Broadcom Introduces Industry’s First 6G Digital Front-End SoC for Massive MIMO

Rhea-AI Summary

Broadcom (NASDAQ: AVGO) launched BroadPeak BCM85021, a 0.4–8.5 GHz radio digital front-end SoC for massive MIMO and RRHs, with integrated 5nm CMOS DFE and ADC/DAC blocks.

The device delivers up to 40% power reduction, ADC/DAC sampling to 19.6 GS/s, DPD learning 100x faster, and supports n104 (6.425–7.125 GHz) and 7–8.5 GHz 6G bands; samples are shipping to early access customers.

Positive

• Up to 40% power reduction versus existing massive MIMO solutions
• Supports wide RF range: 400 MHz to 8.5 GHz, including n104 and 6G upper mid-band
• ADC/DAC sampling rates up to 19.6 GS/s
• DPD learning 100x faster than typical references
• Samples shipping to early access customers and partners

Negative

• None.

News Market Reaction – AVGO

+0.43%

1 alert

+0.43% News Effect

On the day this news was published, AVGO gained 0.43%, reflecting a mild positive market reaction.

Data tracked by StockTitan Argus on the day of publication.

Key Figures

Operating frequency range: 400 MHz to 8.5 GHz Power reduction: 40% Process node: 5 nm +5 more

8 metrics

Operating frequency range 400 MHz to 8.5 GHz BroadPeak BCM85021 RF carrier frequency range

Power reduction 40% Power reduction vs existing massive MIMO and RRH solutions

Process node 5 nm CMOS DFE and ADC/DAC integration on BroadPeak SoC

iBW 860 MHz Instantaneous bandwidth capability of BroadPeak BCM85021

oBW 800 MHz Output bandwidth specification of BroadPeak BCM85021

DPD learning speed 100x faster Digital predistortion learning time vs typical reference

ADC/DAC sampling rate 19.6 GS/s Maximum ADC/DAC sampling rates for BroadPeak BCM85021

Gain control range RX/FB 30 dB, TX 25 dB Gain control capability across receive, feedback and transmit paths

Market Reality Check

Price: $334.30 Vol: Volume 13,531,419 is belo...

low vol

$334.30 Last Close

Volume Volume 13,531,419 is below the 20-day average of 26,343,369, suggesting no outsized trading interest ahead of this product news. low

Technical Shares at 333.51 trade above the 200-day MA of 314.17, but remain 19.56% below the 414.61 52-week high.

Peers on Argus

AVGO gained 0.29% while peers were mixed: TSM -0.44%, NVDA -0.41%, QCOM -0.18%, ...

AVGO gained 0.29% while peers were mixed: TSM -0.44%, NVDA -0.41%, QCOM -0.18%, but AMD +0.86% and MU +5.37%. This points to stock-specific dynamics rather than a uniform sector move.

Historical Context

5 past events · Latest: Feb 03 (Positive)

Pattern 5 events

Date	Event	Sentiment	Move	Catalyst
Feb 03	AI Wi‑Fi 8 launch	Positive	-3.3%	Announced enterprise Wi‑Fi 8 access point and switch platform for AI-era networking.
Feb 02	Earnings date set	Neutral	-0.1%	Scheduled Q1 FY2026 earnings release and conference call details.
Jan 06	Consumer Wi‑Fi 8 launch	Positive	+0.1%	Introduced unified Wi‑Fi 8 platform with AI acceleration for residential services.
Dec 11	Earnings & dividend	Positive	-1.6%	Reported strong Q4/FY2025 results, raised dividend and issued upbeat Q1 FY2026 guidance.
Dec 02	Cloud partnership	Positive	-1.2%	ING selected VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0 as strategic private cloud platform.

Pattern Detected

Recent positive product and financial announcements often saw flat to negative next-day moves, indicating a tendency for muted or contrarian short-term reactions to good news.

Recent Company History

Over the last few months, Broadcom has highlighted multiple growth drivers, including AI-focused Wi‑Fi 8 platforms (Jan 6 and Feb 3, 2026) and strong FY2025 results with higher dividends and guidance on Dec 11, 2025. It also expanded software partnerships, such as the VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0 deal with ING on Dec 2, 2025. Despite generally positive narratives, several of these events were followed by negative or muted 24-hour price reactions, similar to today’s modest move on a major new 5G/6G infrastructure product.

Market Pulse Summary

This announcement introduces BroadPeak, a 5nm digital front-end SoC spanning 400 MHz to 8.5 GHz with...

Analysis

This announcement introduces BroadPeak, a 5nm digital front-end SoC spanning 400 MHz to 8.5 GHz with up to 40% power reduction and advanced features like fast-learning digital predistortion and high-rate 19.6 GS/s converters. It extends Broadcom’s recent string of AI- and connectivity-oriented launches. Investors may watch for design wins, adoption in massive MIMO and Open RAN deployments, and how these products contribute to growth around upcoming earnings dates.

