UTP CABLE POWERS IP PHONES FOR ETHERNET DATA.

Broadcom Corporation, a provider of integrated circuits enabling broadband communications, has introduced the BCM1101 Internet Protocol (IP) Phone Engine, with power detection functionality compatible with Cisco Systems' "Inline Power" enabled switches. The Broadcom BCM1101 is the successor to the widely-adopted BCM1100, which was introduced in early 2001 as the first single-chip solution for Ethernet IP telephones.

The integration of power detection functionality in the BCM1101 will enable manufacturers to develop IP phones that can be powered through the same UTP (Unshielded Twisted Pair) cable used for Ethernet data. Powering IP phones from Ethernet switches located in corporate computer networking rooms eliminates the need for costly external wall-mounted power supplies for each IP phone connected to the corporate network.

"Cisco and Broadcom have worked together closely to enable the integration of the power detection feature into Broadcom 10/100 Ethernet PHYs," said Chris Cullin, Cisco's senior voice product manager. "The BCM1101 provides an open interface to Cisco's Inline Power enabled infrastructure, creating new market opportunities for IP phone vendors."

Cisco first shipped Inline Power on its Catalyst family of Ethernet switches in March 2000. Today, enterprise customers deploy Inline Power as the base requirement in the wiring closet to prepare the network infrastructure for convergence of voice and data. The BCM1101 enables manufacturers to develop IP phones that can be powered by Cisco's network infrastructure. Inline Power is compliant with relevant, specified domestic and international safety regulations and compliance measures. The BCM1101 is fully compliant with the IEEE 802.3 standard. Broadcom and Cisco are committed to standards-based operation and will support the IEEE in its efforts to add power specifications to the 802.3 Ethernet standard.

"The new PHY core with integrated power over Ethernet support enables our IP phone customers to develop even more cost effective IP phones, further driving acceptance of this voice and data convergence application," said Paul Shore, director of marketing, Voice over IP (VoIP) Client Products, for Broadcom. "The deployment of enterprise IP phones has become one of the most successful uses of VoIP to date. We foresee accelerated growth in this market over the next several years, to the point where we expect IP phones to be more common than PBX phones by 2005."

The BCM1101 also features an enhanced 150 MHz MIPS32 RISC processor to enable more processing-intensive Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) applications. The chip's integrated Ethernet switch enables the office PC and IP phone to share a single LAN connection, and supports IEEE 802.1p packet prioritization and 802.1Q VLAN identification. Also integrated into the BCM 1101 are three analog CODECs capable of supporting both narrowband (8 kHz) and wideband (16 kHz) sampling, which in conjunction with wideband vocoding will enable IP phone networks to deliver higher fidelity voice transmission than PBXs or the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). The chip was designed and tested to withstand 2000 volts of cable-sourced electrostatic discharge (CESD), which prevents the system from being damaged or destroyed due to electric discharge during installation and cable insertion. About Broadcom

Broadcom Corporation is a 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 applications for digital cable set-top boxes and 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 server solutions and network processing. Broadcom is headquartered in Irvine, Calif..

Broadcom can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.broadcom.com/.

For more information, call 949/450-8700.