simultaneous users
applications.
• Quad-stream spatial multiplexing to 4.8 Gbps 
data rate.
IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ax, 4×4 160 MHz channels.
FEATURES
•
• Dual-Band OFDMA allows for a higher density of 
IEEE 802.11ax compliant.
•
• 1024-QAM modulation rates.
• 4×4 MU-MIMO on 80 MHz channels.
• Expanded 5 GHz frequency coverage including 
spectrum up to 5925 MHz expected to become 
available under new regulatory rules.
Advance Data Sheet 
BCM43684 
IEEE 802.11ax 4x4 2.4/5 GHz Single-Chip MAC/PHY/Radio
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The Broadcom® BCM43684 is a dual-band (2.4 GHz 
and 5 GHz) 4×4 IEEE 802.11ax MAC/PHY/Radio 
System-on-a-Chip (SoC). The device enables the 
development of advanced high-efficiency wireless 
(HE) 802.11ax Access points, repeaters, and WLAN 
client solutions.
IEEE 802.11ax introduces Orthogonal Frequency-
Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) to enhance the 
multi-user experience. It is an evolutionary step 
forward from IEEE 802.11ac in that it allows multi-
client transmissions in both the uplink and downlink 
directions. OFDMA multiplexes clients across 
frequency instead of spatial streams to allow for more 
concurrent users than MU-MIMO. BSS Coloring 
allows for better spatial reuse by differentiating 
Inter-BSS traffic from Intra-BSS traffic, and deferring 
to Inter-BSS traffic at a higher threshold level. Target 
Wake Time saves battery life in associated clients, by 
scheduling Wake Up and Service Periods for STA to 
be active.
The BCM43684 supports 160 MHz channels and 
IEEE standardized 1024-QAM modulation. These, 
combined with a 4x longer OFDM symbol length, 
allow for a maximum PHY rate of 4.8 Gbps.
IEEE 802.11ax is backward compatible to previous 
generations and supports MU-MIMO from IEEE 
802.11ac. 
State-of-the-art security is provided by industry 
standardized system support for WPA, WPA2 (IEEE 
802.11i), and hardware accelerated AES encryption/
decryption, coupled with TKIP and IEEE 802.1X 
support.
Embedded hardware acceleration enables increased 
system performance and significant reduction in host-
CPU utilization in both client and access point (AP) 
configurations. The BCM43684 also supports the 
widely accepted and deployed Broadcom Wi-Fi 
Protected Setup (WPS) for ease-of-use wireless 
secured networks.
• CQI and CSI can be captured and passed to the 
Host along with the MAC address associated with 
the captured data.
• Complies with PCI Express base specification 
revision 2.0 for ×2 lane and power management 
base specification.
• Comprehensive wireless network security 
support that includes WPA, WPA2, and AES 
encryption/decryption.
• Supports full-host CPU IEEE 802.11 packet offload.
• Available in a 13 mm × 13 mm, 284-pin 0.65 mm 
• Supports Digital Pre-Distortion (DPD) which 
reduces power consumption and improves Band 
Edge performance.
• Full IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac legacy compatibility 
• Supports Linux for access point and router 
with enhanced performance.
• Supports RangeBoost technology.
• Support for LDPC in both TX and RX for 
increased wireless coverage.
• 3+1 DSP-based Spectrum Capture and Zero Wait 
DFS.
pitch (FCBGA) package.
APPLICATIONS
• High-performance IEEE 802.11ax access points, 
routers, and home residential gateways.
• High-performance IEEE 802.11ax enterprise and 
carrier class access points and business class 
Integrated Service Routers.
Corporate Headquarters: San Jose, CA 
3/27/2017 X8UKE
43684-DS100-R
March 10, 2017
Figure 1:  Functional Block Diagram
BCM43684
Broadcom, the pulse logo, Connecting everything, Avago, Avago Technologies, and the A logo are among the 
trademarks of Broadcom and/or its affiliates in the United States, certain other countries and/or the EU. 
Copyright © 2017 by Broadcom. All Rights Reserved.
The term “Broadcom” refers to Broadcom Limited and/or its subsidiaries. For more information, please visit 
www.broadcom.com.
Broadcom reserves the right to make changes without further notice to any products or data herein to improve 
reliability, function, or design. Information furnished by Broadcom is believed to be accurate and reliable. 
However, Broadcom does not assume any liability arising out of the application or use of this information, nor 
the application or use of any product or circuit described herein, neither does it convey any license under its 
patent rights nor the rights of others.
