Broadcom Unveils World's First Wi-Fi 6E Chip

We're all still getting used to the newWi-Fi 6 (802.11ax)standard, but chip makers aren't standing still. Broadcom gave us the first Wi-Fi 6 chip, and now it's giving us the world's first Wi-Fi 6E chip, called theBCM4389(Opens in a new window).

Wi-Fi 6 brings with it a number of key advantages over Wi-Fi 5.It's faster, but it's also built to relieve network congestion, provide greater client capacity, and reduce the power consumption of connected devices. Right now, Wi-Fi 6 relies on the existing 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands we're all used to hearing about our routers using, but Broadcom's Wi-Fi 6E chip extends support to the 6GHz band, which is going to be operational soon.

Broadcom is claiming its 6E chip for mobile devices is capable of doubling Wi-Fi speeds while cutting latency in half (compared to Wi-Fi 5). 6E also offers wider 160Mhz channels and speeds of up to 2Gbps, where as Wi-Fi 6 is limited to 80MHz channels and 1Gbps speeds. In real terms, Broadcom views 6E as improving or unlocking access to mobile AR and VR, ultra high-definition video streaming, in-vehicle entertainment, and high-speed tethering between different devices. Remember, that's all achieved while using up to five-times less battery power, too.

Compared to Broadcom's BCM4375 Wi-Fi 6 chip, BCM4389 also brings with it access to Bluetooth 5 with MIMO radio and tri-band simultaneous radio (4375 is dual-band). Broadcom says this allows for no more Wi-Fi interference and no audio chopping, while the tri-band radio means Bluetooth pairing that's twice as fast.

Vijay Nagarajan, vice president of marketing for the Wireless Communications and Connectivity Division at Broadcom, commented, "The BCM4389 delivers on the core advantages of the 6 GHz band, multi-gigabit wireless speeds and very low latency. It also represents a paradigm shift in wireless design thinking with technology that brings glitch-free audio experience with Bluetooth headsets, fast pairing with wireless accessories, accurate indoor location, high battery efficiency and other everyday consumer experiences."

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Wi-Fi 6E certainly sounds impressive, but we've got to wait a little longer before consumers can take full advantage of it. First, smartphone manufacturers need to start using this new 6E chip, and we also need the new 6GHz spectrum band to be made available, which is expected to happen in the US before the end of 2020.

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