Broadcom sampling single-chip 65-nm 802.11n solution

Communications semiconductor developer Broadcom Corp. http://www.broadcom.com said today that it is sampling what the company said is the world's first full-featured, single-chip 802.11n solution.

According to the company, the BCM4322 chip, which is

part of its Intensi-fi product family, is the first to enable Wi-Fi products to achieve over 200 Mbits per second (Mbps) of actual wireless throughput. Broadcom said that since the chip combines all of the elements of a wireless LAN (WLAN) subsystem- an 802.11 medium access controller (MAC), a baseband processor, 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz radios and other WLAN components- onto a single silicon die, it reduces manufacturing costs by up to 40 percent.

The BCM4322 wireless LAN chip is the second generation of Broadcom's Intensi-fi technology that complies with the recently-ratified IEEE 802.11n draft 2.0 specification http://www.edn.com/article/CA6470826.html. Broadcom said that the chip offers a maximum data rate of 300 Mbps with actual throughput of over 200 Mbps. Made using 65-nm process technology, the chip purportedly is less than half the size of multi-chip 802.11n solutions and uses up to 50 percent less power.

The BCM4322 is sampling now, and Broacom said that production quantities are expected to ship in Q1 2008. Also this week, the Wi-Fi Alliance http://www.wifi.org, an industry group focused on speeding the final certification of the 802.11n draft by the IEEE which is currently slated for fall 2008, announced that it has certified more than 90 next-generation 802.11n draft 2.0 products since the organization's testing program began three months ago http://www.edn.com/article/CA6455978.html.

802.11n had been planned for standard ratification in early-to-mid 2007, but was pushed back to October 2008 after draft 1.0 of the specification encountered technical issues. Draft 2.0 has been approved by IEEE task group N, but was faced with hundreds of technical and editorial comments that are currently undergoing review. Draft 3.0 http://www.edn.com/index.asp?layout=article&articleid=CA6470826 is on track for a recirculation ballot this month.

In the meantime, a number of companies-- like Broadcom-- have already begun making products for use with the upcoming 802.11n standard http://www.edn.com/article/CA6434332.html. The Wi-Fi Alliance certainly stirred up some controversy by going ahead with the certification of these products before the IEEE has officially given 802.11n the green light: Critics say that products already incorporating the 802.11n capabilities are particularly susceptible to shortcomings due to the technology's relative "immaturity" http://www.edn.com/article/CA6470534.html when compared to more established connectivity protocols.