Broadcom features WAPI on variety of solutions for growing China WLAN market

IRVINE, USA: Broadcom Corp. announced that the Chinese Wireless Authentication and Privacy Infrastructure (WAPI) security standard, which is required for all WLAN products sold in China, is now available on many of its wireless offerings.

Through a combination of software and hardware elements, Broadcom is featuring WAPI on several of its most popular WLAN solutions, allowing manufacturers to deliver a variety of WLAN connected home networking products and mobile devices to Chinese consumers.

As a leading supplier of WLAN silicon and a WAPI Industry Alliance member, Broadcom is now poised to serve the rapidly expanding Chinese wireless market and increase its presence in the region.

Highlights/key facts:
The finalization of the WAPI standard has opened an enormous opportunity for wireless technology suppliers to help address China's increasing appetite for wireless connectivity at home and on-the-go.

Broadcom is already a leader in the Chinese home networking segment. All major Chinese carriers and router vendors currently use Broadcom WLAN solutions in wireless routers and broadband gateways. Those customers can easily migrate to products based on Broadcom technology that support WAPI.

As China's mobile operators rapidly transition their cellular infrastructure to 3G, they are looking for ways to avoid network congestion. WLAN offloads data traffic from the cellular infrastructure and onto IP networks, helping accommodate data needs driven by smartphones and increasingly popular connected devices.

Broadcom has shipped more WLAN, Bluetooth and FM combo chips than any other vendor, with volumes in the last six months doubling the number shipped since the company introduced the devices 18 months ago. This accomplishment establishes Broadcom as a leader in innovative WLAN solutions for mobile devices.

Its strategic support of WAPI and the projected growth of smartphones in China give Broadcom an excellent opportunity to further expand its presence in this segment. Broadcom is among the first WLAN chipmakers to offer WAPI-enabled solutions aimed at wireless routers and mobile devices, including:

The InConcert BCM4325 - Combines WLAN, Bluetooth® and FM technologies into a single 65 nanometer (nm) die, enables the most popular wireless features in cellular handsets and other mobile devices. The combination chip significantly reduces the size and power consumption, and features Broadcom's leading coexistence technology to provide best-in-class wireless performance.

A range of solutions that enable 802.11g, 802.11n 1x1, 2x2, single and dual band wireless routers and residential gateways with a range of feature sets and price points, including the BCM5354, BCM5356, BCM4312, BCM4313, BCM4318e, BCM4322, BCM43222, BCM43224, BCM432225, BCM4716, BCM4717, BCM4718 and BCM6362.

All of these chips leverage Broadcom's superior radio and digital architecture to provide robust wireless connectivity to share broadband connections and support triple-play services throughout a typical home.

Top-tier global handset manufacturers will soon ship WAPI-enabled smartphones that use Broadcom's industry-leading BCM4325 combo chip. In working with these customers, Broadcom's WAPI features have been certified for use on two of China's cellular networks, and have been proven on two of the most popular mobile operating systems, Windows Mobile and Android.

As part of Broadcom's unique OneDriver software, Broadcom is implementing the identical WAPI code across multiple platforms, which provides manufacturers with a well-tested software architecture and proven performance for a variety of devices, driving down their costs.

As WLAN becomes more prevalent in broadband gateways and consumer electronics, Broadcom's WAPI software may be added to future DSL, digital television (DTV) and set-top box platforms.

The WAPI Industry Alliance, which was formed in March 2006, currently has nearly 70 members representing a variety of companies from areas including research and development, software development, standard ratification, chip design, product manufacturing and system integration, telecom carriers.