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IRVINE, Calif., April 4, 2005 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- Broadcom Corporation (Nasdaq: BRCM), a global leader in wired and wireless broadband communications semiconductors, today announced the first Wi-Fi® chipset that supports the PCI Express® bus architecture. Broadcom's latest 54g™ solution is a highly-integrated 802.11a/g solution that delivers maximum performance and range in a small, cost-effective package. By introducing the first PCI Express-compliant Wi-Fi chipset, Broadcom enables PC manufacturers to begin building next-generation wireless notebooks that take advantage of this high-speed bus architecture.
Announced today is the Broadcom® BCM4311 PCI Express enabled 802.11a/g baseband processor with an integrated media access controller (MAC). Its all-CMOS design and high level of chip integration enable a cost-effective Wi-Fi solution with an extremely small footprint that provides new levels of design flexibility for wireless-enabled notebook PCs, printers and other client devices.
The BCM4311 offers all of the benefits of the PCI Express bus architecture, while continuing to deliver the superior performance, range and ease-of-use found in all 54g solutions. The new chip features BroadRange™ technology, an advanced digital signal processing technique that allows devices based on 54g technology to stay connected at distances up to 50 percent farther from a wireless router than previous generation solutions. The BCM4311 also supports Broadcom's OneDriver™ software, which offers a number of features to improve performance, security and ease-of-use for Wi-Fi networks including:
* SecureEasySetup™ technology -- software that allows users to configure their Wi-Fi networks and activate WPA™ security with the push of a button * 125 High Speed Mode™ -- the industry's most popular performance enhancement, delivering up to 40 percent greater throughput than typical 802.11g or 802.11a/g systems
"As the industry readies itself for a new era of high-performance computing, Broadcom is delivering a host of wired and wireless solutions that support PCI Express," said Jeff Abramowitz, Senior Director of Marketing for Broadcom's Home & Wireless Networking Business Unit. "By providing early access to the most advanced technologies, we enable our customers to get a head-start in building next-generation wireless products that make the most of the PCI Express bus architecture."
PCI Express is a state-of-the-art bus architecture that provides the performance and system design flexibility required for next generation computing and communications. Whereas today's embedded applications push the limits of the parallel PCI architecture, PCI Express uses serial interconnect technology to deliver higher bit rates that are better suited for performance-intensive multimedia applications. The PCI Express architecture also offers greater scalability, due to its low-cost, low pin-count design and software compatibility with existing PCI infrastructure.
Availability
The BCM4311 is now sampling to early access customers.
Broadcom's Wireless LAN Product Family
Broadcom's high performance AirForce™ wireless LAN product line includes 54g, the world's most popular Wi-Fi technology. In addition to transceivers that provide IEEE 802.11g and dual-band 802.11a/g solutions, Broadcom integrates wireless network processors, communications technologies and OneDriver software solutions into reference designs that speed customer time to market. Broadcom partners are developing 54g-enabled computers, routers, peripherals, phones, broadband modems and a variety of consumer electronics devices.
About Broadcom
Broadcom Corporation is a global leader in wired and wireless broadband communications semiconductors. Our products enable the convergence of high-speed data, high definition video, voice and audio at home, in the office and on the go. Broadcom provides manufacturers of computing and networking equipment, digital entertainment and broadband access products, and mobile devices with the industry's broadest portfolio of state-of-the-art system-on-a-chip and software solutions. These solutions support our core mission: Connecting everything®.
Broadcom is one of the world's largest fabless semiconductor companies, with annual revenue of more than $2 billion. The company is headquartered in Irvine, Calif., with offices and research facilities in North America, Asia and Europe. Broadcom 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," "ongoing," 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 our AirForce wireless LAN products include, but are not limited to, general economic and political conditions and specific conditions in the markets we address, including the 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 wireless networking applications; delays in the adoption and acceptance of industry standards in those markets; the timing, rescheduling or cancellation of significant customer orders and our ability, as well as the ability of our customers, to manage inventory; our ability to retain, recruit and hire key executives, technical personnel and other employees in the positions and numbers, with the experience and capabilities, and at the compensation levels needed to implement our business and product plans; our ability to scale our operations in response to changes in demand for our products and services; our ability to specify, develop or acquire, complete, introduce, market and transition to volume production new products and technologies in a cost-effective and timely manner; the gain or loss of a key customer, design win or order; 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; the timing of customer-industry qualification and certification of our products and the risks of non-qualification or non-certification; our ability to timely and accurately predict market requirements and evolving industry standards and to identify opportunities in new markets; changes in our product or customer mix; the volume of our product sales and pricing concessions on volume sales; intellectual property disputes and customer indemnification claims and other types of litigation risk; 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; 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®, the Connecting everything logo, 54g™, 125 High Speed Mode™, AirForce™, BroadRange™ OneDriver™ and SecureEasySetup™ are among the trademarks of Broadcom Corporation and/or its affiliates in the United States, certain other countries and/or the EU. PCI Express® is a trademark of PCI-SIG Corporation. Wi-Fi® and WPA™ are trademarks of the Wi-Fi Alliance. Any other trademarks or trade names mentioned are the property of their respective owners.
Broadcom Trade Press Contact
Henry Rael
Public Relations Manager
949-926-5734
hrael@broadcom.com
Broadcom Investor Relations Contact
T. Peter Andrew
Sr. Director, Investor Relations
949-926-5663
andrewtp@broadcom.com
Broadcom Technical Contact
Jeff Abramowitz
Sr. Director, Marketing
408-543-3311
jeffa@broadcom.com
SOURCE Broadcom Corporation
Trade Press, Henry Rael, Public Relations Manager, +1-949-926-5734, hrael@broadcom.com, or Investor Relations, T. Peter Andrew, Sr. Director, Investor Relations, +1-949-926-5663, andrewtp@broadcom.com, Technical, Jeff Abramowitz, Sr. Director, Marketing, +1-408-543-3311, jeffa@broadcom.com, all of Broadcom Corporation