This data sheet (including, without limitation, the Broadcom component(s) identified herein) is not designed, 
intended, or certified for use in any military, nuclear, medical, mass transportation, aviation, navigations, 
pollution control, hazardous substances management, or other high-risk application. BROADCOM 
PROVIDES THIS DATA SHEET “AS-IS,” WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. BROADCOM DISCLAIMS 
ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESSED AND IMPLIED, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE IMPLIED 
WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-
INFRINGEMENT. 
3/27/2017 X8UKE
BCM43684 Advance Data Sheet
Revision History
For a comprehensive list of changes to this document, see the Revision History.
Broadcom®
March 10, 2017   •  43684-DS100-R
IEEE 802.11ax 4x4 2.4/5 GHz Single-Chip MAC/PHY/Radio
Page 3
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3/27/2017 X8UKE
BCM43684 Advance Data Sheet
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Section 1: Introduction ....................................................................................................... 6
General Description ..................................................................................................................................... 6
Features .................................................................................................................................................. 7
Applications............................................................................................................................................. 7
Functional Block Diagram ....................................................................................................................... 8
OFDMA (HE) Technology ....................................................................................................................... 9
Section 2: Functional Description ................................................................................... 10
Global Functions ........................................................................................................................................ 10
Power Management .............................................................................................................................. 10
Voltage Regulators................................................................................................................................ 10
AVS Section .......................................................................................................................................... 10
Reset..................................................................................................................................................... 10
GPIO Interface ...................................................................................................................................... 11
Smart Antenna Subsystem Interface..................................................................................................... 11
UART Interface...................................................................................................................................... 11
OTP....................................................................................................................................................... 11
SPROM Interface .................................................................................................................................. 11
JTAG Interface ...................................................................................................................................... 12
SWD Interface....................................................................................................................................... 12
Crystal Oscillator ................................................................................................................................... 12
Fundamental Crystal Oscillator Mode ................................................................................................... 13
Fundamental Crystal Example .............................................................................................................. 14
Host CPU Offload Support .................................................................................................................... 14
Power Topology .................................................................................................................................... 15
PCI Express Interface................................................................................................................................. 17
Transaction Layer Interface................................................................................................................... 18
Data Link Layer ..................................................................................................................................... 18
Physical Layer....................................................................................................................................... 18
Logical Subblock ................................................................................................................................... 18
Scrambler/Descrambler......................................................................................................................... 18
8B/10B Encoder/Decoder...................................................................................................................... 19
Elastic FIFO........................................................................................................................................... 19
Electrical Subblock................................................................................................................................ 19
Configuration Space.............................................................................................................................. 19
IEEE 802.11ax MAC Description ............................................................................................................... 20
IEEE 802.11 PHY Description .................................................................................................................... 22
Broadcom®
March 10, 2017   •  43684-DS100-R
IEEE 802.11ax 4x4 2.4/5 GHz Single-Chip MAC/PHY/Radio
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BCM43684 Advance Data Sheet
Table of Contents
Dual-Band Radio Transceiver ............................................................................................................... 23
Receiver Path................................................................................................................................. 23
Transmitter Path............................................................................................................................. 23
Calibration...................................................................................................................................... 23
Section 3: BGA Ball Assignments ................................................................................... 24
Ballout Diagram.......................................................................................................................................... 24
Ball and Signal Definitions ........................................................................................................................ 25
Signals by Signal Name ........................................................................................................................ 29
Section 4: Signal and Pin Descriptions........................................................................... 33
Package Signal Descriptions .................................................................................................................... 33
Strapping Options ...................................................................................................................................... 40
Section 5: RF Specifications ............................................................................................ 41
Introduction................................................................................................................................................. 41
WLAN.................................................................................................................................................... 41
2.4 GHz Band General RF Specifications............................................................................................. 42
WLAN 2.4 GHz Receiver Performance Specifications.......................................................................... 42
WLAN 2.4 GHz Transmitter Performance Specifications ....................................................................... 46
WLAN 5 GHz Receiver Performance Specifications ............................................................................... 47
WLAN 5 GHz Transmitter Performance Specifications .......................................................................... 50
General Spurious Emissions Specifications ........................................................................................... 51
Section 6: Electrical Characteristics ............................................................................... 52
Absolute Maximum Ratings ...................................................................................................................... 52
Recommended Operating Conditions and DC Characteristics ............................................................. 53
Section 7: Timing Characteristics.................................................................................... 54
Power Sequence Timing............................................................................................................................ 54
SPROM Timing Diagram ............................................................................................................................ 56
PCI Express Parameters............................................................................................................................ 57
Section 8: Thermal information........................................................................................ 59
Junction Temperature Estimation and PSIJT Versus ThetaJC................................................................ 59
Section 9: Package Information ....................................................................................... 60
Section 10: Ordering Information .................................................................................... 61
Revision History ......................................................................................................................................... 62
Broadcom®
March 10, 2017   •  43684-DS100-R
IEEE 802.11ax 4x4 2.4/5 GHz Single-Chip MAC/PHY/Radio
Page 5
BROADCOM CONFIDENTIAL
3/27/2017 X8UKE
BCM43684 Advance Data Sheet
Introduction
Section 1: Introduction
General Description
The Broadcom® BCM43684 is a dual-band (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz) 4×4 IEEE 802.11ax MAC/PHY/Radio 
System-on-a-Chip (SoC). The device enables the development of advanced high-efficiency wireless (HE) 
802.11ax Access points, repeaters, and WLAN client solutions.
