Qualcomm's Ikanos Acquisition Adds G.fast Chipset, Gateway Platform To Improve Broadband Performance

Qualcomm recently closed its acquisition of Ikanos Communications, a vendor best known for its wired modem technology, and now that same acquisition gives way to Qualcomm reveal of the addition of a new G.fast chipset and a new gateway platform for its OEM customers.

Qualcomm boasted that the marriage of the two industries — Qualcomm's home networking and Ikanos' modem technology — brings what Qualcomm calls a "comprehensive, end-to-end product suite for gigabit broadband."

G.fast, a DSL standard, typically reaches high speeds on very short loops, but Qualcomm's newly announced G.fast chipset can reach throughput speeds of up to 1 Gbps over a 100 meter copper loop. Additionally, Qualcomm's new G.fast chipset supports VDSL 35b, a standard that typically competes with the G.fast.

Its new chipset contains Vx686 customer premises equipment (CPE) and Qualcomm's very own Velocity-5U single-port distribution point unit (DPU). The Vx686 CPE requires low power, meaning manufacturers can power their Qualcomm G.fast chipset-equipped products through USB. DPU thermals and power consumption have also been addressed.

Also present in Qualcomm's G.fast chipset is the Qualcomm inSIGHT-BXM, its proprietary software suite dedicated to DPU provisioning, integral diagnostics, line throughput qualification and noise mitigation. The chipset and inSIGHT-BXM are optimized for SDN/NFV frameworks.

Qualcomm's new gateway platform uses the Fusiv Vx585, an xDSL gateway processor from the newly acquired Ikanos. The gateway design supports ADSL to G.fast and VDSL 35b, and contains dual-PCIe connectivity for Wi-Fi modules, Fusiv acceleration processors, and Qualcomm StreamBoost and inSIGHT-BXM. These new suites include Qualcomm's VIVE 802.11ac MU | EFX MU-MIMO technology, Ethernet switches, PHYs and powerline technology.

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