As the world continues to see the deployment of 5G wireless communication systems, enterprises are already looking ahead to the next generation—6G. This upcoming advancement is expected to revolutionise the way we live by merging communication and computing to create a hyperconnected world. With promises of ultra-fast speeds and low latency, 6G will not only build on the foundations laid by 5G but also introduce new capabilities. It will expand connectivity, integrate sensing with communication, and advance artificial intelligence. In addition, it aims to improve data latency, security, and reliability while managing the massive volumes of data generated in real time.
Today, handheld devices such as smartphones and tablets are integral to completing everyday tasks. These devices often rely on cloud-based AI and machine learning to function. The communication infrastructure that supports them currently operates on 5G networks. The progression of wireless communication has been impressive—from the kilobits per second speeds of 2G to the gigabits per second speeds in 5G. However, with the rising number of devices and more complex AI workloads, the need for higher network bandwidth is becoming critical. Companies involved in network infrastructure are already preparing to upgrade their hardware to support speeds up to 100 times faster than what 5G can offer. This will bring latency down to under 100 microseconds, ensuring wider network coverage and reliability.
The move to 6G will require new RF designs and chipsets that can handle higher communication frequencies, possibly reaching up to 1 THz. Despite improvements in energy efficiency, such as more data per kilowatt of power, the increase in network density, traffic, and processing speeds may offset these gains.
Current 5G networks are built around innovative processors and wireless technologies, not only in mobile devices but also in wireless base stations and cells. These base stations are now comprised of radio units (RUs), distributed units (DUs), and centralised units (CUs). The RUs manage the antennas via multicore processors, while DUs and CUs handle the protocol stacks’ lower and upper layers. These stacks operate on compute chiplets mounted on hardware accelerator cards, which manage protocol processing. The move to 6G will necessitate updates or redesigns of network architecture, software, and hardware to handle even more data, while the compute chiplets that manage antennas will need to increase in processing power to keep pace with the growing complexity of these networks.
In response to this demand, Alphawave Semi has teamed up with Arm to develop an advanced chiplet that incorporates Arm’s Neoverse Compute Subsystems (CSS). This chiplet is designed to support the rigorous demands of 6G and 5G infrastructure, as well as cloud and edge computing applications. This collaboration integrates Alphawave’s silicon-proven IP with Arm’s Neoverse CSS N3 to improve workload efficiency, performance optimisation, and power savings in both compute and accelerator chiplets.
The Neoverse ecosystem is tailored to support new wireless communications equipment and the cloud-based deployment of wireless infrastructure. Developers are continuously updating operating systems and tools to work with Arm’s Neoverse compute subsystems, allowing them to scale their code efficiently using SVE (Scalable Vector Extension). This enables performance scalability in 5G RAN (Radio Access Network), which converts voice and data into digital signals and transmits them as radio waves. The move to 6G will redefine the radio spectrum requirements for performance, capacity, speed, and latency, as millions of devices will need to be connected per square kilometre. As a result, base stations, antenna units, and data servers will need to be upgraded to support the new architecture.
Arm’s Neoverse platform is already playing a key role in building seamless, high-performance networks. The platform provides superior performance per watt compared to traditional processors and is highly efficient in cloud and 5G environments. By integrating various elements like cache, memory, and high-speed I/O, the platform can share system resources such as cache and memory bandwidth more efficiently. This architecture supports protocols like CCIX, CXL, and CHI-C2C, enabling low-latency memory access for multi-die applications.
Alphawave Semi, in collaboration with Arm, utilises a high-performance process node to develop compute chiplets that offer faster development and reduced time-to-market. This is made possible by packaging known good dies alongside customers’ accelerator chiplets. This partnership falls under Arm’s Total Design initiative, which is focused on creating an ecosystem that simplifies the development of specialised silicon solutions for modern digital infrastructures.
The compute chiplet itself is modular and can be packaged either as a standard chiplet or a monolithic ASIC, complemented by a suite of silicon-proven connectivity technologies. These include PCIe, CXL, Universal Chiplet Express (UCIe), and advanced memory subsystems. Alphawave’s compute chiplet, built using Arm’s Neoverse CSS N3, is designed to excel in scalability and power efficiency, expanding the chiplet portfolio’s capabilities.
Alphawave Semi’s chiplet-based design platform includes a wide range of chiplets that cover everything from compute to I/O and memory applications. The latest addition to this portfolio provides even more modularity, allowing customers to enhance the performance of their system-in-package (SiP) by choosing from an array of off-the-shelf products. This flexibility enables the development of custom-tailored SiP solutions that meet various performance, connectivity, and packaging requirements.
Alphawave’s ongoing partnership with Arm represents a significant advancement in developing technologies for wireless network platforms. The collaboration underscores Alphawave’s leadership in creating high-speed, energy-efficient computing platforms, which will be critical for the future of 6G and 5G network infrastructure, as well as cloud and edge applications.
The shift towards 6G will bring about significant advancements in wireless technology, necessitating updates in infrastructure, hardware, and software. Companies like Alphawave Semi, in collaboration with Arm, are at the forefront of these developments, offering the essential chiplet technologies required to support this next generation of communication.
Alphawave IP Group plc (LON:AWE) is a semiconductor IP company focused on providing DSP based, multi-standard connectivity Silicon IP solutions targeting both data processing in the Datacenter and data generation by IoT end devices.
