Broadcom's ServerWorks Subsidiary Adds New SystemI/O Technology Optimized for Dense Rack Mounted Computing; Major Server Suppliers Committed to Adopting HE-SL.

Business Editors & High-Tech Writers

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 22, 2001

Broadcom's (Nasdaq:BRCM) ServerWorks subsidiary, the leading independent supplier of high-performance SystemI/O(TM) integrated circuits for servers, today announced the availability of its HE Super Lite(TM) (HE-SL) SystemI/O logic optimized for the unique requirements of dense Internet network servers that need maximum bandwidth in a very small footprint.

Major server OEMs have committed to using the HE-SL in server platforms, including Compaq, Dell, IBM, NEC and Siemens. Cisco Systems is already using the HE-SL in its recently introduced Cisco Secure PIX Firewall 535, a carrier-class firewall that provides high levels of network security and reliability and has an aggregate throughput of 1 Gigabit per second (Gbps).

"As ServerWorks' first industry partner and first customer, Compaq has long recognized the value of ServerWorks' unique approach to high-performance circuit design," said Brad Anderson, Vice President of Mainstream Servers in Compaq's Industry Standard Server Group. "The announcement of ServerWorks' HE-SL technology represents new evidence of our strategic commitment to integrate a new level of industry-standard performance and scalability into industry-leading Compaq ProLiant servers and solutions deployed by our customers."

"The HE-SL product enables the potent combination of dense packaging and high performance and reliability," said Tom Bradicich, Director, eServer xSeries Architecture and Technology at IBM. "These attributes help us to take Pentium III-based servers to the next level in dense form factors."

"Dell's attentiveness to customer needs drove us to adopt this technology early, and bring it to market before any other systems manufacturer," said Randy Groves, Vice President and General Manager of High Volume Systems in Dell's Enterprise Systems Group. "The ServerWorks' HE-SL architecture gives our new rack optimized PowerEdge 1550 server twice the I/O bandwidth and memory capacity of our previous 1U server, and allows us to once again raise the performance bar over our competitors. As the No. 2 provider of standard Intel architecture servers in the world, we're confident that products like this will continue to drive our sales in this rapidly growing market."

"The HE-SL delivers more than twice the SPECweb99 benchmark performance of our previous high volume 2-way ServerSet LE technology using comparable Intel processors," noted David Pulling, Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing at ServerWorks. "The ServerWorks HE-SL has enabled memory and I/O bandwidth to catch up with the superior performance of Intel's high performance microprocessors."

HE-SL Delivers High Bandwidth in a Small Footprint

The new HE-SL SystemI/O incorporates support for two independent 64-bit/66 MHz and one 32-bit/33 MHz PCI buses to accommodate the increasingly high data rates and dense, rack-mounted packaging encountered in these network-edge applications. The HE-SL supports Intel's latest Pentium(R) III and Pentium III Xeon(TM) processors, operating at speeds up to 1 GHz -in single and dual processor configurations, and is designed to support Intel's future 0.13 micron Pentium III CPUs when they become available. ServerWorks commenced shipments of this logic to selected customers last year, and is now making it available to a wider audience.

The HE-SL's memory controller provides memory bandwidth of 2.1 Gigabytes per second, a 100 percent increase over ServerWorks' earlier SystemI/O offerings for the Pentium III line. To deliver this bandwidth, the system utilizes dual channels of PC133 registered DIMMs, operating in a two-way interleaved manner. The design accommodates up to six registered DIMMs with capacities of 64 Megabytes through 2 Gigabytes, for a system maximum of 12 GBytes, a 300 percent increase over ServerWorks' earlier ServerSet(TM) III LE design. The design includes a sophisticated Error Correction Code (ECC) algorithm that enhances system reliability by correcting single- and detecting multi-bit errors. The design also incorporates a memory-scrubbing capability that detects errors before they can impact system operation. ServerWorks reduced the number of chips needed to implement these core logic functions on the system board from seven in the previous generation to three in the HE-SL, thus reducing board size and bill of materials cost.

