Broadcom introduces the industry's first 5Gbps system-level chip for microwave backpass

     Broadcom announced the launch of two new system-level (SoC) chips that will provide mobile access operators with industry-leading spectrum capacity and efficiency to advance existing microwave backhaul infrastructure. For the first time, the two new SOCs achieve transmission speeds of 5G per second (Gbps), while also increasing spectral efficiency by a factor of 4 to 48 BPH /Hz. 

     Broadcom's two new SOCs are designed to support the rising volume of data traffic on wireless networks. With more than six billion people using cellular network 2 to communicate and mobile services such as 5G and LTE, optimizing backhauls and improving their efficiency has become critical. Using more efficient technologies, the same amount of spectrum can provide greater capacity.

     Ran Soffer, general manager of Broadcom's microwave business, said: "Broadcom will continue to drive the development of commercial chip solutions for the microwave backpass infrastructure market to meet the growing data needs of mobile users. Using our latest products, mobile access operators can increase capacity on the same spectrum in a flexible, modular way."

     Broadcom's BCM85650 features integrated cross-polarization interference cancellation (XPIC) and line-of-view multiple input and Multiple output (LoS-MIMO) capabilities that improve spectral efficiency. The innovative integrated LoS-MIMO technology enables flexible antenna layouts, reduces external connectivity and hardware requirements, and significantly simplifies deployment for operators. The BCM85650 has a dual-core broadband modem and supports advanced channel aggregation capabilities, flexibly and efficiently doubling spectrum capacity. It also features 4K-QAM (Quadrature amplitude modulation), which is currently the highest signal modulation method in the industry.

     The Broadcom BCM85820 integrates XPIC, MIMO, 4K-QAM modulation, 112MHz channel, and channel aggregation capabilities to improve spectrum capacity and spectrum efficiency. The BCM85820 also incorporates advanced digital RF calibration mechanisms such as adaptive digital predistortion (ADPD) functionality to achieve high system gain. The highly integrated BCM85820 has complete transceiver and synthesizer components.

     Michael Howard, Principal Analyst at Infonetics/IHS, said: "Mobile operators must provide a great customer experience at an affordable price to retain customers in a highly competitive market. Improving the customer experience requires constantly meeting the growing demand for mobile backhaul. This requires new technologies, such as greater spectral efficiency and more flexible bands, to provide faster service to more users at a lower cost per bit. We expect device manufacturers and mobile operators to benefit from Broadcom's latest SoCs with increased capacity and mobile network coverage."

     Broadcom announced two products that enable operators and telecom equipment manufacturers to enjoy flexible modular system design and a "Pay-as-grow" architecture that enables doubling of spectrum capacity using XPIC or carrier aggregation technology. And quadrupling the spectrum capacity with XPIC and carrier aggregation or XPIC and MIMO.