Key Terms

massive MIMO, digital front-end, digital predistortion, carrier aggregation, +2 more

6 terms

massive MIMO technical

"unlocking new possibilities for 5G massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO)"

Massive MIMO is a wireless technology that uses large numbers of antennas at a cell site to send and receive many signals at once, boosting capacity and reliability like turning a single-lane road into a multi-lane highway for data. It matters to investors because it can dramatically increase network speed and efficiency, reduce per-user costs, and drive demand for equipment and services from telecom operators and suppliers.

digital front-end technical

"a highly integrated radio digital front-end (DFE) SoC device"

A digital front-end is the customer-facing part of a company’s online presence—websites, mobile apps and interfaces where users sign up, browse, buy or interact with services. Investors watch it because this “storefront” shapes how many customers a business can attract and keep, how efficiently sales happen, and how easily new features or markets can be added; think of it as the company’s digital storefront and cash register combined.

digital predistortion technical

"Integrated digital predistortion, carrier aggregation, crest factor reduction"

Digital predistortion is a signal processing technique that intentionally alters a transmitter’s input signals to cancel out the predictable nonlinear distortion produced by power amplifiers and other radio hardware. For investors, it matters because it lets wireless equipment transmit cleaner signals using less power and cheaper hardware, improving device performance, reducing regulatory risk from interference, and lowering operating and capital costs—like pre-warping a song so it sounds correct when played on a flawed speaker.

carrier aggregation technical

"Integrated digital predistortion, carrier aggregation, crest factor reduction"

Carrier aggregation is a wireless network technique that combines two or more separate frequency bands (radio channels) so a mobile device can send and receive more data at once, boosting speed and capacity. For investors, it affects how well a carrier can serve customers and use its spectrum, influencing customer experience, network costs, device compatibility, and potential revenue—think of it as opening extra lanes on a highway to reduce traffic and carry more goods.

FPGA technical

"interoperability testing between Altera Agilex™ 7 FPGAs and Broadcom BroadPeak SoCs"

A field-programmable gate array (FPGA) is a type of computer chip whose internal wiring can be changed after it is made, allowing engineers to program custom hardware functions without designing a new chip. For investors, FPGAs matter because that flexibility lets companies quickly adapt products to new software, standards, or customer needs—like a toolbox that can be rearranged to build different machines—so demand and pricing can shift with trends in data centers, telecommunications, AI, and specialized electronics.

Open RAN technical

"next-gen mMIMO, RRH and Open RAN architectures are not just innovative"

Open RAN is an approach to building the radio part of mobile networks that breaks the system into standard, swappable pieces so equipment from different suppliers can fit together, like using Lego bricks instead of one molded toy. For investors, it can mean lower equipment costs, more supplier competition and faster innovation — but also potential integration and security risks that can affect telecom vendors, operators and capital spending plans.

AI-generated analysis. Not financial advice.

New 0.4-8.5GHz CMOS radio digital front-end solution delivers breakthrough RF performance and power consumption for next-generation 5G Advanced and 6G networks

PALO ALTO, Calif., Feb. 19, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ: AVGO), a global technology leader that designs, develops and supplies semiconductor and infrastructure software solutions, today announced the launch of BroadPeak™, a highly integrated radio digital front-end (DFE) SoC device, unlocking new possibilities for 5G massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) and remote radio head (RRH) applications and paving the path for next-generation 5G Advanced and 6G wireless infrastructure. The device features state-of-the-art 5nm CMOS DFE and ADC/DAC blocks on a single chip, delivering up to 40% power reduction over existing solutions for massive MIMO and RRHs. With breakthrough RF performance and extended operating frequency range from 400 MHz to 8.5 GHz, BroadPeak is the first true 5G Advanced and 6G standard product for massive MIMO and RRHs.

Massive MIMO is a key enabling technology for 5G designed to boost the coverage, capacity and user throughput of mobile networks. As data consumption continues to increase driven by AI-powered applications and the need for better consumer experiences, mobile operators rely on new spectrum and radio architectures to improve network capacity and throughput. BroadPeak is the first radio digital front-end solution that meets the technical requirements for the upcoming 5G Advanced standard using the higher frequency n104 band from 6.425 to 7.125 GHz, as well as the 6G standard using the upper mid-band from 7 to 8.5 GHz. With BroadPeak, mobile operators and OEMs can now begin designing the next-generation high-capacity, high-throughput network to support a new era of AI-driven applications and personalized digital experiences.

