Broadcom Corp. (Nasdaq: BRCM), a semiconductor solutions provider for wired and wireless communications, introduced its first family of 802.11ac (5G Wi-Fi) chips designed for a broad variety of product segments.
The new IEEE 802.11ac chips are three times faster and up to six times more power-efficient than equivalent 802.11n solutions, the company said.
According to the company, 5G Wi-Fi is the next-generation Wi-Fi standard.
“Based on 802.11ac, 5G WiFi is a major evolutionary step from the existing 802.11a/b/g/n networks. Broadcom’s 5G Wi-Fi dramatically improves the wireless range in the home, allowing consumers to watch HD-quality video from more devices, in more places, simultaneously,” the company said.
“The exponential growth of digital media and wirelessly connected devices requires faster and more reliable ways to connect anytime, anywhere. 5G Wi-Fi solves this media explosion challenge. Broadcom’s vast footprint in consumer electronics devices uniquely positions us to lead the transition to the next generation of Wi-Fi,” said Michael Hurlston, senior vice president of Broadcom’s mobile and wireless group.
Broadcom further said that “the increased speed enables consumers to download Web content from a mobile device faster and quickly synch large files, such as videos, in a fraction of the time it would take on a similar 802.11n device. Since 5G Wi-Fi transfers the same volume of data at a much faster rate, devices enter low-power mode faster, which results in significant power consumption advantages.”
According to Cisco’s 2011 Visual Networking Index Forecast, consumption of digital content is on a steep incline, with video content expected to reach about 90 percent of global consumer traffic. At the same time, Internet traffic is shifting rapidly from wired to wireless networks.
“The increased reliance on wireless networks, the explosion of video consumption and the growing number of wireless devices being used are all putting tremendous stress on legacy 802.11a/b/g/n networks. As a result, consumers are prone to experience deteriorated performance, choppy videos and slower load times,” the company said.
By creating more reliable whole-home coverage, Broadcom’s 5G Wi-Fi technology overcomes the digital content and wireless device challenge. Broadcom’s family of 5G Wi-Fi solutions includes the BCM4360, BCM4352, BCM43526 and BCM43516.
