RF front-end component maker and foundry services provider TriQuint Semiconductor Inc of Hillsboro, OR, USA says that its TriConnect 5GHz WLAN front-end modules and premium LTE/Wi-Fi coexistence filters are being used in the 5G Wi-Fi reference designs of Broadcom Corp. 5G Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11ac) technology delivers faster throughput, longer operating range and extended battery life for smartphones, tablets and other consumer devices.
By creating more reliable whole-home coverage, Broadcom's 5G Wi-Fi technology aims to tackle the digital content and wireless device challenge. The firm's family of 5G Wi-Fi solutions improves wireless range in the home, allowing consumers to watch HD-quality video from more devices, in more places, simultaneously. The increased speed enables consumers to download web content from a mobile device faster and quickly synch large files, such as videos, in a fraction of the time, it is claimed.
Broadcom's 5G Wi-Fi reference designs are widely used by engineers developing next-generation consumer devices. The firm's highly integrated combo chips offer a complete dual-band 5G Wi-Fi system with Bluetooth, FM radio and software on a single, compact silicon die. TriQuint says that its ultra-small RF components deliver the demanding RF performance required to fully realize the speed, range and power saving benefits of 802.11ac (the latest evolution of Wi-Fi).
Analysts expect more than 100 million 802.11ac-enabled devices to ship by the end of 2013, rising at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 430% to nearly half of all Wi-Fi chipset shipments for the consumer electronics market by 2017. TriQuint says that its TriConnect WLAN products have already captured multiple design wins with leading smartphone makers: its TQP887051 5GHz WLAN front-end module has been approved for Broadcom reference design BCM4335, while its LTE/Wi-Fi coexistence filter is included on reference designs BCM4335 and BCM4339.
TriQuint introduced the industry's first 802.11ac-ready module for mobile devices last year. "Since then, we have leveraged TriQuint's advanced in-house technology portfolio, the industry's largest, to develop our next-generation Wi-Fi products," says Tim Dunn, the firm's VP of Mobile Devices. "Our 802.11ac technology expertise also expands our future market opportunity for consumer electronics applications such as in-home video distribution."
