Broadcom Launches Latest Chip and Reference Design Solutions for 802.11n Wi-Fi Networks

(Product News, 23 Apr 2008)

Broadcom Corp. has expanded its network switching portfolio with an end-to-end solution for businesses deploying 802.11n Wi-Fi networks. The new solution—the Broadcom BCM4342 single-chip 802.11n solution and BCM954342EAP enterprise access point reference design—combines Broadcom's Intensi-fi silicon with its proven FASTPATH networking software, which extends the business-critical features from the company's popular StrataXGS enterprise switches.

The new solutions leverage FASTPATH Unified Access Point software to deliver the features that IT managers require across their wireless networks including robust security, quality of service (QoS), dynamic channel planning, and support for multiple basic service set identifiers (BSSIDs). The flexible design can be used for standalone access points, as well as for "thin" access points that are managed by a wireless switch or controller running Broadcom's FASTPATH Unified Wireless Switching software. This end-to-end platform provides centralized RF management, seamless mobility and wireless threat detection and prevention across the entire network. FASTPATH UAP eliminates the need for third-party software or in-house development, which can shave months off a manufacturer's development time.

Broadcom's BCM4342 Wi-Fi solution is also said to be the first to successfully address power consumption issues that have slowed business adoption of 802.11n to date. Although dual-band 802.11n access points offer greater bandwidth and capacity than previous products, simultaneous operation of both radios has traditionally exceeded the power limits of the Power over Ethernet (PoE) equipment used in nearly all large networks. This forced IT managers to use two PoE ports for each access point, or upgrade their entire network to support the new PoE+ standard (IEEE 802.3at).

Using 65nm CMOS process technology, Broadcom's single-chip BCM4342 Wi-Fi solution consumes half the power of competing 802.11n chipsets, allowing access points to operate simultaneously on the 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequency bands while being powered by a company's existing PoE infrastructure. This can reduce the cost of deploying or upgrading enterprise networks to support advanced wireless applications such as high definition (HD) video surveillance, voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and video conferencing.

Access points based on the BCM4342 will bring significant performance benefits to corporate Wi-Fi users. Broadcom's unique architecture delivers data rates of 300Mbps and maintains wireless connections over a larger coverage area than other 802.11n solutions. Intensi-fi solutions also offer the greatest wireless capacity—with three non-overlapping channels in the 2.4GHz band and 24 non-overlapping channels in the 5GHz band. This is especially important in enterprise networks, where IT managers rely on dual-band infrastructure to serve a large number of Wi-Fi users and accommodate latency-sensitive applications.

The BCM4342 is a complete system-on-a-chip (SoC) solution that accelerates time-to-market and reduces development costs for a variety of 802.11n access points. It combines an 802.11 medium access controller (MAC), a baseband processor, 2.4GHz and 5GHz radios and other WLAN components onto a single silicon die. This high level of integration reduces the number of components required for a WLAN subsystem by two-thirds, which significantly reduces the footprint and lowers a manufacturer's bill of materials (BOM) cost.

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