Broadcom Touts GigE WiFi Chip

IRVINE, Calif. -- Broadcom Corporation (Nasdaq: BRCM), a global leader in semiconductors for wired and wireless communications, today announced a new Wi-Fi® Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) processor that extends its Intensi-fi™ family of draft-802.11n solutions. Although current generations of 802.11n products deliver 4 times the throughput of 802.11g, performance is actually bottlenecked by the Fast Ethernet switch and network processor. By integrating a GbE controller and increasing the processor's clock speed, Broadcom's latest offering eliminates those bottlenecks, allowing the system to achieve the theoretical maximum wireless 802.11n performance, nearly 8 times that of 802.11g. The new Broadcom® Wi-Fi GbE processor is available today in products from leading OEMs, including Linksys and Buffalo.

In real world tests conducted by Broadcom and validated by a third-party testing company, products powered by the new Broadcom BCM4705 GbE processor produced industry leading Wi-Fi throughput in excess of 160 Megabits per second (Mbps). In addition, highlighting the power of the Intensi-fi architecture, these products have also demonstrated a consistent data throughput of up to 200 Mbps and achieved over 250 Mbps in a simultaneous dual band configuration in “clean air” laboratory tests.

“The performance of draft-802.11n wireless routers shouldn’t be gated by associated networking components that can keep these products from reaching the performance targets of the forthcoming 802.11n standard,” said Rahul Patel, Director of Marketing for Broadcom’s Wireless LAN business unit. “By offering the industry’s highest performing Wi-Fi network processor, Broadcom is enabling manufacturers to deliver premium access points, routers and residential gateways that deliver the full value of 802.11n networking.”

Broadcom Corp. (Nasdaq: BRCM)