Availability

The ServerSet III HE-SL includes a North Bridge (Part No. NB6576), a South Bridge (Part No. SB7440), and a PCI bus bridge (Part No. NB6555). The entire three-chip HE-SL SystemI/O is available in volume quantities now.

ServerWorks is the world's leading independent supplier of high-performance system input/output (I/O) integrated circuits for servers. ServerWorks' SystemI/O(TM) silicon solutions are used pervasively by leading original equipment manufacturers. Its circuits act as the essential conduits for moving high-bandwidth data in and out of servers, between external I/O, the main system memory and the system processors. ServerWorks, a wholly owned subsidiary of Broadcom Corp., is located in Santa Clara, Calif., and may be contacted at 408/492-1915 or at www.serverworks.com.

About Broadcom

Broadcom Corp. is the leading provider of highly integrated silicon solutions that enable broadband digital transmission of voice, video and data. Using proprietary technologies and advanced design methodologies, the company designs, develops and supplies system-on-a-chip solutions for broadband communications markets. Broadcom products enable communications for applications in cable set-top boxes, cable modems, high-speed local, metropolitan and wide area and optical networks, home networking, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), carrier access, residential broadband gateways, direct broadcast satellite and terrestrial digital broadcast, digital subscriber lines (xDSL), wireless communications, SystemI/O(TM) server solutions and network processing. Broadcom is headquartered in Irvine, Calif., and may be contacted at 949/450-8700 or at www.broadcom.com.

Safe Harbor Statement of Broadcom Corporation under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995:

This release may contain forward-looking statements based on our current expectations, estimates and projections about our industry, management's beliefs, and certain assumptions made by us. Words such as "anticipates," "expects," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "estimates," "may," "will" and variations of these words or similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. In addition, any statements that refer to expectations, projections or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Therefore, our actual results could differ materially and adversely from those expressed in any forward-looking statements as a result of various factors.

Important factors that may cause such a difference for Broadcom in connection with its ServerWorks HE-SL products include, but are not limited to, the timing and successful completion of technology and product development through volume production; general economic conditions and specific conditions in the markets we address, including periodic downturns in the semiconductor industry; the rate at which present and future customers and end-users adopt Broadcom's technologies and products in the markets for high performance SystemI/O and networking products; delays in the adoption and acceptance of industry standards in the foregoing markets; changes in ServerWorks' relationships with Intel Corporation; the timing of customer-industry qualification and certification of our products and the risks of non-qualification or non-certification; the timing, rescheduling or cancellation of significant customer orders; the loss of a key customer; the volume of our product sales and pricing concessions on volume sales; silicon wafer pricing and the availability of foundry and assembly capacity and raw materials; the qualification, availability and pricing of competing products and technologies and the resulting effects on sales and pricing of our products; intellectual property disputes and customer indemnification claims; 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; our ability to specify, develop or acquire, complete, introduce, market and transition to volume production new products and technologies in a timely manner; the effects of new and emerging technologies; the effectiveness of our product cost reduction efforts; 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 risks and uncertainties associated with our international operations; 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; changes in our product or customer mix; the quality of our products and any remediation costs; the effects of natural disasters and other events beyond our control; the level of orders received that can be shipped in a fiscal quarter; and other factors.

Our forthcoming Annual Report on Form 10-K, recent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, recent Current Reports on Forms 8-K and 8-K/A, and other Securities and Exchange Commission filings discuss some of the important risk factors that may affect our business, results of operations and financial condition. We undertake no obligation to revise or update publicly any forward-looking statements for any reason.

Note to Editors: ServerWorks(TM), SystemI/O(TM), ServerSet(TM) and HE Super Lite(TM) are trademarks of ServerWorks and/or its affiliates in the United States and certain other countries. Broadcom(R) and the pulse logo are trademarks of Broadcom Corp. and/or its affiliates in the United States and certain other countries. Intel(R), Pentium(R) and Xeon(TM) are trademarks of Intel Corp. All other trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners.