LAS VEGAS, Jan. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- 2009 International CES -- Broadcom Corporation (NASDAQ: BRCM), a global leader in semiconductors for wired and wireless communications, today announced the industry's first high definition (HD) set-top box (STB) system-on-a-chip (SoC) solutions with Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA(R)) integration that allow cable, satellite and IP-network service providers worldwide to cost effectively transform a subscriber's existing coax cable infrastructure into a whole-home media distribution network. With set-top box and gateway applications enabled with Broadcom(R) products, service providers can now offer whole-home digital media distribution services that let subscribers securely access, store and share multiple types of digital media content including HDTV programs, video on demand (VoD), digital video recorder (DVR), Internet content, video, music, photos and voice over Internet protocol (VoIP).
"Over 80 percent of all homes in the U.S. have multiple cable outlets. By utilizing the existing coax network, service providers are able to offer an inexpensive way to deploy networked set-top boxes to meet the needs of multi-room DVR and telco TV distribution," said Joyce Putscher, Principal Analyst for In-Stat. "The number of North American households with in-home provider network nodes that use protocols over coax will see healthy growth from 2007-2009."
To satisfy this market demand, Broadcom announced two new HD multi-format video decoder SoCs with integrated MoCA at this week's 2009 International Consumer Electronics Show. The MoCA-integrated chips enable cable, satellite and IP-network equipment manufacturers worldwide to drive the next evolution of networking in the digital home by utilizing existing coax wire infrastructures.
"Because coax is already in the bulk of U.S. homes, Broadcom's MoCA-integrated solutions are a low cost and efficient way to network the next generation digital home to enable whole-home media distribution," said Dan Marotta, Senior Vice President & General Manager of Broadcom's Broadband Communications Group. "These solutions satisfy the growing demand for whole-home DVR services, including the ability to record and watch digital content anywhere in the home, while also reducing the cost and complexity of deployment."
Announced today are the Broadcom BCM7420 and BCM7410 video decoder SoCs with integrated MoCA technology. The BCM7420 advances media center system integration with a dual high definition 1.0/1.1+ MoCA modem, a physical layer (PHY) device and an on-chip radio frequency (RF) transceiver to securely access, store and share multiple types of digital media content. The BCM7410 provides the same capabilities as the BCM7420, but provides single HD media center system integration and/or client STB services (also with an integrated MoCA modem) for a cost effective gateway or client system. Both video decoder SoCs combine 1080p/60 video quality, an integrated 1394a media access controller (MAC) and PHY interface, Tru2way(TM)-ready with on-chip MCARD support, and a 3D graphics engine for an advanced user interface.
The BCM7410 and BCM7420 each feature dynamic power management controllers that provide a very power efficient ecosystem, capable of shutting down unused system components in real-time. Even though the video decoders provide the lowest sustained power, they continue to remain aware of network events both in the home and from multiple service operators (MSO) access points, representing a perfect complement to the MoCA-connected home network. In addition to its power management capabilities, the new BCM7410 thin client solution allows for the centralization of tuners, conditional access and hard drives that can also reduce cost and power consumption in the home. Both chips offer support for Energy Star(R) and are European Code of Conduct compliant.
By combining these two features in a gateway/client architecture, these new video decoders are the industry's first HDTV STB chips to feature the ability to "sleep with their eyes open" - which has become a key requirement in managing the whole home DVR network. As an example, a BCM7420-enabled gateway can be in standby-passive mode yet still respond to DVR requests from BCM7410-enabled client solutions.
Also included is support for Digital Living Network Alliance(SM) (DLNA(R)) technology to facilitate the easy sharing of content between DLNA-enabled devices. With DLNA technology, consumers can locate and enjoy digital content anywhere on their home network and effortlessly move or stream this content between DLNA-connected devices. The BCM7410 and BCM7420 are the first DLNA-enabled SoCs to integrate MoCA.
