Broadcom has released three WiFi 8 routing chips and has sent samples to ASUS and other customers for testing

[ Gearbest Technology News]On May 27, according to foreign media reports, although the WiFi 8 or 802.11bn standard has not yet completed its final review, Broadcom has taken the lead in releasing related products, launching three WiFi 8 compatible system-level chips for high-end wireless routers and mesh networking equipment.

Broadcom

Different from previous product designs, Broadcom has integrated application processors, network processors, 2.4GHz and 5GHz radio frequency modules, and Ethernet physical layer chips on a single wafer this time, which can reduce equipment power consumption and heat generation. This series of chips supports multi-gigabit WAN and LAN ports, adapting to the demand for wireless bandwidth exceeding gigabit in recent years.

WiFi 8 has been optimized for the problems existing in the previous generation WiFi 7. Its peak theoretical bandwidth can reach 46Gbps, and the actual rate of most consumer-grade devices does not exceed 5Gbps. The new standard adds coordinated spatial multiplexing technology, which can help mesh devices or campus access points adjust signal strength, reduce signal interference, and improve signal integrity; coordinated beamforming technology allows devices to directionally transmit signals to the receiving end, reducing interference to other devices; dynamic sub-channel operation technology allows routers and access points to allocate independent sub-channels to devices, increasing throughput by more than 20%.

The three chips released this time are targeting different markets: the entry-level BCM6772 is targeted at mass-market routers and is equipped with 2×2 radios in both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands; the mid-range BCM6774 is equipped with a higher-specification 4×4 radio in the 5GHz band; the high-end BCM6776 is equipped with two additional PCIe 3.0 controllers to support higher-speed LPDDR memory.

At present, the first batch of chips have been sent to customers for samples for subsequent product evaluation and integration. Broadcom's partners include ProLink, NETGear, Asus and many other wireless network equipment manufacturers. According to previous reports from market research institutions, the WiFi 8 standard is not expected to be popularized until 2028, and it will take some time for related consumer products to be launched.