Microwave Journal
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Broadcom announces industry’s first 60 GHz wireless mesh solution

May 23, 2016

Broadcom Ltd., a leading designer, developer and global supplier of a broad range of analog and digital semiconductor connectivity solutions, announced the industry’s first 60GHz wireless mesh (60G WiMesh) chipset solution designed for wireless infrastructure applications including mobile backhaul and wireless access points. The chipset consists of a BCM20130 baseband SoC and a BCM20138 RF transceiver chip, both of which are implemented in standard CMOS process. Based on innovative steerable beamforming technology, the chipset provides a highly robust, cost-effective 60GHz wireless solution addressing the “last-mile problem” for wireless infrastructure.

Broadcom’s unique 60G WiMesh technology enables a baseband SoC to connect to multiple RF transceiver chips, supporting large phased array antennae to extend data transmission range. The solution can also employ a custom time division duplex (TDD) protocol to facilitate long range point-to-multipoint links to enable a robust wireless mesh network. Compared with other 60GHz wireless solutions on the market, which are either short range or expensive, the Broadcom® 60G WiMesh solution does not need high gain fixed antennae and allows the formation of a self-organizing, community-based wireless mesh network in the 60GHz spectrum, which minimizes equipment and infrastructure costs and provides a highly efficient, high bandwidth data delivery for mobile backhaul.

Broadcom 60G WiMesh Solution Benefits

  • Provides a lower-cost 60GHz wireless solution for the “last-mile problem” compared to traditional backhaul solutions
  • Enables OEMs and service providers to offer extended range WiGig-compliant access points
  • Delivers enhanced end user experience through faster connectivity leveraging 60GHz wireless mesh backhaul to fiber “point of presence”

Broadcom will demonstrate the 60G WiMesh technology in the Broadcom Booth #629 at the 2016 International Microwave Symposium (IMS) exhibition in San Francisco, California from May 24th to 26th. Attendees will experience first-hand live traffic stream of IEEE 802.11ad data transferring up to 4.62 Gbps between two transceivers.

“Built upon a well-established RF/Analog CMOS design and standards based solution, the Broadcom 60G WiMesh solution is the first in the industry to support wireless mesh networking in the 60GHz band with link distances between nodes up to hundreds of meters, making it ideal for use in wireless backhaul. Furthermore, the 60G WiMesh technology bolsters Broadcom’s Wi-Fi leadership and enables us to deliver the best user experience by providing end-to-end multi-Gbps connectivity,” said Michael Hurlston, senior vice president and general manager of the Mobile Connectivity Products Division at Broadcom.

“Worldwide user demand for data on-the-go is far outpacing the ability of service providers to add low cost capacity through access densification,” asserts Joe Madden, principal analyst at Mobile Experts. "60Gig WiMesh lowers the barrier for operators and OTT players to add bigger bandwidth, at lower TCO than traditional wireless backhaul.”

Availability

Sample kits and evaluation boards for the Broadcom 60G WiMesh are currently available to qualified customers. Please contact your local Broadcom sales representative for more information.

Further information on the BCM20130 and BCM20138 are available online at

http://www.broadcom.com/products/wireless-connectivity/wigig/bcm20130

http://www.broadcom.com/products/wireless-connectivity/wigig/bcm20138

For more information, go to www.broadcom.com.