Product category:
Communications ICs (Wireless)
News Release from: Broadcom Corp | Subject: Intensi-fi
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 20 January 2006
All-CMOS chipsets meet latest Wi-Fi
specs
The new Intensi-fi family of wireless LAN chipsets are the first solutions designed to comply with the IEEE802.11n draft specification.
Broadcom has announced the availability of its new Intensi-fi family of wireless LAN (WLAN) chipsets, the first solutions designed to comply with the IEEE802.11n draft specification Intensi-fi technology delivers superior performance and robust wireless connectivity throughout a home or office, enabling next generation Wi-Fi devices to offer a flawless multimedia experience by supporting emerging voice, video and data applications
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 25 Apr 2006 at 8.00am (UK)
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Broadcom Corporation reports that its Intensi-fi family of draft-802.11n silicon devices is gaining momentum as more manufacturers and consumers adopt next generation Wi-Fi technology.
"Broadcom is pleased that the IEEE has confirmed the 802.11n draft specification", said Dr Henry Samueli, Broadcom's cofounder and Chief Technical Officer.
"We have been active participants in the standards process and are very happy to see the industry achieve technical consensus".
"With today's announcement, Broadcom is excited to deliver on our promise of interoperable, next generation wireless products for our customers and consumers".
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Wi-Fi chipset finds ultraportable home
Broadcom's Intensi-fi draft-802.11n wireless chipsets are now available in Acer's new Ferrari notebook computers, providing high-performance Wi-Fi connectivity.
Processor links Wi-Fi with Gigabit Ethernet
Wi-Fi Gigabit Ethernet processor that extends Intensi-fi family of draft-802.11n solutions.
Wi-Fi technology handles voice, video and data
Wireless routers with simultaneous dual-band functionality allow Wi-Fi users to maximise performance for multimedia applications, while remaining compatible with existing wireless devices.
Intensi-fi technology incorporates all mandatory elements of the IEEE802.11n draft specification and is designed to be software upgradeable once the standard is finalised.
Adherence to industry standards is a priority for Broadcom, because it eliminates the compatibility and performance issues that plague users of proprietary, nonstandard products.
Broadcom will continue to participate in the standards process through ratification, ensuring that its solutions will comply with the final 802.11n specification.
"Now that we have the technical foundation for the 802.11n standard, the Wi-Fi market will begin to experience renewed growth as vendors deliver next-generation wireless devices", said Philip Solis, Senior Analyst at ABI Research.
"We expect suppliers like Broadcom to capitalise on this opportunity by introducing advanced solutions that promise interoperability and upgradeability when the standard is completed, just as it did with its draft 802.11g solutions".
Broadcom is working closely with other industry leaders to demonstrate real-world interoperability among brands as draft-802.11n products become available.
Broadcom is also providing technical resources to the Wi-Fi Alliance to accelerate an industry-wide 802.11n interoperability test procedure.
Broadcom anticipates that the creation of the 802.11n standard will clarify the high-end of the wireless LAN market, alleviating consumer confusion caused by the incompatible, proprietary solutions that have been previously introduced.
Intensi-fi technology supports multiple simultaneous data (or "spatial") streams over multiple transmit and receive antennas to provide datarates of over 300Mbit/s and more robust coverage than legacy 802.11 products - which use one transmitter and one receiver to support a single data stream.
This provides sufficient bandwidth, range and reliability to deliver high definition (HD) video to each room of a typical home.
To deliver a flawless multimedia experience, Intensi-fi technology will extend beyond traditional PCs and networking gear into consumer electronics and entertainment devices - providing the infrastructure necessary to send movies, photos, music, voice calls and data among cable/DSL/satellite set-top boxes, personal video recorders, DVD players, gaming systems, audio equipment, cameras, cellphones and other handheld devices.
"The forthcoming 802.11n standard will drive unprecedented growth for the Wi-Fi market and become the next mainstream WLAN technology", said Michael Hurlston, General Manager of Broadcom's Home and Wireless Business Unit.
"This is the first of many Broadcom products that will enable our partners to create an ecosystem of interoperable products that satisfy the requirements of next generation wireless networks".
Intensi-fi products will also enhance the experience of users of the nearly 75 million existing products based on Broadcom's industry leading Wi-Fi technologies.
Intensi-fi products employ superior maximum ratio combining (MRC) techniques that enable legacy devices to achieve even greater performance and range.
By making the most of their existing Wi-Fi equipment, Intensi-fi maximises the customers' investment and protects their networks from immediate obsolescence.
The Intensi-fi solution includes a MAC/baseband chip and a radio chip that can be configured for a variety of high-speed wireless applications.
Broadcom also offers two network processors that allow customers to optimise cost versus performance for wireless router designs.
The complete portfolio includes the following all-CMOS components.
The BCM4321 is the world's first media access controller (MAC) and baseband compliant with the 802.11n draft specification, providing PHY rates of over 300Mbit/s and interfacing to PCI, Cardbus and PCI-Express hosts.
The BCM2055 is Broadcom's fifth-generation 802.11 radio, which integrates multiple 2.4 and 5GHz radios to support simultaneous spatial streams for draft 802.11n products with 2x2, 3x3 or 4x4 antenna configurations.
The BCM2055 is the best-performing 802.11 radio, featuring smaller die size, lower power consumption, and lower phase noise and error vector magnitude (EVM) than competing products - all of which are critical for high-throughput draft 802.11n systems.
The BCM4704 is Broadcom's proven fifth-generation wireless network processor, which provides advanced routing/bridging capabilities and is tuned to meet the performance targets of the draft 802.11n chipset for router and gateway designs.
And the BCM4705 is Broadcom's sixth-generation wireless network processor, which supports simultaneous operation of 2.4 and 5GHz radios and integrates a Gigabit Ethernet MAC to enable greater than 100Mbit/s throughput between draft 802.11n and Ethernet networks.
Like all of Broadcom's award-winning Wi-Fi solutions, Intensi-fi chipsets use an all-CMOS architecture.
This not only enables highly integrated and highly-efficient chipsets, but also sets forth a path to single-chip solutions for cost-effective, high-volume manufacturing.
Intensi-fi chipsets operate in both the 2.4 and 5GHz frequency bands, which allows them to work with millions of 802.11a/b/g devices already on the market.
In addition, Intensi-fi solutions leverage Broadcom's proven OneDriver software to deliver superior performance, ease-of-use and security features.
This includes SecureEasySetup software, innovative technology that allows consumers to install and secure a complete wireless network with the push of a button and the click of a mouse.
The OneDriver implementation also supports Wireless Multimedia (WMM), which provides quality of service and improves the user experience by prioritising audio, video and voice traffic on a Wi-Fi network.
Broadcom is now sampling Intensi-fi chipsets.
The company has also developed a range of reference designs to speed development time for Wi-Fi device manufacturers.
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