BCM3419 Silicon Tuner Obsoletes Dual Conversion Technology For Cable Modem Tuners
IRVINE, Calif., Feb. 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Broadcom Corporation (Nasdaq: BRCM), a leading provider of silicon solutions enabling broadband communications, today announced a joint development program with Philips Semiconductor to create a next-generation silicon tuner solution that allows manufacturers to implement cost-effective, very low power tuner designs in cable modems.
Under the joint program between the companies, Philips will exclusively supply Broadcom with a new direct-conversion silicon tuner solution specifically designed for existing cable modem applications. Broadcom has implemented the tuner technology into a chip, which it plans to sell to customers under the product name BCM3419.
Direct-conversion silicon tuner technology offers significant advantages over dual-conversion tuners used in existing cable modems. This advanced technology reduces the design complexity and cost of implementing tuner designs in cable modems by eliminating expensive SAW filters required with dual-conversion tuners. The power and cost savings as a result of using direct-conversion tuner technology also offer necessary design benefits to several emerging cable modem applications, such as VoIP over cable and outdoor wireless access points.
"The technology demands for cable modems are changing to reflect the growing number of uses seen by cable operators, including line powered or battery backed voice modems," said Jay Kirchoff, Broadcom's Director of Cable Modem Marketing for the Broadband Communications Business Group. "Working with Philips on this next-generation tuner technology will allow our customers to support a growing number of cable modem applications that are not possible today with dual-conversion tuners."
"Our partnership with Broadcom will allow us to accelerate the adoption of our advanced tuner technology," says Robert Murray, International Product Marketing Manager of Philips Semiconductor MST TV Front End BU TV Systems. "We also see significant benefits in the use of Philips technology in the Broadcom BCM3419, where both companies will work together to significantly improve the quality and reliability of cable modem products made by Broadcom's large customer base."
The BCM3419 uses the industry's first direct conversion tuner implementation delivered in a single-chip solution. The silicon tuner supports both current requirements for Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM), as well as advanced orders of QAM used by many of Broadcom's chips. The advanced capabilities in the BCM3419 result in improved product performance and reliability and fewer system support components. The BCM3419 allows customers to improve the bill of materials (BOM) cost of existing cable modems.
"An immediate benefit of using the Philips' technology in the BCM3419 is the improved market competitiveness the product can offer our customers," said Kirchoff. "This advanced silicon solution cuts the number of tuner support components in half, while reducing the time and complexity of manufacturing."
Availability
Samples of the BCM3419 are available now. The BCM3419 is priced at $5.00 in 25,000 piece quantities and is packaged in a 40-pin KML package.
About Broadcom
Broadcom Corporation is a leading provider of highly integrated silicon solutions that enable broadband communications and networking of voice, video and data services. Using proprietary technologies and advanced design methodologies, Broadcom designs, develops and supplies complete system-on-a-chip solutions and related hardware and software applications for every major broadband communications market. Our diverse product portfolio includes solutions for digital cable and satellite set-top boxes; cable and DSL modems and residential gateways; high-speed transmission and switching for local, metropolitan, wide area and storage networking; home and wireless networking; cellular and terrestrial wireless communications; Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) gateway and telephony systems; broadband network processors; and SystemI/O™ server solutions. These technologies and products support our core mission: Connecting everything®.
Broadcom is headquartered in Irvine, Calif., and may be contacted at 1-949-450-8700 or at www.broadcom.com .
Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995:
All statements included or incorporated by reference in this release, other than statements or characterizations of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations, estimates and projections about our industry, management's beliefs, and certain assumptions made by us, all of which are subject to change. Forward-looking statements can often be identified by words such as "anticipates," "expects," "intends," "plans," "predicts," "believes," "seeks," "estimates," "may," "will," "should," "would," "could," "potential," "continue," similar expressions, and variations or negatives of these words. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future results and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause our actual results to differ materially and adversely from those expressed in any forward-looking statement.