BroadPeak BCM85021 Highlights

• 32T32R8FB (other SKUs also for 8T8R2FB and 16T16R4FB)
• Scalable, RF carrier frequency range of 400MHz to 8.5 GHz
• Integrated digital predistortion, carrier aggregation, crest factor reduction & antenna front-end, digital down-conversion, digital up-conversion, gain control, and filtering
• iBW up to 860 MHz
• oBW up to 800MHz
• ACLR with DPD better than -50dBc
• Support full spectrum of carrier aggregation
• DPD learning time 100x faster than typical reference
• ADC/DAC sampling rates up to 19.6 GS/s
• Receivers (RX): 100 MHz to 860 MHz, 1.6 GHz
• TX and FB: 200 MHz to 1.6 GHz, 3.2 GHz
• Gain control range: RX/FB: 30 dB, TX: 25 dB

“With 5G New Radio expanding into the 6 GHz spectrum and above to fuel the surge of AI and data-heavy applications, the infrastructure behind it must evolve. Our next-generation Massive MIMO SoCs are engineered to deliver the uncompromising linearity and power efficiency required to power the future of connectivity,” said Vijay Janapaty, vice president and general manager of Broadcom’s Physical Layer Products Division. “The BroadPeak SoC integrates DFE and AFE with high-linearity data converters at 8.5 GHz, delivering up to 40% greater efficiency for next-generation base stations.”

“As mobile networks advance toward 5G Advanced and 6G, the industry requires deep, open, and highly optimized partnerships across silicon platforms,” said Raghib Hussain, President and CEO of Altera. “Our collaboration with Broadcom and the successful interoperability testing between Altera Agilex™ 7 FPGAs and Broadcom BroadPeak SoCs validate a scalable, high-performance foundation for next-generation radio platforms, enabling equipment manufacturers and operators to innovate with flexibility and confidence.”

"As RAN evolution demands greater intelligence, production-grade software is now as vital as the underlying silicon. By co-developing the BroadPeak SDK with Broadcom, Hitachi GlobalLogic is simplifying hardware complexity and exposing advanced DFE capabilities. We are ensuring that next-gen mMIMO, RRH and Open RAN architectures are not just innovative, but deployment-ready at scale,” said Siba Satapathy, Chief Growth & Transformation Officer, Hitachi GlobalLogic.

Availability
Broadcom has begun shipping samples of BroadPeak BCM85021 to its early access customers and partners. Please contact your local Broadcom sales representative for samples and pricing.

About Broadcom
Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ: AVGO) is a technology leader that designs, develops, and supplies semiconductors and infrastructure software for global organizations’ complex, mission-critical needs. Broadcom combines long-term R&D investment with superb execution to deliver the best technology, at scale. Broadcom is a Delaware corporation headquartered in Palo Alto, CA. For more information, visit www.broadcom.com.

Broadcom, the pulse logo, and Connecting everything are among the trademarks of Broadcom. The term "Broadcom" refers to Broadcom Inc., and/or its subsidiaries. Other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Press Contact:
Khanh Lam
Global Communications
press.relations@broadcom.com
Telephone: +1 408 433 8649

FAQ

What is Broadcom's BroadPeak BCM85021 and which frequencies does AVGO support?

BroadPeak BCM85021 is a radio DFE SoC designed for massive MIMO and RRHs supporting 400 MHz to 8.5 GHz. According to Broadcom, it meets 5G Advanced n104 (6.425–7.125 GHz) and 6G upper mid-band (7–8.5 GHz) technical requirements.

How much power savings does BroadPeak promise for AVGO base station designs?

BroadPeak delivers up to 40% power reduction compared with existing solutions. According to Broadcom, integrated 5nm DFE and high-linearity converters drive the efficiency gains for next‑gen base stations.

What ADC/DAC performance does BroadPeak offer for AVGO's SoC?

BroadPeak offers ADC/DAC sampling rates up to 19.6 GS/s. According to Broadcom, the high-speed converters enable wide instantaneous bandwidths and improved linearity for massive MIMO and RRH applications.

How does BroadPeak improve digital predistortion and learning times for AVGO systems?

BroadPeak achieves DPD learning times 100x faster than typical references. According to Broadcom, faster DPD learning reduces calibration time and improves readiness for carrier aggregation and multi-band deployments.

Which massive MIMO configurations does BroadPeak BCM85021 support for AVGO customers?

The BCM85021 highlights a 32T32R8FB configuration, with other SKUs for 8T8R2FB and 16T16R4FB. According to Broadcom, the SoC is scalable for multiple antenna counts and bandwidth needs.

Are BroadPeak samples available now for AVGO partners and OEMs?

BroadPeak samples are being shipped to early access customers and partners. According to Broadcom, interested OEMs and operators should contact local Broadcom sales representatives for samples and pricing information.