January 15, 2014 – Broadcom, a wired and wireless semiconductor company, announced today the launch of 5G Wi-Fi SoCs for connected home devices. The BCM43569 and BCM43602 enable Broadcom’s OEMs to provide the speed, range, and power suitable for HD content streaming, online gaming, and high-bandwidth applications within the home. The 5G Wi-Fi SoCs for connected home devices announced by Broadcom were unveiled at CES (Consumer Electronic Show) 2014.

Consumers are streaming various high-definition content within their homes through various applications and content delivery services. Past technologies were limited in providing bandwidth and service quality suitable for a connected home lifestyle. For example, devices equipped with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi capabilities, such as remote controls, speakers, and game controllers, can cause interference by reducing the available Wi-Fi bandwidth when streaming online games or movies to tablet PCs and smart TVs. The BCM43569 provides the best performance for smart TVs to receive Wi-Fi and Bluetooth signals simultaneously and is the first dual-band 2x2 MIMO combo chip in Korea to include a USB 3.0 interface and improved co-existence technology.

Routers, gateways, and set-top boxes rely heavily on the platform's host CPU performance to deliver HD content via 5G Wi-Fi to various devices within the home. Broadcom's new 3x3 MIMO 802.11ac SoC solution, the BCM43602, relieves the burden of Wi-Fi processing from the host processor, enabling the delivery of the benefits of 5G Wi-Fi. Combining these new chips enables the delivery of high speed, power, and range to meet consumer content demands anytime, anywhere. Additionally, both chips support beamforming to provide wireless coverage throughout the entire home.

Rahul Patel, Vice President of Product Marketing for Broadcom’s Wireless Connectivity Combo (WCC) Group, stated, “As the first company in the industry to offer 5G Wi-Fi across all product segments, Broadcom continues to lead innovation and is striving to create even more powerful next-generation 5G Wi-Fi products to support today’s content-hungry consumers.” He added, “Broadcom’s new solutions enable consumers to experience improved video streaming in wirelessly connected homes and provide OEMs with improved system costs and form factor benefits.”

In addition, Phil Solis, Research Director at ABI Research, stated, “By the end of 2014, 802.11ac is expected to account for more than 50% of total Wi-Fi IC shipments,” adding, “Broadcom is leading the industry by maximizing wireless connectivity performance for connected home devices, enabling 802.11ac technology to be applied across all product segments.”