Synaptics SYN4382 is a triple combo SoC with Wi-Fi 5/6E, Bluetooth 5.3, and IEEE 802.15.4 (Zigbee/Thread/Matter) radios, and manufactured with a 16nm process to lower power consumption for IoT and multimedia applications.
The chip can deliver up to 1,200 Mbps WiFi throughput, supports dual-band (RSDB) 2.4 and 5 or 6/6E GHz operation to combine the links at different frequencies, as well as features such as LE Audio for multiple concurrent audio streams in a multi-device environment.
Synaptics SYN4382 key features:
- Wireless
- Triband 2×2 Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax) with 1200 Mbps throughput, RSDB, and support for legacy 802.11a/b/g/n/ac WiFi
- Bluetooth 5.3 with LE Audio, Channel Sounding (HADM = High Accuracy Distance Measurement) for accurate positioning
- 802.15.4 radio for Thread and Zigbee
- Matter interoperability
- Smart Co-Ex for coexistence in the 2.4 GHz band
- Multipoint external coexistence interface for LTE, GPS
- On-chip power amplifiers (PAs) and low-noise amplifiers (LNAs) with support for external PAs and LNAs
- Process – 16 nm process
We don’t have much more information, except the SYN4382 is expected to be found in automotive infotainment systems, OTT TV boxes and set-top-boxes, and TV/home theater audio systems. It’s an update to the SYN4381 limited to 600 Mbps throughput and Bluetooth 5.2 for which we have a block diagram.
[Update: Synaptics emailed us the block diagram SYN4382 block diagram as well
]
So the SYN4381/SYN4382 will have to be connected to a host processor via USB, SDIO, or PCIe x1 Gen 2 interfaces, and the chips are supported by Synaptics’ SynFi software tools.
The SYN4382 Triple Combo SoC is available now, and so is a “Triple Combo EVK”, but few details have been made public on the product page. The press release may have a few extra tidbits of information.
Thanks to TLS for the tip.
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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If it doesn’t have an actual CPU it’s hardly an SoC, but there are quite a few interfaces which don’t make much sense if it doesn’t. Weird block diagram and weird specs…
I double-checked with Synaptics, and they confirmed there’s no programmable core:
Had no idea Synaptics made radios. I’ve only ever heard of their touchpads…
According to this PDF they also do Application/Multimedia processors with Cortex-A7/A53/A55/A73 cores.
There are doing all sorts of chips: https://www.cnx-software.com/?s=synaptics
But the problem is they don’t usually publish much detail publicly.
This one is more fun, it has board pictures.
https://media-www.micron.com/-/media/client/global/documents/products/other-documents/synaptics_flipbook.pdf?rev=cb80cad0d49b48e3978b37e4a1fa3c03
They’ve been busy acquiring several competitors or at least parts of competitors over the past decade. They bought DisplayLink, Conexant, Validity Sensors, part of Renesas, specifically their display driver BU, part Marvell’s chip business, i.e. the stuff that was used by Google in the Chromecast and Broadcom’s wireless IoT BU as well as a company called DSP Group that made WiFi and DECT chips and so on. As such, very few of the products they sell are their own tech from the begining.
Synaptics acquired of Marvell’s Multimedia Solutions Business (Armada 1500) back in 2018.