Broadcom All-CMOS 802.11b Solutions

By
iApplianceWeb
(01/30/02, 11:13:51 AM EDT)

Broadcom Corporation provider of integrated circuits enabling broadband communications, today announced the industry's first all-CMOS, direct-conversion wireless local area networking (WLAN) chipset solutions. The new product family implements the IEEE 802.11b wireless networking standard (also known as Wi-Fi). Broadcom's unique architecture allows WLAN providers to add security and performance while dramatically lowering manufacturing costs.

Broadcom's wireless LAN offerings, the Broadcom BCM2051 2.4GHz direct-conversion radio and the BCM430x family of baseband processors, contain a number of industry-first innovations. These silicon solutions are the first IEEE 802.11b-compliant chipsets to be implemented in a standard digital CMOS process, which represents the lowest possible silicon cost approach to wireless radio and enables new product price points via chipset integration.

Broadcom's highly integrated, two-chip solutions also employ a direct-conversion radio architecture that minimizes cost, number of components and footprint while improving product reliability and manufacturability. The BCM430x baseband processors are optimized to significantly outperform existing solutions in the hostile multi-path signal environments often found in the enterprise and home. Enhanced Security

The Medium Access Controller (MAC) designed into the Broadcom baseband processors provides hardware-based security that meets customer needs across all market segments. In addition to the 40-bit encryption specified by the IEEE 802.11 Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) standard, the BCM430x family includes hardware support of the 128-bit extension of WEP, 802.1x, Temporal Key Initiation Protocol (TKIP) as well as the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) protocol planned for the forthcoming IEEE security specification (IEEE 802.11 TGi). Hardware support of encryption/decryption improves performance and significantly lowers host-CPU utilization in both client and access device configurations.

The BCM2051 is a direct-conversion CMOS IC. This single-chip radio combines with any BCM430x chip to deliver a complete IEEE 802.11b solution. The BCM430x family of Wi-Fi baseband processors includes the BCM4301, with combined wireless LAN baseband processor and MAC functionality, the BCM4302, which adds simultaneous V.92 modem functionality, the BCM4304, which adds simultaneous 10/100 Ethernet functionality, and the BCM4307 which adds both V.92 modem and 10/100 Ethernet functionality. Samples of the BCM430x family and the BCM2051 as well as the related BCM9430x evaluation platforms are currently shipping to Broadcom's early access partners.