Important factors that may cause such a difference for Broadcom in connection with the BCM3419 product family include, but are not limited to, general economic and political conditions and specific conditions in the markets we address, including the continuing significant economic slowdown and volatility in the technology sector and semiconductor industry, trends in the broadband communications markets in various geographic regions, and possible disruption in commercial activities related to terrorist activity or armed conflict in the United States and other locations; the rate at which our present and future customers and end-users adopt Broadcom's technologies and products in the markets for cable modem applications; delays in the adoption and acceptance of industry standards in those markets; competitive pressures and other factors such as the qualification, availability and pricing of competing products and technologies and the resulting effects on sales and pricing of our products; our ability to retain and hire key executives, technical personnel and other employees in the numbers, with the capabilities, and at the compensation levels needed to implement our business and product plans; the availability and pricing of third party semiconductor foundry and assembly capacity and raw materials; fluctuations in the manufacturing yields of our third party semiconductor foundries and other problems or delays in the fabrication, assembly, testing or delivery of our products; the risks of producing products with new suppliers and at new fabrication and assembly facilities; the timing, rescheduling or cancellation of significant customer orders and our ability, as well as the ability of our customers, to manage inventory; the loss of a key customer; our ability to specify, develop or acquire, complete, introduce, market and transition to volume production new products and technologies in a timely manner; the timing of customer-industry qualification and certification of our products and the risks of non-qualification or non-certification; the volume of our product sales and pricing concessions on volume sales; the effects of new and emerging technologies; changes in our product or customer mix; intellectual property disputes and customer indemnification claims and other types of litigation risk; problems or delays that we may face in shifting our products to smaller geometry process technologies and in achieving higher levels of design integration; the quality of our products and any remediation costs; the effectiveness of our expense and product cost control and reduction efforts; the risks and uncertainties associated with our international operations, particularly in light of recent events; the effects of natural disasters, public health emergencies, international conflicts and other events beyond our control; the level of orders received that can be shipped in a fiscal quarter; and other factors.
Our Annual Report on Form 10-K, subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, recent Current Reports on Form 8-K, and other Securities and Exchange Commission filings discuss the foregoing risks as well as other important risk factors that could contribute to such differences or otherwise affect our business, results of operations and financial condition. The forward-looking statements in this release speak only as of this date. We undertake no obligation to revise or update publicly any forward-looking statement for any reason.
Broadcom®, the pulse logo, Connecting everything®, and SystemI/O™ are trademarks of Broadcom Corporation and/or its affiliates in the United States and certain other countries. All other trademarks or tradenames mentioned are the property of their respective owners.
Broadcom Trade Press Contact
Laura Brandlin
Director of Marketing Communications
949-689-9024
lbrandlin@broadcom.com
Broadcom Business Press Contact
Bill Blanning
Sr. Director, Corporate Communications
949-926-5555 blanning@broadcom.com
Broadcom Technical Contact
A. Jay Kirchoff
Director of Cable Modem Marketing
770-232-0018
kirchoff@broadcom.com
Broadcom Investor Relations Contact
T. Peter Andrew
Sr. Director, Investor Relations
949-926-5663
tpandrew@broadcom.com
SOURCE Broadcom Corporation
-0- 02/17/2004
/CONTACT: Broadcom Trade Press Contact, Laura Brandlin, Director of
Marketing Communications, +1-949-689-9024, lbrandlin@broadcom.com , or
Broadcom Business Press Contact, Bill Blanning Sr. Director, Corporate
Communications, +1-949-926-5555, blanning@broadcom.com , or Broadcom Technical
Contact, A. Jay Kirchoff, Director of Cable Modem Marketing, +1-770-232-0018,
kirchoff@broadcom.com , or Broadcom Investor Relations Contact,
T. Peter Andrew, Sr. Director, Investor Relations, +1-949-926-5663,
tpandrew@broadcom.com , all of Broadcom Corporation/
/Web site: http://www.broadcom.com /
(BRCM)
CO: Broadcom Corporation; Philips Semiconductor
ST: California
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SU: JVN
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9255 02/17/2004 12:59 EST http://www.prnewswire.com




