Broadcom extends its WICED wireless tech for the Internet of Things

Broadcom said today it is introducing its most advanced WICED wireless chip technology for the Internet of Things.

The Internet of Things (IoT) refers to the idea of making everyday objects “smarter” and connected to the Internet. Gartner estimates that IoT product and service suppliers will generate incremental revenue exceeding $300 billion in 2020. And Broadcom is one of the chip makers that wants to be the key supplier for IoT chips.

Through WICED (wireless Internet connectivity for embedded devices), Broadcom is putting wireless and processing technology into a low-cost module that can fit into a wide variety of IoT products, from smart kitchen thermometers to automated heating devices. Today, the company is adding its enhanced low-power (ELP) multi-protocol Bluetooth/802.15.4 wireless systems into the WICED portfolio.

Computer makers and other customers can purchase the chips and build new products and applications around them. Broadcom said that the new chips will have multiple radios and quadruple the battery life for built-in sensors.

“Broadcom further separates itself from the competition with our new Wiced Core ELP family,” said Brian Bedrosian, a Broadcom marketer, in a statement. “In addition to enabling multi-protocol support, we support more complex IoT applications for OEMs and developers, all while consolidating our low-power solution in a small package.”

The WICED platform has Bluetooth 4.2, low-power energy-saving tech, a megabyte of flash memory, and 512 kilobytes of main memory. It also has encryption support. The product is now available in sample quantities.

If the product is a hit, Broadcom could sell a lot of devices. By 2020, Internet-connected devices are expected to number between 26 billion and 50 billion, according to Raymond James & Associates.