While most of us are still talking about megabit per second (Mbps) when it comes to Internet connectivity, some are already enjoying higher maximum speeds of one or more Gigabit per second (Gbps) with services like Google Fiber or Comcast Gigabit Pro (2Gbps) in the US. That means one of the bottleneck include Gigabit Ethernet in most home settings, so to address higher network speeds at home and at the office, Broadcom has designed and unveiled BCM4908 quad core 64-bit ARM SoC for high-end routers that includes an interface for a 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet PHY, and supports the company’s BCM4366 wave 2 5G WiFi MU-MIMO for up to 3.4 Gbps combined WiFi transfer rates across multiple devices.
Some key features of BCM4908 processor include:
- Quad core 64-bit ARM processor @ 1.8 GHz
- Zero CPU Wi-Fi offload to free up CPU resources
- BroadStream iQoS acceleration
- Dedicated security processor to enable hardware VPN acceleration
- 2.5Gb Base-X Ethernet WAN/LAN port for supporting fast connectivity to multi-gigabit modem or a Network Attached Storage (NAS) device
- Peripherals – Integrated SATA III, two USB 3.0 ports and three PCIe Gen 2 ports
- Low power – 28nm processor technology and advanced power management for more than 50% percent power usage reduction compared to previous solutions
- Support for Broadcom’s tri-band (AC5300) 5G WiFi XStream 802.11ac MU-MIMO with:
- 3x BCM4366 4×4 radios, each with an integrated CPU for host offload processing
- Providing a total of seven CPU cores (“Septacore”) with more than 9.6 GHz of CPU horse power
- Hardware acceleration for routing and USB storage
Transfers are handled by Broadcom’s Runner network packet processor, which can handle more than 5 Gbps of system data throughput, freeing up the CPU for other tasks.
Broadcom BCM4908 is currently sampling, but other details have not been provided, and I could not find a product page yet.
Via EETimes
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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