Broadcom takes the lead: First chips for Wi-Fi 8 are here

Broadcom has surprisingly early introduced the industry's first chips for Wi-Fi 8, or IEEE 802.11bn, respectively. The new standard is said to offer the same theoretical maximum data rate as its predecessor, namely up to 23 Gbit/s. Instead, Wi-Fi 8 primarily aims to further increase reliability, stability, and efficiency in WLAN.

Specifically, Broadcom is presenting four new Wi-Fi 8 chips: BCM6718 for home applications, BCM43840 and BCM43820 for enterprise purposes, and BCM43109 for mobile clients, including smartphones, notebooks, tablets, and automobiles. All are said to be fully compatible with the current state of IEEE 802.11bn; the standard is expected to be completely finalized by September 2028.

According to the manufacturer, the chips support Coordinated Spatial Reuse (Co-SR) and Coordinated Beamforming (Co-BF). Here, multiple access points can dynamically coordinate transmission power and jointly direct antenna orientation towards target devices. This reduces latency and increases throughput. Seamless Roaming is intended to make roaming of devices between access points seamless and provide extremely low latency even during roaming.

Dynamic Sub-Channel Operation (DSO), Non-Primary Channel Access (NPCA), and Dynamic Bandwidth Expansion (DBE) are intended to bring more efficient access to the Wi-Fi frequency spectrum; they avoid congestion and provide real-time bandwidth allocation to improve throughput and reduce latency in demanding environments.

Extended Long Range (ELR) and Distributed Resource Units (dRu) extend coverage and maintain connections even in larger areas. Improved Modulation Coding Schemes (MCS) are also intended to deliver higher throughput rates at typical signal-to-noise ratios (SNR)—not just under laboratory conditions.

Differences between the chips

The BCM6718 features 4x4 antennas with up to 320 MHz wide channels in the 6 GHz band and a maximum throughput of 11.5 Gbit/s. However, this will rarely be used in enterprise environments due to limited spectrum. In the 5 GHz band, it can still offer 160 MHz, and in the 2.4 GHz band, 40 MHz.

The BCM43840 and BCM43820 models are optimized for the enterprise WLAN access point market. BCM43840 provides 4x4 and BCM43820 provides 2x2 antennas, with the larger model delivering a maximum of 11.5 Gbit/s and the smaller one 5.76 Gbit/s. They are also said to include an eco mode with 30 percent higher energy efficiency.

The BCM43109 is a combined Wi-Fi 8, Bluetooth, and 802.15.4 chip for use in mobile phones with 2x2 Wi-Fi antennas. It is also said to achieve greater ranges through ELR. For IoT applications, it supports 802.15.4 variants, including Thread V1.4 and Zigbee Pro, as well as additional sensors for distance measurement.

Naturally, nothing works without AI. According to the manufacturer, the chips also include a hardware-accelerated telemetry engine that enables AI-driven network optimization.

Outlook

Broadcom's Wi-Fi 8 chips are currently being provided as samples to selected partners, according to the announcement. Many manufacturers already use Broadcom chips for their access points in the Wi-Fi 7 segment. With the introduction of the first Wi-Fi 8 chips, Broadcom is likely to gain a competitive advantage. However, suitable end devices are not yet available; the first end products (routers, access points, etc.) are expected around the end of 2027 or the beginning of 2028.

(afl)