Chipmaker MaxLinear says it's getting traction for "AnyWAN," a new, unified silicon platform that can support fiber gateways, fixed wireless access (FWA) applications and, further down the road, cable's emerging DOCSIS 4.0 platform for hybrid fiber/coax (HFC) networks.

Among recent moves, MaxLinear said its newest line of home gateway systems-on-a-chip (SoCs) based on AnyWAN have gained ITU-T certification for use in both XGS-PON (passive optical network) and G-PON networks. AnyWAN SoC variants will also support NG-PON2, the company said.

But the bigger story is that AnyWAN's architecture, introduced last fall, supports multiple access interfaces, including cable/DOCSIS, FWA and PON.

Figure 1: (Source: Timon Schneider/Alamy Stock Photo)

The multi-WAN (wide area network) approach is gaining interest as operators pursue multiple access technologies. Supporting multiple WAN interfaces provides a path to capacity and scale, according to Will Torgerson, VP and GM of MaxLinear's broadband group.

On the software side, the platform also has hooks into standards and technologies such as OpenWrt, prpl and the Reference Design Kit (RDK), the pre-integrated stack operated by a joint venture of Comcast, Charter Communications and Liberty Global.

While such choices are typically made by service providers, Torgerson reasons that the value of the approach extends to the OEM and its ability to use AnyWAN to build around Wi-Fi and Ethernet subsystems.

That, he adds, puts the OEM in a position to enable fiber on RDK for one customer and fiber with FWA for another.

Addressing the need for speed

"It's the same base platform, same processor, same Wi-Fi subsystem but with a different WAN interface to be supported," Torgerson said.

In addition to reducing costs on underlying qualification efforts, this also accelerates the overall development process. "It's about time to market. It's speed," Torgerson said.

On the HFC side, AnyWAN is built initially to support DOCSIS 3.1, with DOCSIS 4.0, a technology that will support symmetrical multi-gigabit speeds, to follow.

"We're trying to accelerate the overall market transition to these 10-Gig-oriented platforms and Wi-Fi 7," Torgerson said. The version of AnyWAN shipping today supports Wi-Fi 6E.

He said MaxLinear, a chipmaker that tangles with Broadcom, is "committed" to developing for DOCSIS 4.0, but the company has yet to reveal its D4.0 roadmap.

MaxLinear is shipping AnyWAN now in volume, with one unnamed service provider customer on board for an Ethernet-based design. That company has plans to migrate to PON later. Among ODMs, Gemtek is already on board and taking the lead with an AnyWAN-powered platform that supports FWA.

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— Jeff Baumgartner, Senior Editor, Light Reading