Broadcom debuts end-to-end G.fast offering

Communications semiconductor vendor Broadcom Corp. (NASDAQ: BRCM) has unveiled a G.fast chipset family as well as G.fast capabilities for its BCM63138 gateway system on a chip (SoC). The new chips and capabilities provide the highest density approach available for end-to-end G.fast equipment design, Broadcom asserts.

The BCM65200 DSP and BCM65900 analog front end family of chipsets support both G.fast and VDSL with vectoring in chip-, board-, and system-level modes. This dual support enables creation of equipment that will support mixed VDSL2/G.fast footprints, enabling service provider migration from VDSL2 to G.fast. The chipset will support up to 36 lines of VDSL2 (a 2X advancement over Broadcom's current BCM65300) or six lines of G.fast. The vectoring interfaces eliminate the need for external PHYs and framing devices, the company says.

Both the BCM65200/900 combination and the G.fast-enabled version of the BCM63138 gateway SoC are sampling. Jim McKeon, who manages marketing for Broadcom’s infrastructure products, expects the new capabilities to become generally available within the first half of next year. (The BCM63138 gateway SoC without G.fast is in volume production already.)

Broadcom becomes the second chip vendor to announce G.fast chipsets, following startup Sckipio Technologies (see "G.fast chipsets from Sckipio Technologies debut"). McKeon said he expects the Broadcom offering will offer a power and density advantage over the Sckipio devices. Sckipio’s DSP supports four lines, with an AFE necessary for each port. He points out that Sckipio currently doesn't offer a single-chip gateway device such as the BCM63138 as well.

The company has already received at least one carrier endorsement. "Building on our success with Broadcom in launching VDSL solutions, Swisscom continues to pioneer the application of G.fast technology to wireline broadband," said Oliver Lamparter, Swisscom innovation product manager, via a Broadcom press release. "We will continue to work together to address challenges and unlock the dramatic potential of evolving copper access technologies. As we consider high-density deployments, Swisscom will look to leverage Broadcom's new end-to-end G.fast solution in our near-term G.fast offerings."

"As one of the first vendors to begin G.fast and vectoring deployments, Broadcom has already made traction in the burgeoning vectoring and G.fast markets," added Jeff Heynen, Infonetics Research’s principal analyst, broadband access and pay TV, in the same release. "As operators in Europe and beyond expand both vectoring and G.fast, Infonetics expects that 63% of the cumulative 179 million VDSL ports shipped globally from 2014 to 2018 will be vectoring-capable."

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