linux-drivers/
drivers/net/wireless/broadcom/brcm80211/brcmfmac

Broadcom, Cypress, and Infineon FullMAC Wi-Fi adapters (brcmfmac)

Linux support for the FullMAC family of Broadcom, Cypress, and now Infineon AIROC Wi-Fi chips (the BCM/CYW43xx series), where the radio firmware handles most 802.11 work on-chip. These chips are everywhere: built into every Raspberry Pi from the Pi 3 onward, many Apple and Chromebook laptops, set-top boxes, and current Infineon embedded Wi-Fi/Bluetooth modules sold new today.

keep conf=0.93 deploy=high replacement=none subsystem=net category=networking-wireless
93%

recommendation

It should stay in the kernel because this is the upstream driver for the Broadcom-family FullMAC Wi-Fi chips found in every Raspberry Pi since the Pi 3, countless laptops and Chromebooks, and current Infineon AIROC modules still being sold for new embedded designs in 2025. Development is active (around 248 commits and over 100 contributors in the last five years), no replacement exists for this hardware, and removing it would break Wi-Fi on a huge installed base.

repository signals

72 files
40,302 source lines
269 commits, 5y
+5,450 / −1,758 lines added / removed, 5y
122 authors, 5y
monthly commits · 2021-04-21 → 2026-04-21 · 269 total · active in 58/61 months
2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2021-04: 3 commits · +67 −9 2021-05: 6 commits · +90 −77 2021-06: 3 commits · +17 −11 2021-07: 5 commits · +320 −32 2021-08: 6 commits · +44 −12 2021-09: 4 commits · +23 −18 2021-10: 2 commits · +5 −5 2021-11: 1 commit · +40 −0 2021-12: 3 commits · +30 −8 2022-01: 10 commits · +74 −83 2022-02: 4 commits · +14 −11 2022-03: 4 commits · +46 −50 2022-04: 4 commits · +6 −3 2022-05: 2 commits · +25 −8 2022-06: 4 commits · +27 −67 2022-07: 12 commits · +129 −74 2022-08: 6 commits · +43 −22 2022-09: 25 commits · +1,279 −221 2022-10: 9 commits · +40 −9 2022-11: 16 commits · +679 −86 2022-12: 4 commits · +11 −5 2023-01: 6 commits · +34 −33 2023-02: 20 commits · +700 −147 2023-03: 4 commits · +35 −11 2023-04: 1 commit · +8 −1 2023-05: 2 commits · +29 −2 2023-06: 2 commits · +13 −0 2023-07: 2 commits · +8 −3 2023-08: 2 commits · +5 −1 2023-09: 4 commits · +10 −5 2023-10: 3 commits · +8 −8 2023-11: 1 commit · +2 −4 2023-12: 1 commit · +0 −1 2024-01: 12 commits · +488 −307 2024-02: 5 commits · +19 −6 2024-03: 1 commit · +10 −5 2024-04: 4 commits · +14 −22 2024-05: 3 commits · +10 −15 2024-06: 2 commits · +8 −7 2024-07: 2 commits · +52 −36 2024-08: 1 commit · +10 −3 2024-09: 5 commits · +93 −33 2024-10: 4 commits · +6 −16 2024-11: 5 commits · +13 −4 2024-12: 4 commits · +9 −7 2025-01: 4 commits · +17 −6 2025-02: 1 commit · +13 −7 2025-03: 1 commit · +3 −1 2025-04: 7 commits · +519 −36 2025-05: 1 commit · +6 −4 2025-06: 5 commits · +60 −24 2025-07: 7 commits · +62 −45 2025-08: 3 commits · +34 −9 2025-09: 0 commits · +0 −0 2025-10: 1 commit · +12 −22 2025-11: 2 commits · +19 −1 2025-12: 1 commit · +5 −5 2026-01: 0 commits · +0 −0 2026-02: 6 commits · +102 −110 2026-03: 1 commit · +5 −0 2026-04: 0 commits · +0 −0

sources

  1. infineon.com

    Infineon still publishes Linux support for current AIROC Wi-Fi/Bluetooth products and explicitly references the open-source FMAC driver model, indicating ongoing new-product relevance.

  2. raspberrypi.com

    Current Raspberry Pi documentation says flagship Raspberry Pi models since Pi 3, plus current keyboard/Zero/CM wireless variants, ship with built-in Wi-Fi, showing continued mainstream deployment of brcmfmac-class hardware in new devices.

  3. wireless.docs.kernel.org

    Linux Wireless documentation describes brcmfmac as the Broadcom FullMAC driver and lists supported device classes and maintainer/contact paths, confirming it is an active upstream driver family rather than legacy orphaned code.

  4. cateee.net

    LKDDb shows CONFIG_BRCMFMAC present through current 6.x kernel series and tied to this directory, which is inconsistent with a deprecation/removal trajectory.

codex reasoning notes (technical)

Keep. The directory is clearly a live hardware driver, and the prompt's static history is strong by itself: 248 substantive commits in 5 years, 112 authors, latest substantive touch on 2026-04-07. I attempted lore-first evidence via `lore_path_mentions` and `lore_regex`, but both timed out; I then tried `lei q`, but the sandbox blocked lei-daemon startup. With lore unavailable, I relied on the provided activity stats plus current deployment evidence. Sources were obtained by web search: Infineon AIROC Linux driver page from `turn0search1`, Raspberry Pi current setup/docs from `turn2search6`, Linux Wireless brcm80211/brcmfmac docs from `turn3search1`, and LKDDb from `turn3search0`. Those sources show current upstream presence and ongoing sale/deployment in Raspberry Pi and embedded AIROC/CYW products. No natural in-tree replacement covers the same Broadcom FullMAC hardware set, so deprecate/remove would be unjustified.