Broadcom pushes new combo chips for China's mobile device market

Broadcom Corporation today announced the launch of two new integrated wireless access combo chips for smartphones and tablets. Both the BCM4335 and BCM43340 chips are manufactured using 40nm COMS process technology, providing device manufacturers (OEMs) with a combination of size, cost, and power consumption advantages.

Users’ demand for affordable smart phones loaded with Google’s Android system has grown significantly. IDC expects China will surpass the United States this year to become the world's largest smartphone manufacturer. In this context, the competition among various smart phone suppliers in China is very fierce. The BCM43340 raises the bar for mass-market devices and provides original equipment manufacturers with a cost-effective dual-band mobile device solution.

Although the mass market is expected to adopt the BCM43340, the BCM4335 provides a powerful solution for high-end smartphones. As the industry's first full-featured 5G WiFi mobile device combo chip, the BCM4335 takes the product performance of the Chinese market to a new level. It improves the Wi-Fi device's effective distance and throughput while reducing the battery's power consumption.

These chips can also meet the growing demand for Wi-Fi offloading in the Chinese market. With the dramatic increase in data usage of mobile devices, operators are looking for ways to ease the pressure on cellular networks. Broadcom's more robust and reliable wireless access and Wi-Fi offload capabilities enable operators to meet this growth challenge while continuing to provide customers with fast, reliable, and seamless Internet access.

The first full-featured 5G WiFi combo chip 5G WiFi for smartphones is the fifth generation of Wi-Fi based on the IEEE 802.11ac standard, which is a major development based on the existing 802.11a/b/g/n network. 5G WiFi greatly extends the transmission distance of home wireless networks, enabling consumers to watch high-definition video in more places and more devices at the same time. Compared to the use of similar 802.11n devices, this solution offers a 3X faster transmission speed, enabling consumers to download network content from mobile devices and synchronize large files such as video in a very short time. 5G WiFi is faster when transmitting the same amount of data, so the device can quickly enter low-power mode and consume only 1/6th the power of the same 802.11n solution.

The new BCM4335 integrates a complete single-stream 5G WiFi system on a silicon chip – including MAC (Media Access Control), PHY (Physical Layer) and RF (Radio Frequency), as well as Bluetooth 4.0, FM radio and software. The platform-independent design of the MAC, PHY, and RF allows the BCM4335 to fit on any smartphone or tablet platform, regardless of which application processor the platform uses. With wireless coexistence algorithms that reduce radio interference, advanced "sleep modes" that extend battery life, and the ability to offload major power-consuming tasks for the host processor, Broadcom combo chips will set the industry in terms of integration, performance, and functionality. standard.

The BCM4335 chip introduces the latest version of Broadcom's wireless coexistence technology. Cell phone manufacturers can use this technology on 4G LTE cellular platforms to minimize the possibility of wireless interference between Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and LTE operating at nearby radio frequencies. Broadcom's global coexistence interface will support the Bluetooth Special Interest Group's LTE coexistence method, which is compatible with most vendors' 4G mobile phone modems. For more information on this product, visit the BCM4335 product page.

The BCM43340, a cost-effective dual-band combo chip for mobile devices in China's mass market, features an integrated RF front end consisting of a PA, LNA and transmit/receive switch. Significantly reduce the cost of implementing dual-band WiFi support in mobile devices. Features such as Wi-Fi Direct and Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Miracast typically use the 5GHz band, making dual-band operation a necessary feature for portable products. In addition, operating systems such as Android and Windows will support higher-bandwidth multimedia applications on these devices, which will increase the criticality of high-speed dual-band access.

43340 Highlights:

The BCM43340 integrates Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and FM radio on a single chip;

Advances in 40nm CMOS process technology and power management design will reduce power consumption by 45%;

Integration with PA, LNA and TR switches reduces size and BOM costs;

Dual-band support provides a clean, interference-free network to meet the growing demand for IPTV and video browsing services over the wireless network in the Chinese market;

Support HT40 (high throughput 40MHz channel in 5GHz band);

Designed for low-cost PCB-on-chip applications.

Supply:

The BCM43340 is currently sampling samples of Broadcom's early access customers. The product is expected to be fully operational in the fourth quarter of 2012. The BCM4335 is also sampling early access customers for Broadcom, which is expected to be fully operational in the first quarter of 2013.

Broadcom executives introduction:

“There are close to 11 million IPTV subscribers in China, and this country is quickly becoming a top consumer of ITPV services. As the consumer shifts to using mobile devices to watch video over Wi-Fi, the demand for clean, interference-free wireless networks has become It's becoming increasingly clear that by supporting entry-level smartphones to work in less-overcrowded 5GHz bands to provide a better and faster wireless experience, the latest solutions from Broadcom will meet this growing demand."