Back at the Netgear 802.11ac event where we got to see some of the first 802.11ac enabled R6300 and R6200 routers, Broadcom told me that the announcement of an 802.11ac combo chip was imminent. That was just under a month ago, and today they've made good on that promise with the announcement of BCM4335, the successor to BCM4334 which includes single spatial stream 802.11ac support.
This is the latest in Broadcom's combo chip portfolio for smartphones, tablets, and other small form factor mobile devices. We've seen BCM4330 and BCM4334 in a huge number of devices, and no doubt 4335 will follow suit. BCM4335 includes a number of the optional 802.11ac features including 256QAM, short guard interval, beamforming, low density parity check (LDPC), and space-time block coding (STBC). This results in a PHY rate of 433.3 Mbps with 80 MHz channels on 802.11ac.
In addition, BCM4335 includes support for legacy 2.4 GHz 802.11b/g/n and 5 GHz 802.11a/n (20 and 40 MHz channels). BCM4335 is also manufactured on a 40nm process, same as BCM4334, so power consumption should be relatively similar, and likely better with 802.11ac. The usual combination of Bluetooth 4.0 and FM gets inherited from BCM4334 as well. BCM4335 is currently sampling and will enter production Q1 2013.
Broadcom Plans Fast 802.11ac Wi-Fi for Phones Early Next Year
Broadcom plans to bring IEEE 802.11ac Wi-Fi to smartphones starting early next year, using a chipset announced on Tuesday that the company said can deliver about 300Mbps (bits per second) of real-world speed.
The 802.11ac standard is the next generation of Wi-Fi, designed to provide three to four times the performance of current 802.11n products. The standard hasn't yet been approved, and the Wi-Fi Alliance is expected to start certifying products with it in the first quarter of 2013, but Broadcom is already shipping silicon for laptops and routers based on the standard in progress. It expects any remaining changes to be minor.
Phones with the Broadcom 11ac chip should be on the market early next year, according to Michael Hurlston, senior vice president and general manager of Broadcom's Home and Wireless Networking line of business. The chipset itself will probably carry a premium of 50 percent over a component with 802.11n, he said. But because it can transmit and receive data faster and can get off the network when it's finished, 802.11ac is about six times as power-efficient as its predecessor, according to Hurlston.
The upcoming BCM4335 chipset will include the 802.11ac radio, which will be backward compatible to the earlier 802.11n and 802.11g standards, plus Bluetooth and FM radio, said Hurlston. It will be the successor to Broadcom's current BCM4334 chipset, which uses 802.11n. Handset makers will be able to use it with a baseband chip from any vendor, Hurlston said.
The new technology uses a variety of techniques to break through to the higher speed. Using multiple antennas and multiple wireless streams over the air, 802.11ac radios can provide just over 1Gbps of throughput, Hurlston said. The chipset for smartphones will use just one transmit and one receive stream, so its theoretical physical limit is about 433Mbps, which translates into the high 300Mbps range for real performance, he said. Broadcom's mobile-phone chipset with 802.11n, by contrast, tops out just short of 100Mbps.
Other speed boosts in 802.11ac come from using exclusively the 5GHz band, which has more available channels than Wi-Fi's other band at 2.4GHz, and from using wider channels of 80MHz or 160MHz. The 802.11n standard can also use the 5GHz band, but the range of the new radios is greater when using that band, Hurlston said.
Broadcom expects consumers to use that speed for file transfers and video streaming from their phones to PCs, TVs and gaming devices. Wi-Fi is also expected to play a growing role in mobile phones through public hotspots, which take data traffic off service providers' cellular networks.
Broadcom's 802.11ac technology is already in routers on the market now. The company says its silicon powers 802.11ac routers announced by Buffalo Technology, Cisco Systems, Netgear and other vendors.
Qualcomm Atheros makes two 802.11ac solutions official - WCN3680 and QCA986x
Way back at MWC we saw Qualcomm Atheros demonstrating single spatial stream 802.11ac on a MSM8960 MDP, where it was pushing 230 Mbps to a nearby 802.11ac router. I talked about the WCN which works in conjunction with the WLAN PHY onboard the MSM8960 SoC, but got the part number wrong apparently (I said it was WCN3860). Qualcomm Atheros is now making that particular part official, and it's the WCN3680, a single spatial stream 802.11ac and BT 4.0 combo solution that works in conjunction with either MSM8960 or the quad core APQ8064 Krait SoCs.
Back then, I suspected that WCN3680 might not be implementing 256QAM (which is an optional 802.11ac feature), based on the 230 Mbps transfer rate we saw and talk of this being Airgo IP. The announcement states that WCN3680 is capable of a full 433 Mbps single spatial stream PHY rate, which corresponds to MCS-9, and thus includes 256QAM support. The announcement goes on to note that end user throughput will be around 200 Mbps, which is much closer to what we saw at the MWC demo, which is a little confusing. Either way, mobile 802.11ac is nearly upon us, as Qualcomm Atheros and the other combo chip players continue to trickle out announcements. This solution for MSM8960/APQ8064 again uses the on-SoC baseband for WLAN, WCN3680 is that external RF which enables it. This is roughly analogous to how the cellular baseband situation works - you use the on SoC baseband and external RF.
