Skyworks Solutions Inc of Woburn, MA, USA (which manufactures high-reliability analog and mixed-signal semiconductors) has started volume production of several RF solutions supporting Broadcom 5G WiFi (IEEE 802.11ac) chips, including minicards for access points, routers and customer premise equipment (CPE).
The firm says that the explosion of video consumption and the growing number of wireless devices being used by consumers are putting great stress on existing 802.11 a/b/g/n networks and resulting in video buffering, skipping and battery drain. Broadcom's new 5G WiFi chips deliver Ethernet-quality speeds three times faster and six times more power efficiently than previous generations of Wi-Fi devices, enabling faster download of Web content from anywhere in the homes as well as the connection of multiple devices to the user's network simultaneously – all while consuming less device power.
"Consumers want access to high-definition quality video at fast speeds on multiple devices anywhere in the house — on the TV, or transferred to tablets and smartphones," says Broadcom's VP of marketing Rahul Patel. "Broadcom is working closely with Skyworks and other ecosystem partners and customers to address this demand and create 5G WiFi products," he adds.
According to Gartner analyst Mark Hung, Wi-Fi enabled devices will grow from less than 1 billion units in 2010 to more than 3 billion in 2015, fueled by 802.11ac. Many believe the 5th-generation Wi-Fi standard is poised to become one of the most influential mobile and wireless technologies in the years to come.
