Broadcom gets early start on WiFi 8 with next-gen wireless routing kit

Wi-Fi 8, also known as 802.11bn, is awaiting final ratification while vendors release compatible chipsets. Broadcom introduced three Wi-Fi 8 system-on-chips for high-end routers and mesh devices. The chips combine application processing, network processing, 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz radios, and an Ethernet PHY on a single die to reduce power use and heat. They support multi-gigabit WAN and LAN ports. Wi-Fi 7 increased maximum channel width to 320 MHz, enabling higher per-stream bandwidth but increasing interference risk. Wi-Fi 8 adds Coordinated Spatial Reuse to adjust signal strengths, coordinated beamforming to target receivers while minimizing interference, and Dynamic Sub-channel Operation to improve throughput by assigning devices to individual sub-channels.

"Unlike past chips, Broadcom is integrating application processing, network processing, 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz radios, and Ethernet PHY into a single die, a design that reduces power consumption and heat production. Recent generations of Wi-Fi have seen available bandwidth exceed gigabit speeds, so the chips are designed to support both multi-gigabit WAN and LAN ports."

"Wi-Fi 7 bumped the max channel width from 160 to 320 MHz, effectively doubling the per-stream bandwidth to end devices. Peak bandwidth of 46 Gbps is technically possible but most consumer devices are likely to top out at less than 5 Gbps. That's because the wider channel widths that enabled the speedier connectivity also introduced a few headaches in the process."

"The wider the channel, the higher the bandwidth, but also the greater the potential for interference. Wi-Fi 8 aims to address some of these issues. Notable improvements include support for Coordinated Spatial Reuse (Co-SR), which is designed to help mesh devices or campus access points adjust their signal strengths to minimize noise and improve signal integrity."

"Similarly, coordinated beamforming (Co-BF) will allow devices to direct their signal toward the intended receiver while minimizing interference with other devices. Meanwhile, a technology called Dynamic Sub-channel Operation (DSO) promises to boost throughput by more than 20 percent by enabling routers and access points to assign devices to individual sub channels. Combined, the improvements in the Wi-Fi 8 spec aim to make more of the peak theoretical bandwidth promi"

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