BROADCOM UNVEILS EURO-DOCSIS 3.0-BASED CHIPSET.

Broadcom Corporation (NASDAQ:BRCM), a global leader in semiconductors for wired and wireless communications, has announced the industry's first DOCSIS(R) 3.0/Euro-DOCSIS(TM) 3.0-based chipset with advanced line rate capabilities for next generation cable modem termination systems (CMTS). Among the early adopters of this technology, Cisco Systems plans to incorporate one of Broadcom's newly announced solutions in their next generation CMTS equipment.

Broadcom's new CMTS chipset works in conjunction with the Broadcom(R) BCM3380 - the industry's first fully integrated cable modem solution for DOCSIS 3.0/Euro-DOCSIS 3.0 applications to provide the first end-to-end solution for enabling interactive services over broadband cable services, with reverse path speeds up to 160 Megabits per second (Mbps) and downstream speeds up to 400 Mbps.

Broadcom has been instrumental in developing the new DOCSIS 3.0 standard for cable networks, enabling faster transmission speeds by adding advanced media access control capabilities such as channel bonding to cable modems and headend equipment. Differing from competing solutions, Broadcom's DOCSIS 3.0 CMTS and cable modem chips also feature TurboQAM(R) technology that provides a 33 percent improvement over reverse path speeds and a 25 percent improvement over downstream speeds in support of the DOCSIS 3.0 standard.

The improvement in performance resulting from Broadcom's new DOCSIS 3.0 CMTS chipset will enable cable operators to cost effectively upgrade their headend equipment to manage faster line speeds for broadband services requiring greater than 100 Mbps of upstream and downstream bandwidth. These new services include IPTV, secure virtual private networks (VPNs) for telecommuters, full-featured IP telephony, video conferencing, local web hosting and peer-to-peer networking applications like music downloads and file sharing. In addition, with reliable, symmetrical network services using equipment based on Broadcom's advanced DOCSIS 3.0-based CMTS chipset, cable operators can now broaden their subscriber bases to include business customers.

"Broadcom's new DOCSIS 3.0 CMTS chipset enables cable operators to cost effectively upgrade their headend equipment to manage faster line speeds for interactive services requiring symmetrical upstream and downstream bandwidth," said Ernie Bahm, Senior Director, CMTS Product Marketing for Broadcom's Broadband Communications Group. "These products, in conjunction with the BCM3380 cable modem solution, provide a complete end-to-end DOCSIS 3.0-based silicon solution with advanced capabilities that enable cable operators to economically and reliably expand their broadband services to support high value interactive applications for both residential and commercial customers."

The announced CMTS chipset from Broadcom includes the BCM3215 QAMLink(R) octal downstream DOCSIS modular CMTS (M-CMTS(TM)) core media access controller (MAC) and the BCM3216 QAMLink DOCSIS 3.0 upstream media access controller. Also, the BCM3142 QAMLink 12-channel universal advanced time-division multiple access (A-TDMA) and synchronous code division multiple access (S-CDMA) physical layer (PHY) receiver, which was selected by Cisco Systems for their next generation DOCSIS 3.0-based CMTS equipment.

Broadcom's CMTS chipset also provides advanced ingress and impulse noise mitigation technologies for both A-TDMA and S-CDMA modes -- the two communications technologies required by the DOCSIS 3.0 specification. Broadcom's SCDMA Ingress Noise Cancellation (SINC) technology allows operators to reclaim reverse path bandwidth below 15 MHz for DOCSIS 3.0 channel bonding applications to deliver reliable, fast interactive services. The chipset also incorporates support for Broadcom's unique packet-acceleration technology, Propane(R), which greatly enhances the upstream throughput of the cable network. With these advanced features, cable operators will be able to deliver broadband services at a lower cost while enabling high-density equipment designs.

