Wifi Revolution

Semiconductor manufacturer Broadcom introduced on Friday the Broadcom BCM4325 WiFi (News - Alert)/Bluetooth/FM transceiver, a single-chip connectivity product which bundles WiFi, Bluetooth and FM receiver technologies onto a single silicon die.

Broadcom’s (News - Alert) new product features radio capabilities in a new ultra-low power 65 nanometer CMOS system-on-a-chip (SoC). This makes it possible to address the growing demand for a single product that powers devices with multiple applications such as Web-browsing, instant messaging (IM), e-mail, VoIP phone calls and photo sharing, by eliminating the need to use multiple chips, since these were needed to prevent “same band” interference.

Specifically, this single-chip system enables integration for mobile or handheld wireless systems featuring IEEE 802.11a/b/g (MAC, baseband and radio), support for Bluetooth 2.0 plus enhanced data rate (EDR)—the company is making an upgrade available for the EDR to version 2.1 and an advanced FM receiver.

“Mobile handsets are rapidly evolving into the central point of personal communications, entertainment and information for large numbers of consumers,” commented Broadcom Wireless Connectivity Group’s senior vice president and general manager Robert A. Rango. “Our new Bluetooth, WiFi and FM transceiver will help to drive this evolution and enhance devices like digital music players by dramatically reducing the cost and complexity of these key wireless technologies in innovative mobile devices.”

The product is currently available for sampling to early access customers.

Broadcom has been recently making announcements about how the company is helping to mobilize communications with its new developments in the WiFi technology arena. Indeed, just a few months ago, the company announced that its WiFi phone platform now supports Skype (News - Alert) software and will be available to consumers in new WiFi phone handsets from Buffalo.

The Buffalo WiFi phone for Skype allows Skypers to conduct free Internet-based calling to others, while supporting traditional calling to and from the public switched telephone network (PSTN) through the SkypeIn and SkypeOut offerings. The partnership between Broadcom and Skype will ultimately free Skypers from their PCs while they talk on the phone via a Skype -enabled connection powered by VoIP technology.

Want to learn more about WiFi? Then be sure to check out TMCnet’s White Paper Library, which provides a selection of in-depth information on relevant topics affecting the IP Communications industry. The library offers white papers, case studies and other documents which are free to registered users.

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Johanne Torres is contributing editor for TMCnet and Internet Telephony magazine. To see more articles by Johanne Torres, please visit her columnist page.

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