- Purpose-built for next-generation PON home gateways, Topaz is designed to deliver 10G broadband services today while preparing operators for future network and service requirements with Wi Fi 8 readiness, AI acceleration, and post-quantum security readiness.
CARLSBAD, Calif. – October 6, 2026 – MaxLinear, Inc. (Nasdaq: MXL), a designer and manufacturer of high-speed, mixed-signal integrated circuits (ICs), today announced TopazTM, one of the industry’s most advanced PON Home Gateway Unit (HGU) SoC. Designed for 10G broadband deployments and future fiber architectures, Topaz combines fiber access, packet processing, AI/ML acceleration, post-quantum cryptography (PQC) readiness, and intelligent power management into a single, highly integrated SoC. Topaz is designed to minimize market trade-offs—reducing system complexity, lowering bill-of-materials (BOM) costs, and accelerating time-to-market for OEMs and operators worldwide.
Topaz is optimized for PON Fiber Gateways, Ethernet, and Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) deployments. It provides processing performance, memory bandwidth, and connectivity required for next-generation gateways, including Wi-Fi 8, and AI-enabled services, while enabling upgrades to future multi-gigabit access technologies beyond 10G. Built with a secure-by-design approach, Topaz is designed to support compliance with leading cybersecurity frameworks and regulations, including NIST IR 8425A (U.S.), Radio Equipment Directive (RED), and the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) (EU).
From a technology differentiation perspective Topaz combines broadband access, packet processing, AI acceleration, advanced security, intelligent power management, and low-latency networking technologies such as L4S and Dual-Queue AQM into a single highly integrated SoC. This integration reduces system complexity, lowers BOM costs, and accelerates product development while enabling differentiated operator services.
The Topaz family provides a scalable portfolio that allows OEMs and operators to optimize system cost and performance for specific applications, ranging from cost-efficient residential gateways to premium multi-gigabit, converged broadband platforms. A common architecture across the family enables extensive hardware and software reuse while preserving flexibility to address diverse market requirements.
Sharing a common software and hardware foundation with MaxLinear's Puma™ 9 DOCSIS® platform, Topaz enables significant code, feature, and development reuse across Cable, Fiber, Ethernet, and FWA product portfolios. This unified platform approach, also known as AnyWAN, shortens software development cycles, simplifies portfolio management, and helps operators rapidly adopt new technologies while reducing engineering investment and long-term support costs.
Platform Architecture & Performance
- Purpose-Built for 10G PON & Beyond: Delivers high-efficiency performance for current 10G deployments while establishing a scalable, long-term architecture for next-generation tiers. High-speed 25G and 50G connectivity, DDR5 memory support, and low latency packet processing are designed to provide long-term headroom for network growth.
- Wi-Fi 8 Ready Infrastructure: Provides the high processing performance, memory bandwidth, and interconnect speeds required to drive deterministic, ultra-low-latency Wi-Fi 8 wireless networks. Topaz handles dense, multi-gigabit traffic across connected home and business environments while minimizing bottlenecks.
- All-in-One High-Integration SoC: Consolidates multi-gigabit fiber access, packet routing, AI/ML acceleration, and advanced security on a single chip. This single-chip design can eliminate the need for separate multi-processor architectures, lowering bill-of-materials (BOM) costs, reducing physical design footprints, and shortening development cycles.
- Low Power Consumption: Features integrated PHYs and Dynamic Power Management (DPM) technology that dynamically scales energy use based on real-time traffic loads. The SoC minimizes power during idle periods while maintaining instant line-rate responsiveness, helping operators meet strict ERP mandates and sustainability goals.
- Hardware-Grade Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) Readiness: Optimized for the long deployment lifecycles associated with fiber infrastructure investments, Topaz incorporates advanced hardware-based security technologies and readiness for post-quantum cryptography (PQC). The platform helps operators address emerging cyber threats, evolving security regulations, and requirements such as the European Cyber Resilience Act (CRA).
- Open Ecosystem & Unified Software: Designed around open standards, especially those championed by the prpl Foundation’s prplWare, as well as supporting RDK, Topaz provides maximum application portability. Sharing a common architecture with MaxLinear’s Puma 9 DOCSIS® platform, the device allows operators and OEMs to unify cable and fiber gateway codebases.
- AI & Next-Gen Service Acceleration: Integrates local compute and AI/ML engines to power intelligent edge services allowing both local as well as hybrid solutions together with extended cloud processing. AI-assisted home network diagnostics including preemptive analysis, pre-processed and compressed network statistics as well as AI-enabled security and QoS optimize the operators’ network operations and provide improved customer quality of experience.
- Optimized for Low Latency: The upgraded packet processing engine is optimized to minimize packet delay inside the gateway. The accelerated data path now also includes a hardware-based dual-queue AQM implementation for L4S, bridging the gap between new L4S-enabled services and the network infrastructure.
“Operators can’t afford to wait years to upgrade their network infrastructure to meet demands of the AI-driven broadband home,” said Puneet Sethi, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Network Infrastructure and Carrier, at MaxLinear. “Customers want smart, AI-powered applications for home and business services, but they don’t want to pay a premium for inflated power bills or monthly service fees to make it happen. With Topaz, we are solving for both. Our latest platform not only delivers affordable 10G PON connectivity today, it’s also flexible enough to accelerate operators into the future – without compromising on power efficiency.”
Partner Quotes
“The broadband gateway market continues to demand greater performance, lower power consumption, and faster product development cycles,” said Robert Lin, CEO Askey. “Topaz combines advanced fiber connectivity, AI acceleration, and future-ready networking capabilities within a highly integrated architecture. We believe this platform has the potential to help OEMs deliver innovative gateway solutions while reducing complexity and development costs. We are happy to be early access partner for Topaz and looking forward to incorporating Topaz in our roadmap as industry transitions to AI-enabled broadband services.”
"The convergence of multi-gigabit fiber access, advanced Wi-Fi, and AI-driven services is creating new requirements for broadband gateway platforms," said James Lee, CEO, Gemtek Technology Co., Ltd. "The Topaz platform is built to provide the processing performance, security, memory bandwidth, and integration needed to support next-generation broadband and Wi-Fi deployments and differentiated operator services. We are excited to work with MaxLinear and leverage Topaz to accelerate innovation for our global customers."
Select OEMs are already designing next-generation gateways with Topaz. By consolidating key broadband, Wi-Fi, security, and processing functions into a single highly integrated platform, Topaz enables operators to deliver superior subscriber experiences while reducing system complexity, lowering power consumption, and improving overall cost efficiency.
MaxLinear will be attending Network X 2026 in Vienna, Austria. Visit us at Booth D21 to see the debut of Topaz, our next-generation PON home gateway platform, and learn how we're enabling the future of broadband connectivity.
About MaxLinear, Inc.
MaxLinear, Inc. (Nasdaq: MXL) is a leading provider of radio frequency (RF), analog, digital, and mixed-signal integrated circuits for access and connectivity, wired and wireless infrastructure, and industrial and multi-market applications. MaxLinear is headquartered in Carlsbad, California.
For more information, please visit www.maxlinear.com.
