Broadcom has added a high speed 50Mbit/s Wi-Fi data capability to its range of combo Bluetooth/802.11/FM chips.
With the previous generation BCM4325 Wi-Fi/Bluetooth/FM chip already in products, Broadcom has introduced its first combo transceiver which supports 802.11n and 50Mbit/s data rates.
“This now offers double the data throughput to the previous generation for those who require it,” said Clint Brown, director of business development for Broadcom’s wireless LAN business.
The chip is also 15% smaller than its predecessor. “The design footprint is less than 75 square millimetres, I am not sure there is another supplier who can compete with that, perhaps only TI,” said Brown.
The chip also has an FM transmit capability which allows music files to be streamed to an FM receiver, a car radio for example.
The BCM4329 employs space time block coding (STBC), an 802.11n feature that enables a mobile device to maintain a connection with an access point anywhere within an expanded coverage area.
The design also includes new traffic management of the Bluetooth and 802.11 transceiver paths which should simplify system integration.
It will also move Broadcom’s Bluetooth/Wi-Fi architecture another step closer to a device runs the Bluetooth protocol over a high speed Wi-Fi interface.
“It is getting much closer,” said Brown, who is looking to mid-2009 for ratification of a standard by the Bluetooth SIG.
Such as approach is seen as an alternative to the original plan for giving Bluetooth a speed boost which was to morph it into a version of the UWB, or ultra wideband, standard which offers 400Mbit/s data rates.
But there are issues - regulatory and system complexity - which are slowing the deployment of UWB, which needs new licensed frequency bands between 3-10GHz.