Networking is a pillar of today’s data-driven landscape, especially given the rise of distributed computing and artificial intelligence. Within networking, innovations to Wi-Fi standards are a new expansion frontier, serving the wireless connectivity demands of a rapidly evolving digital world.

Analyzing the impact of Wi-Fi on AI infrastructures with Broadcom’s Vijay Nagarajan.

“Whenever people talk about AI these days, I tell them there’s no AI without Wi-Fi,” said Vijay Nagarajan (pictured), vice president of the Wireless Connectivity Division at Broadcom Inc. “There’s no AI without edge broadband, and essentially everything from the edge to the core has to work together and in a very connected fashion. Technology like Wi-Fi or cellular become super essential for that entire value chain.”

Nagarajan spoke with theCUBE Research’s John Furrier at the AI Infrastructure Silicon Valley – Executive Series event, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. They discussed Broadcom’s approach to Wi-Fi standards and wireless connectivity, highlighting the forward-thinking innovation, rigorous standards and strategic partnerships.

Wi-Fi standards: The challenge of developing cutting-edge products

Wi-Fi’s success and reliability are not just about faster chips or better devices, but also about rigorous standards and careful spectrum management. Broadcom’s involvement in developing these standards, particularly through the IEEE 802.11 and the Wi-Fi Alliance, ensures that Wi-Fi remains a robust and globally interoperable technology.

“We are on the board of the Wi-Fi Alliance,” Nagarajan said. “We make sure that the transition from one generation of Wi-Fi standards to another happens every four years, working in tandem with the infrastructure networking, and making sure that the speeds and latencies match up to what the core of the network needs. Secondly, because Wi-Fi is wireless and it’s very closely tied with the spectrum, we also have to do substantial work in making sure that spectrum is available for unlicensed access.”

Creating products that meet the evolving needs of Wi-Fi consumers is a complex task. Broadcom’s approach involves simultaneous development on multiple fronts: standards, spectrum and product innovation. From the early stages of regulatory discussions to the final stages of product development, Broadcom ensures that its products are ready to take advantage of any new spectrum as soon as it becomes available, according to Nagarajan.

“When the FCC announced the availability of the 6GHz span in 2020 April, we had our chips ready,” Nagarajan said. “We had our products ready to go fit into our customer devices and run with it. What this results in is a set of devices that are extremely good in their features — not just their features, but also their KPIs, whether it’s size, power or performance.”

The result is a seamless transition for consumers and OEMs, who benefit from Broadcom’s deep investment in the development cycle. The integration of features like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth in a single chip, with a focus on maintaining performance while minimizing size and power consumption, illustrates the complexity and precision required in modern chip design, Nagarajan added.

“The shrink doesn’t happen automatically,” he said. “We invest very heavily in changing or advancing our radio architectures going from one generation to another. The shrink that we offer on the radio has to work in tandem with whatever we can get on the digital side going from one process node to another.”

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE Research’s coverage of the AI Infrastructure Silicon Valley – Executive Series event: 

Photo: SiliconANGLE