Broadcom Goes Hard on the IoT with Second-Gen Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, and Matter-Compatible Parts

Broadcom has announced its second-generation Wi-Fi 7 chip range, including a model which supports simultaneous Wi-Fi, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), and Zigbee, Thread, or Matter operation — with a view to power upcoming Internet of Things (IoT) devices.

"High-speed, low-latency wireless connectivity is essential for our homes and offices alike. We launched a complete Wi-Fi 7 ecosystem for mobile handsets and residential and enterprise networks last year to power the next generation of digital experiences," says Broadcom's Vijay Nagarajan of the company's experience in the field. "With these three new products, Broadcom enables its customers to build a diverse set of best-in-class Wi-Fi 7 products across a wide range of markets."

Those three products start with the BCM6765, a high-performance chip designed for Wi-Fi 7 access points and repeaters which offers dual 2×2 320MHz Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be) on the 2.4GHz, 5GHz, and 6GHz bands with a 10-gigabit-Ethernet PHY for wired backhaul. It's not just a radio chip, either, but a full system-on-chip (SoC) which includes a quad-core ARMv8 processor running at up to 2GHz and with support for DDR4-3200 or LPDDR4/4x-4267 memory. Expansion, meanwhile, is offered through a pair of PCI Express Gen. 3 controllers, offering two-lane and single-lane connectivity, and one each of USB 3.2 and 2.0 ports.

That's not the most interesting part for those building around the Internet of Things (IoT), though. That crown goes to the BCM47722, a similarly tri-band Wi-Fi 7 system-on-chip which adds a pair of additional radios for Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and Zigbee/Thread support — the latter including compatibility with the new Matter standard. The radios are all capable of operating independently, too, meaning the chip can drive Thread Border Router (BR) devices to link Matter-compatible Thread hardware with Wi-Fi networks.

Finally, the last part in Broadcom's new Wi-Fi 7 range is the BCM4390, a Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.4 combination chip targeting smartphones, tablets, and other battery-powered devices. Its dual radio includes simultaneous 2×2 operation on the 2.4GHz and 5/6GHz bands, though tops out at a 160MHz channel bandwidth, and includes Bluetooth Classic, Bluetooth Low Energy, and Zigbee/Thread support as standard. It also includes Broadcom's own "SpeedBooster" technology, combining the two 160MHz channels to create a trunked 320MHz connection on compatible access points. Both the BCM4390 and the BCM47722 are also forwards-compatible with the draft Bluetooth Channel Sounding specification for location services, the company has confirmed.

All three parts are now sampling to "early access partners and customers in retail, enterprise and smartphone, service provider, and carrier segments," Broadcom has confirmed, though without offering a timeline for general availability. More information is available on the BCM6765, BCM47722, and BCM4390 product pages.