IEEE 802.11ax introduces Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) to enhance the multi-
user experience. It is an evolutionary step forward from IEEE 802.11ac in that it allows multi-client 
transmissions in both the uplink and downlink directions. OFDMA multiplexes clients across frequency instead 
of spatial streams to allow for more concurrent users than MU-MIMO. BSS Coloring allows for better spatial 
reuse by differentiating Inter-BSS traffic from Intra-BSS traffic, and deferring to Inter-BSS traffic at a higher 
threshold level. Target Wake Time saves battery life in associated clients, by scheduling Wake Up and Service 
Periods for STA to be active.
The BCM43684 supports 160 MHz channels and IEEE standardized 1024-QAM modulation. These, combined 
with a 4x longer OFDM symbol length, allow for a maximum PHY rate of 4.8 Gbps.
IEEE 802.11ax is backward compatible to previous generations and supports MU-MIMO from IEEE 802.11ac. 
State-of-the-art security is provided by industry standardized system support for WPA, WPA2 (IEEE 802.11i), 
and hardware accelerated AES encryption/decryption, coupled with TKIP and IEEE 802.1X support.
Embedded hardware acceleration enables increased system performance and significant reduction in host-
CPU utilization in both client and access point (AP) configurations. The BCM43684 also supports the widely 
accepted and deployed Broadcom Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) for ease-of-use wireless secured networks.
Broadcom®
March 10, 2017   •  43684-DS100-R
IEEE 802.11ax 4x4 2.4/5 GHz Single-Chip MAC/PHY/Radio
Page 6
BROADCOM CONFIDENTIAL
3/27/2017 X8UKE
BCM43684 Advance Data Sheet
General Description
IEEE 802.11ax compliant.
Features
•
• Dual-Band OFDMA allows for a higher density of simultaneous users.
• Quad-stream spatial multiplexing to 4.8 Gbps data rate.
•
• 1024-QAM modulation rates.
• 4×4 MU-MIMO on 80 MHz channels.
• Expanded 5 GHz frequency coverage including spectrum up to 5925 MHz expected to become available 
IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ax, 4×4 160 MHz channels.
under new regulatory rules.
• Supports RangeBoost technology.
• Support for LDPC in both TX and RX for increased wireless coverage.
• 3+1 DSP-based Spectrum Capture and Zero Wait DFS.
• CQI and CSI can be captured and passed to the Host along with the MAC address associated with the 
captured data.
• Supports Digital Pre-Distortion (DPD) which reduces power consumption and improves Band Edge 
performance.
• Full IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac legacy compatibility with enhanced performance.
• Complies with PCI Express base specification revision 2.0 for ×2 lane and power management base 
specification.
• Supports Linux for access point and router applications.
• Comprehensive wireless network security support that includes WPA, WPA2, and AES encryption/
decryption.
• Supports full-host CPU IEEE 802.11 packet offload.
• Available in a 13 mm × 13 mm, 284-pin 0.65 mm pitch (FCBGA) package.
Applications
• High-performance IEEE 802.11ax access points, routers, and home residential gateways.
• High-performance IEEE 802.11ax enterprise and carrier class access points and business class Integrated 
Service Routers.
Broadcom®
March 10, 2017   •  43684-DS100-R
IEEE 802.11ax 4x4 2.4/5 GHz Single-Chip MAC/PHY/Radio
Page 7
BROADCOM CONFIDENTIAL
3/27/2017 X8UKE
BCM43684 Advance Data Sheet
General Description
Functional Block Diagram
A functional block diagram of the BCM43684 device is shown below.
Figure 2:  Functional Block Diagram
BCM43684
Broadcom®
March 10, 2017   •  43684-DS100-R
IEEE 802.11ax 4x4 2.4/5 GHz Single-Chip MAC/PHY/Radio
Page 8
BROADCOM CONFIDENTIAL
3/27/2017 X8UKE