Broadcom has unveiled BroadPeak, a radio digital front-end (DFE) system-on-chip designed to accelerate the evolution of 5G Advanced and 6G wireless infrastructure. The new solution targets massive MIMO and remote radio head (RRH) deployments, enabling mobile operators and equipment makers to build next-generation high-capacity networks for AI-driven applications.
New chip targets AI-driven network capacity surge
As global data consumption rises due to AI-powered services and immersive digital experiences, telecom operators are moving toward new spectrum bands and advanced radio architectures. Broadcom’s BroadPeak SoC aims to address these requirements with a 5nm CMOS design integrating DFE and ADC/DAC components on a single chip.
The company says the device delivers up to 40 percent lower power consumption compared with existing massive MIMO and RRH solutions while supporting an extended frequency range from 400 MHz to 8.5 GHz. This positions BroadPeak as an early silicon platform aligned with emerging 5G Advanced and 6G standards.
Designed for higher spectrum and advanced radio architectures
Massive MIMO remains a critical technology for boosting coverage, capacity and user throughput in mobile networks. BroadPeak supports new spectrum bands including the n104 band (6.425 GHz to 7.125 GHz) for 5G Advanced and the upper mid-band (7 GHz to 8.5 GHz) expected to be used for 6G.
Key specifications of the BroadPeak BCM85021 include:
Support for 32T32R8FB configurations, with additional SKUs for 8T8R2FB and 16T16R4FB
Instantaneous bandwidth up to 860 MHz and output bandwidth up to 800 MHz
Integrated digital predistortion, carrier aggregation, filtering and gain control
ADC and DAC sampling rates up to 19.6 GS/s
Digital predistortion learning up to 100x faster than typical reference designs
The integrated architecture enables OEMs to simplify radio design while improving efficiency and scalability for next-generation base stations.
Ecosystem collaboration strengthens next-gen radio platforms
Vijay Janapaty, Vice President and General Manager of Broadcom’s Physical Layer Products Division, said the new SoC is engineered to deliver the linearity and power efficiency required as 5G expands into higher frequency bands.
Altera confirmed interoperability testing between its Agilex 7 FPGAs and BroadPeak SoCs, highlighting the importance of silicon ecosystem collaboration for advanced radio platforms.
Hitachi GlobalLogic also partnered with Broadcom to co-develop the BroadPeak SDK, aimed at simplifying hardware complexity and enabling scalable deployment of massive MIMO, RRH and Open RAN architectures.
Availability and market impact
Broadcom has begun shipping BroadPeak BCM85021 samples to early-access customers and partners. The launch signals a significant step toward commercializing infrastructure capable of supporting future AI-driven services and next-generation wireless standards.