Broadcom brings gigabit and Wi-Fi to powerline

Broadcom brings gigabit and Wi-Fi to powerline

Broadcom launches new HomePlug AV2-based powerline chips that offers upto 1.5Gbps and integrates Wi-Fi in an all-in-one system-on-a-chip approach.

The new BCM60500 HomePlug AV2 SoCs from Broadcom.

Powerline networking -- the technology that enables electrical wiring to transfer data -- is about to get a lot faster.

Broadcom today announced what it claims to be the industry's first HomePlug AV2 powerline system-on-a-chips (SoCs) that deliver up to 1.5Gbps data speed. That's about three times the speed of the top existing powerline devices.

HomePlug AV2 is the next generation powerline standard that uses an extended frequency band of up to 86 MHz, as opposed to previously limited to 30 MHz in HomePlug AV. In addition, HomePlug AV2 supports Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) - a technology already in use with 802.11n and 802.11ac Wi-Fi standard. All this means it can can offer much higher speed caps, and more consistent actual sustained data speeds than previous generations.

Broadcom says its new SoCs, models BCM60500 and BCM60333, also have the built-in support for the latest Wi-Fi standard, the 802.11ac, as well as the popular 802.11n, to offer an all-in-one connection solution. Both of the chips are engineered to work inside powerline communication (PLC) adapters, routers, or to be integrated into end-devices, such as set-top box, network media streamers and so on.

Key features of the two new chips include

• Full IEEE 1905.1 standard integration, including router/gateway PLC integration, single push-button for security integration, automatic configuration of WiFi security keys over PLC, and network topology discovery.
• Optimized firmware architecture for integration with 802.11ac routers, set-top boxes and gateways.
• 750Mbps and 1.5Gbps PHY rates support and backward compatibility with existing powerline devices.
• Meets all regulatory power requirements including EuP Lot 6 and CENELEC 50561-1 standard.
• Support for MIMO 802.11n and 802.11ac WiFi solutions, and the ability to leverage the three wires in a typical electrical outlet to simultaneously send more data on the different paths.

Broadcom says it's currently sampling both BCM60500 and BCM60333 SoCs to networking vendors. Consumers can expect networking devices powered by these chips by the end of the year.