure stronger wireless connections -- even in the far corners of a home. These enhancements, collectively known as Accelerange technology, employ several standards-based techniques that enable USB adapters to provide full 802.11n throughput over a significantly larger coverage area than other solutions, while maintaining interoperability with other Wi-Fi CERTIFIED(TM) devices.
The BCM4323 is also the first Intensi-fi XLR solution with direct packet transmission (DPT) -- a feature that enables Wi-Fi client devices to communicate directly, rather than through a wireless router. 802.11n devices with DPT can automatically detect one another and establish a secure communications link, using the maximum bandwidth (up to 300 Mbps), even if the devices are associated with an 802.11g router. This enables consumers to connect their multimedia Wi-Fi devices and get the maximum benefits of 802.11n, without upgrading their entire network infrastructure.
SOURCE: Broadcom Corporation