Broadcom Inc., Charter Communications Inc. and Comcast Corp. today announced plans to develop new chips for delivering cable internet. 

Cable TV companies distribute video content to subscribers’ homes via physical cables. In many cases, those cables are also used to deliver residential internet packages. The chips that Broadcom, Charter and Comcast are developing are intended to significantly speed up residential internet connections delivered in this manner.

The starting point of the wires through which a cable TV provider distributes video content to subscribers is a so-called headend. This is a facility that houses large dish antennas. The antennas are responsible for picking up broadcasts from the cable TV provider’s media partners, which deliver their content in the form of satellite signals.

Video content travels from the headend antennas to consumers’ homes in two hops. The data covers the first stretch of the journey as light beams. In the second, final stretch, the data is sent to consumers’ TVs over copper wires as radio signals. Those signals can also be used to transmit web traffic, which is what allows cable TV companies to provide residential internet via their cables.

Currently, the radio waves that such companies use to transmit web traffic have frequencies of up to 1.8 gigahertz. As part of the collaboration announced today, Broadcom, Charter and Comcast plan to extend that frequency range to 3 gigahertz. They expect that the change will nearly double the maximum bandwidth of cable internet connections to 25 gigabits per second.

“With the 3 GHz capabilities, we’re providing the tools for cable operators to continue to enhance the leading capabilities of their networks while competing with higher and higher speed offerings,” said Charlie Kawwas, president of Broadcom’s Semiconductor Solutions Group.

The companies plan to implement the bandwidth-boosted frequency change in the form of an update to DOCSIS. This is an industry-standard network technology that cable TV providers rely on to deliver internet connectivity. 

Broadcom, Charter and Commvault plan to use the upcoming version of DOCSIS to develop several new chips. Some of the chips will be geared towards powering modems. Others will be optimized for use in related network equipment such as signal amplifiers, devices that help improve the reliability of internet connections.

The upcoming chips will feature artificial intelligence modules from Broadcom. The company says that those modules can identify network issues, fix them automatically and reduce the amount of power necessary to process web traffic. Broadcom’s AI-optimized silicon also lends itself to certain other tasks such as blocking cyberattacks.

“Supporting a single technology that can be used by all operators efficiently, over their existing networks, allows the industry to leverage its collective investment, and to increase the benefits of AI at the edge,” said Charlie Herrin, president of Comcast’s Technology, Product and Experience group.

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