The other announcement is Qualcomm Atheros' beefier 802.11ac solution which I've been waiting to hear about. This is the QCA986x family, which does 802.11ac and BT 4.0 solution over PCIe, which comes in a 2 or 3 stream variant (QCA9862 and QCA9860, respectively) with full MCS-9 support (either 867 Mbps for 2 stream or 1.3 Gbps for 3 stream). This is a PCIe solution which will no doubt make its way into notebooks and other desktop platforms. Both QCA986x and WCN3680 are currently sampling.
5G Wi-Fi 隨處可見 無線視訊傳輸加速其應用
博通(Broadcom)資深副總裁暨無線事業部無線連接網路事業群總經理Michael Hurlston指出，在行動技術與應用論壇第一場開場主題演講中提到，從這次COMPUTEX 2012電腦展中，無論是展場外的交通接駁車，以及世貿一、二、三館與南港展覽館內，應該都可以注意到5G Wi-Fi的商標，並且已經有廠商展示應用這項技術的相關產品。
為何會有第五代Wi-Fi標準？它又會帶來什麼樣的效益？Hurlston指出，Wi-Fi已經主導了整個家庭數位裝置的應用，每個消費者迫切需要無線Wi-Fi這項功能。據一項博通在美國通路市場上針對約1,000多個受訪者所做的Wi-Fi應用面向的調查，60%的受訪者表示不能一天沒有使用到Wi-Fi，39%受訪者願意放棄一個月不喝咖啡來交換Wi-Fi，也有50%的受訪者願意一個月不上Facebook也要有Wi-Fi。
視訊(Video)佔全球網路流量比例越來越高，從2009年的29.5%、2010年的42.7%提升到2011年的53.6%，視訊使用的爆量成長才剛開始。依VNI 2011年6月統計與預測，當前全球網路封包總流量，其中超過50%比例為視訊，光網路串流的流量就超過1 ExaBytes；預計到2015年，視訊網路流量比例將超過91%，而全球視訊網路流量將超過7 ExaBytes，是2012年視訊網路流量的4倍。
Wi-Fi裝置從PC、Mobile 普及到消費性電子
Hurlston指出，不僅視訊佔全球網際網路比例越來越高，人們觀看網路視訊的裝置類別也開始出現變化。據Sandvine Broadband Report 2011年10月所做的報告，過去觀看網路視訊的裝置，有90%落在桌上型電腦(Desktop PC)，有10%為遊戲機、智慧電視、機上盒、平板與智慧型手機，而今日僅45%用戶以桌上型電腦觀看，55%的網路視訊改以遊戲機、智慧電視(Smart TV)、機上盒、平板與智慧型手機等行動裝置來觀賞。
他指出Wi-Fi的應用範圍與裝置數量持續增加，在2008年是由智慧型手機(Smartphone)、筆記型電腦與遊戲機(Game Console)內建Wi-Fi，隨後逐漸朝向智慧電視、機上盒、車用電子／娛樂系統擴散並內建，預估全球2012年內建Wi-Fi裝置數量突破32億個消費性電子裝置；接下來還會有智能電錶(Smart Meter)、醫療電子保健設備(ehealthcare)、遙控直升機，甚至像冰箱、洗衣機等都會內建Wi-Fi，預估到2014年，全球內建Wi-Fi裝置數量超過50億部。
由於目前Wi-Fi的主流規格801.11n，這個規格草案當初在2007年推出時，並未預料到今日各種行動裝置、消費性電子產品等，需要進行連續且大量高畫質多媒體影音視訊串流的需要，因此第五代5G Wi-Fi成為唯一的技術解決方案。
2012年第二季台廠Wi-Fi IC營收成長133.6%
根據市場研究機構 DIGITIMES Research 統計， 2012年第二季台廠 Wi-Fi IC 營收達新台幣83.68億元，較第一季增加133.6%，與2011年同期相比亦成長29.1%。2012年第二季較第一季成長超過100%的表現，看似難以置信，但卻與往年相當，2011年第二季台廠Wi-Fi IC營收的季成長亦達98.5%。
若比較2012年第二季與第一季台廠 Wi-Fi IC的營收年成長率，則第二季為29.1%，高於第一季的9.7%，顯現出貨動能增強。從季增率、年成長率等多種角度檢視後，證實台廠 Wi-Fi IC具強勁出貨成長。但DIGITIMES Research也指出，第二季的高成長，有可能墊高基期，使接下來的第三季表現不如預期，甚至低於2011年同季的成長表現。若台廠Wi-Fi IC能持續保持高成長，則台廠在全球Wi-Fi IC的佔比，將從目前的11%增至15%，成長率也高於全球市場。