CMTS Chipset Information

The BCM3215 is a highly integrated, high performance octal core MAC chip that supports the downstream transmission of data, video and telephony applications over hybrid fiber cable (HFC) networks. Having received a "bronze" qualification in CableLabs Certification Wave 56, the BCM3215 can process up to 350,000 packets per second and features eight independent channels, each with integrated DOCSIS MAC and M-CMTS functions that enable high-density equipment designs that conserve valuable equipment space in the headend facility.

The BCM3216 is a highly integrated, high performance DOCSIS 3.0 reverse path MAC chip for CMTS equipment. Based on cost effective hardware processing engines, the BCM3216 supports throughput rates up to 350,000 packets per second and provides a powerful solution for a variety of CMTS architectures. It provides hardware support for the MAC layer functions that include bonding traffic reassembly, concatenation parsing, fragment reassembly and payload header suppression, while offloading the system CPU to provide higher overall system performance. The flexible association between the MAC and PHY capacity enables high-density equipment designs with efficient scalability that reduces equipment floor space requirements. The BCM3216 is field upgradeable both in firmware and hardware.

The BCM3142 is a highly integrated, high performance solution for upstream demodulation in cable-over-data, video and telephony applications. It includes an analog front end (AFE) with four on-chip high performance analog to digital converters (ADCs) capable of supporting DOCSIS 3.0 reverse path channels between 5 and 85 MHz. The BCM3142 also provides 12 independent cable network receivers that accept QPSK and QAM burst data in TDMA or SCDMA schemes to enable high-density equipment designs that significantly reduce board space requirements and the cost of demodulators in digital headend applications. The BCM3142 seamlessly integrates with the BCM3216 DOCSIS 3.0 advanced reverse path MAC chip.

BCM93216 DOCSIS 3.0/Euro-DOCSIS 3.0 CMTS Evaluation System

To reduce the time-to-market for customers' next generation CMTS solutions, Broadcom has developed a BCM93216 DOCSIS 3.0/Euro-DOCSIS 3.0-based CMTS evaluation system that supports twelve upstream channels and eight downstream channels. The BCM93216 reference design is ideal for evaluating advanced CMTS technology for use in cable modems and VoIP telephony products, and also enables complete cable upstream and downstream DOCSIS 3.0 testing and evaluation. The reference design incorporates the Broadcom CMTS chipset and includes all software drivers, along with board level schematics and Gerber files, PC software applications for running test functions and scripts, and a PC-based applications programming interface (API) for register, memory and control access.

Availability and Pricing

The BCM3215 octal downstream DOCSIS M-CMTS core media access controller, the BCM3216 DOCSIS 3.0 upstream media access controller, and the BCM3142 12-channel universal advanced TDMA/SCDMA physical layer receiver are all available. Pricing is available upon request.

About Broadcom's Broadband Communications Group

Broadcom offers manufacturers a range of broadband communications and consumer electronics system-on-a-chip (SoC) solutions that enable voice, video, data and multimedia services over residential wired and wireless networks. These highly integrated silicon solutions continue to enable the most advanced system solutions on the market, which include digital cable, satellite and IP set-top boxes and media servers, broadband modems and residential gateways, high definition and digital televisions, Blu-ray Disc(R) players and recorders and personal video recorders.

About Broadcom

Broadcom Corporation is a major technology innovator and global leader in semiconductors for wired and wireless communications. Broadcom products enable the delivery of voice, video, data and multimedia to and throughout the home, the office and the mobile environment. We provide the industry's broadest portfolio of state-of-the-art system-on-a-chip and software solutions to manufacturers of computing and networking equipment, digital entertainment and broadband access products, and mobile devices. These solutions support our core mission: Connecting everything(R).

Broadcom is one of the world's largest fabless semiconductor companies, with 2007 revenue of $3.78 billion, and holds over 3,000 U.S. and over 1,300 foreign patents, more than 7,500 additional pending patent applications, and one of the broadest intellectual property portfolios addressing both wired and wireless transmission of voice, video, data and multimedia.

Broadcom is headquartered in Irvine, Calif., and has offices and research facilities in North America, Asia and Europe.

For more information, visit http://www.broadcom.com or call 949/926-5663.