Product Information
The BCM7410 redefines low cost STB integration while the BCM7420 redefines media center integration, and each features the following:
-- MoCA 1.1+ modem for home networking
-- 1080p/60 "full HD" quality video outputs
-- 1,500-DMIPS (millions of instructions per second) CPU
-- Dynamic power management controller for high energy efficiency
-- High definition video decoders support H.264, VC-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 Part
2, H.263 and DivX(R) (dual channel for BCM7420; single channel for
BCM7410)
-- Mosaic live video decode support
-- Multifunction audio decoder (dual channel for BCM7420; single channel
for BCM7410)
-- PC-class 2D and OpenGL(R) ES 1.0 3D graphics processing
-- High quality video scaling and motion-compensated de-interlacing
-- Video digital to analog converters (DACs)
-- High-fidelity audio DACs (dual-stereo for BCM7420; stereo for BCM7410)
-- Suite of peripherals provides a variety of STB control functions
-- Programmable security processor and transport engine
-- Integrated 1394a controller.
The BCM7410 and BCM7420 video decoder SoCs meet the market need for whole-home DVR and video distribution applications while also driving down cost and the complexity of deploying whole home networks. The chips can be paired with any Broadcom satellite, cable, IP or DOCSIS(R) 3.0 front-end.
Availability and Pricing
The BCM7410 video decoder SoC for low cost gateway and client system applications, and the BCM7420 for whole-home media center gateway system applications, are both sampling to early access customers. Pricing is available upon request to manufacturers of set-top boxes.
MoCA Background
The MoCA (Multimedia over Coax Alliance) standard enables the distribution of high quality digital multimedia content throughout the home over existing coaxial cable. It has emerged as a popular method for in-home multimedia distribution among cable, satellite and telecommunications service providers in the U.S. and enables a new generation of media centers that can receive broadband digital media content via satellite, cable, telephony or Internet network connections. Once the media center receives content, it can store, manage and maintain the digital rights, communicate the content or distribute the content to other media appliances in the home.
About Broadcom's Broadband Communications Group
Broadcom offers manufacturers a range of broadband communications and consumer electronics system-on-a-chip 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. Broadcom may be contacted at +1.949.926.5000 or at www.broadcom.com.
Cautions regarding Forward Looking Statements:
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 and business, 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. Examples of such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the growth in number of North American households with in-home provider network nodes that use protocols over coax and the growing demand for whole-home DVR services. 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 BCM7410 and BCM7420 video decoder products include, but are not limited to
-- the rate at which our present and future customers and end-users adopt
Broadcom's technologies and products in the markets for next generation
set-top box applications;
-- delays in the adoption and acceptance of industry standards in those
markets;
-- 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, including seasonality in sales of
consumer products into which our products are incorporated, and possible
disruption in commercial activities related to terrorist activity or
armed conflict in the United States and other locations;
-- the timing of customer-industry qualification and certification of our
products and the risks of non-qualification or non-certification; and
-- the timing, rescheduling or cancellation of significant customer orders
and our ability, as well as the ability of our customers, to manage
inventory.
Additional factors that may cause Broadcom's actual results to differ materially from those expressed in forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to the list that can be found at http://www.broadcom.com/press/additional_risk_factors/Q42008.php.
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, except as required by law.
Broadcom, the pulse logo, Connecting everything, and the Connecting everything logo are among the trademarks of Broadcom Corporation and/or its affiliates in the United States, certain other countries and/or the EU. DivX is a trademark of DivX, Inc. DOCSIS and Tru2way(TM) are trademarks of Cable Television Laboratories, Inc. Energy Star(R) is a trademark of the Environmental Protection Agency. OpenGL ES is a trademark of Silicon Graphics, Inc. MoCA(R) is a trademark of the Multimedia over Coax Alliance. Blu-ray Disc(R) is a trademark of the Blu-ray Disc Association. Any other trademarks or trade names mentioned are the property of their respective owners.
Broadcom Trade Press Contact
Dana Brzozkiewicz
Senior Communications Specialist
949-926-6367
danabrz@broadcom.com
Broadcom Investor Relations Contact
T. Peter Andrew
Vice President, Corporate Communications
949-926-5663
andrewtp@broadcom.com
Web site: http://www.broadcom.com/