個別業者方面，台廠Wi-Fi IC以聯發科(含雷凌)、瑞昱半導體為主，聯發科營收並為瑞昱的3.4~5.8倍，其餘業者已轉淡，或僅在利基領域或特定客戶進行供貨，佔各公司整體營收低於1%。DIGITIMES Research指出，台廠 Wi-Fi IC呈現消費性產品淡旺季走勢，即第一季最低，之後逐漸增高，第四季至最高，2012年仍持續相同走勢。
DIGITIMES Research 所統計的 Wi-Fi IC營收包含單一功能型Wi-Fi晶片，也包含複合型(Combo)型晶片，如Wi-Fi功能與藍牙功能複合，或與FM收音機功能複合等。其中台廠 Wi-Fi IC以終端產品(Customer-Premises Equipment，CPE)應用為多，如NB、USB Dongle等，無線路由器(Wireless Router)則相對為少。然局勢有若干變化，如聯發科(前雷凌)於5月推出Wi-Fi晶片RT6856，即用於友訊(D-Link)的無線路由器DIR-626L、DIR-836L上。
美國晶片業者博通(Broadcom)、高通(Qualcomm)已於2012年上半試產IEEE 802.11ac標準的Wi-Fi晶片，台廠的聯發科與瑞昱，亦預期在2012年下半年將開始試產，以縮短技術差距時間。
WiGig Multigigabit無線傳輸基座在2012年英特爾資訊技術高峰會上展示--英代爾首席技術官Justin Rattner將WiGig作為未來技術進行展示
中央社訊息服務20120913 18:27:27)舊金山--(美國商業資訊)-- 在舊金山舉行的2012年英特爾資訊技術高峰會(IDF)上，WiGig Multigigabit無線傳輸基座技術已由Intel在其未來技術願景中進行了展示。
WiGig正成為最重要的下一代Multigigabit無線技術，速度高達7Gbps，採用免授權的60Ghz頻段，結合了針對電腦、消費電子和行動應用設計的先進通訊協定配接層(PAL)，這意味著其應用將超越單純的接取技術。
負責WiGig技術開放的非營利標準組織WiGig聯盟主席兼總裁Ali Sadri博士指出：「這對WiGig、開發者和一般使用者而言都是一個開創性時刻。」
在2012年英特爾資訊技術高峰會上，Rattner展示了WiGig傳輸基座的一個實例及其功能，幾乎無需任何基座和網路線裝置。
Intel技術長Justin Rattner表示：「展望未來，所有計算都將變為無線計算，對更快無線通訊的需求將不斷增長。看到迄今為止WiGig技術的應用，我倍感振奮，不僅是因為其Multigigabit處理能力，而且也因為其單一技術支援廣泛消費電子和電腦應用的靈活性。我期待著有一天，當我在透過基座連接我的超輕薄筆電(Ultrabook)或平板電腦時，不再需要進行專門操作，而是簡單得就像把設備放在我桌子的任何地方，無需用纜線即可自動連接到顯示器和周邊設備。」
Sadri補充說：「Intel在2012年英特爾資訊技術高峰會上展示WiGig技術對我們和產業而言意義重大。這是來自全球領先的廠商之一的肯定，證明WiGig是可行的，擁有光明的未來。我相信，在短短幾年後，如果沒有這項技術，人們將無所適從。技術開發即將完成，來自多家WiGig成員公司的晶片現已開始生產，在2013年中期可進行認證。我預計，很快將有大量WiGig設備進入市場。」
在拉斯維加斯2013年消費電子展(CES)上，若干家WiGig成員公司將展示WiGig技術。欲瞭解WiGig的更多資訊，請瀏覽網站www.wigig.org，或在twitter上掌握@WiGigAlliance最新動態。
運用英特爾最新22奈米三閘(22nm 3-D Tri-Gate Transistor)技術，擴充了在空間與能源效率的特性
英特爾公司技術長Justin Rattner在英特爾研發者論壇(Intel Developer Forum，IDF)的主題演說中指出：「未來凡是能運算的東西都會具備連網功能，包括從結構最簡單的嵌入式感測器一直到最先進的雲端資料中心，而我們正在關注這些能讓產品無需纜線就能相互連結的技術。」
Rattner首度公開展示正在開發中的名為「摩爾定律無線電」(Moore’s Law Radio) 的全數位WiFi無線電技術。技術長闡述這項依循摩爾定律的全數位無線電，擴充了在空間與能源效率的特性，並運用英特爾最新22奈米三閘(22nm 3-D Tri-Gate Transistor)技術。全數位式無線電尤其適合與專為智慧型手機與平板電腦設計的系統單晶片(System-on-chip, SoC)進行整合。整合式數位無線電的微型化與低成本，將打造出許多嶄新應用，從可穿戴裝置到「物聯網」(The Internet of Things)，讓各種內建感測器的家電產品能相互通訊、交換資料、並能從遠端操控。
分析
- Intel 將運用最新22奈米三閘(22nm 3-D Tri-Gate Transistor)技術，全力守住 PC 及 伺服器產業，同時進攻 smart phone 及 tablet 產業；
- 影響 Intel 最大之公司仍是 ARM、Apple、TSMC、Samsung、Microsoft，如果大家全力使用 ARM，那 Intel 進攻 smart phone 及 tablet 將受阻；
Related articles
