Broadcom announced its second generation of wireless connectivity chipset solutions for the Wi-Fi 7 ecosystem last month to meet Wi-Fi 7 demand, which the company expects to be greater than it was for Wi-Fi 6. Broadcom’s Directors of Product Marketing for Wireless Communications and Connectivity for Enterprise, Mike Powell, and Mobility, Gabriel Desjardins, detailed the market trends that informed the launch, as well as how second-generation solutions that target the enterprise and residential middle tiers will further stimulate mainstream adoption of Wi-Fi 7.
In both enterprise and residential markets, Broadcom sees an “explosive demand” for wireless and IoT devices. Therefore, the company has launched an access chip targeting new enterprise use cases, as well as a new combo chip to address the protocols in mobile devices. According to Broadcom, these second-generation Wi-Fi 7 chips not only meet market requirements in a more cost-effective manner, but also incorporate additional radio access technologies to manage the growth of IoT.
Wi-Fi access
In the enterprise access market, it is typical for the first generation of products to address the highest-end chips sporting 4×4 radios, said Powell, and for the second generation to hit the 2×2 tier, which is typically the midrange of access point portfolios. “By going to this second generation, which is focused around the integration of multiple 2×2 radios, we can increase the Wi-Fi 7 adoption rate more quickly,” he continued.
The new enterprise access point chip in question is the BCM47722, which supports 320 MHz 2-stream operation along with dual IoT radios that support simultaneous operation for Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), Zigbee, Thread and Matter protocols. According to Powell, the dual IoT radio is a standout feature that will enable enterprises to facilitate many more “diverse” IoT deployments. “This integration is critical to create smaller, more cost-effective access points. This comes as there is a lot more IoT usage on these access points,” he said, listing applications such as sensor monitoring, asset tracking, automatic door locks and electronic shelf labels. “This is what has made the second-generation access chip so attractive to our customers — it’s a single chip that does all of it.”
Wi-Fi mobility
In addition to traditional support for Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth, Broadcom’s newest mobility chip, the BCM4390, also supports Zigbee, Thread and Matter. This will allow mobile devices to interoperate with the growing number of IoT devices in home automation, audio and automotive applications.
For example, a device using this chip could control a home security system, lighting, speakers, as well a variety of other IoT devices, over any of these protocols. For Broadcom, being able to control multiple radio access technologies in the home and the enterprise will drive more rapid adoption of Wi-Fi 7 by delivering a better overall user experience, even as more and more IoT devices come online.
Additionally, unlike the company’s first-generation Wi-Fi 7 mobility chip, which targeted ultra-high-end phones with 320 MHz capability, the second-generation mobility chip supports 160 MHz channels, which Desjardins notes meets the smartphone market’s needs for high throughput and affordable handsets.
Wi-Fi 7 is fast approaching, and Broadcom is confident that its second-generation chips deliver cost-effective solutions for mass market adoption both in the enterprise and in the home as IoT continues to play an increasingly central role in wireless technologies.
