Products Incorporate Advanced Carrier-Class Features Enabling Revenue Generating Services

IRVINE, Calif., Nov. 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Broadcom Corporation (Nasdaq: BRCM), a global leader in semiconductors for wired and wireless communications, today announced a new line of low-power, high performance Ethernet switches for service provider networks. Broadcom's newest carrier-class switch offerings allow mobile and broadband service providers to deploy a new generation of high performance network infrastructure equipment with substantially lower capital and operational expenditures. As a leading semiconductor vendor, Broadcom now has a wide variety of standard silicon solutions that support the complex protocols and bandwidth requirements for service providers as they look to simultaneously deliver both mobile and broadband services across a single IP backbone.

Highlights/Key Facts:

• The global explosion of mobile devices, bandwidth-hungry applications and consumer demand for 24/7 connectivity to IP-based video, social networking and location-based services are overwhelming today's mobile networks. Service providers are now challenged to provide 'on demand' connectivity and a better user experience on 3G and future 4G networks or risk the loss of high revenue generating subscribers. To meet these performance needs, networking OEMs must quickly bring to market low cost, data-oriented mobile backhaul equipment.
• Traditionally, slow time division multiplex (TDM)-based mobile backhaul equipment was built using costly custom application-specific ICs (ASICs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and/or disparate components from niche suppliers. This design model, however, results in sub-standard equipment that is expensive, has a lengthy time-to-market and is not suitable for data and video. Ethernet application specific standard products (ASSPs) provide optimized bandwidth at the lowest cost for this application.
• The latest Broadcom® Ethernet switch products are optimized to reduce capital and operational expenditures. These solutions now enable service providers to manage broadband and mobile connectivity simultaneously on a single network with complete product interoperability.
• Broadcom service provider switch products deliver on three key design principles:
  • Consistency: Advanced protocols not only deliver efficient end-to-end provisioning of revenue generating services, but also facilitate easier network manageability. Broadcom's service provider switch portfolio offers a common set of features and protocols for every step in the network, minimizing operational expenditures and reducing cost of ownership.
  • Scalability: Scaling demands vary dramatically across the service provider network. Broadcom offers a wide variety of service provider switch products that are optimized to scale to the appropriate level at each point in the network. Providers require this range of scalability not only to achieve high performance in the core, but also to address the cost concerns associated with edge equipment which must support a high number of cellular sites.
  • Quality: Providers must demonstrate that their networks adhere to contractual service level agreements. Broadcom designs and tests its switch silicon to meet the field performance demands of the service provider market. In addition to rigorous test and manufacturing methodologies, Broadcom devices incorporate extensive resiliency mechanisms, performance monitoring capabilities and traffic management services.
• Broadcom's service provider switch portfolio incorporates products from Broadcom's StrataXGS®, XGS(TM) Core and RoboSwitch(TM) Ethernet switch product lines. In total, Broadcom now features more than 30 switch products built specifically to meet the requirements of next generation service provider networks (this includes previously announced products). The five (5) new switch series being introduced today include the following:
  • BCM56630 - Gigabit Ethernet (GbE)/10GE switches for carrier Ethernet aggregation switches and routers
  • BCM56685 - 2.5G switches for embedded access systems
  • BCM56330 - GbE edge switches for mobile backhaul applications
  • BCM56130 - Fast Ethernet (FE) edge switches for business-class access
  • BCM53280 - FE edge switches for consumer multi-tenant units (MTUs)
• Carrier-class switch products are commonly used in conjunction with Broadcom's digital subscriber line (DSL) and cable broadband products, physical layer (PHY) transceivers and serializer/deserializer (SerDes) solutions to deliver a variety of commercial silicon products for service providers.
  

Supporting Quotes:

Gabriele Corliano, Chief Researcher--Network Research & Technology Strategy, British Telecom:

"BT recognizes the potential for Ethernet to cost-effectively deliver the high bandwidth network required of modern access technologies. We are very encouraged by Broadcom's development of Ethernet switches that support the necessary protocols and technologies that will allow us to roll out new and diverse value-add services."

Martin Lund, Vice President & General Manager for Broadcom's Network Switching Business Unit:

"Broadcom is applying 'Ethernet economics' to a market that has historically been served by costly legacy solutions that do not meet the bandwidth demands of next generation 3G and 4G mobile networks. Our new service provider switch portfolio solves a real-world problem, providing the unification of mobile and broadband networks."

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Other Supporting Resources:

Product Information: Broadcom Ethernet Switches for Service Provider Networks

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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®.

Broadcom is one of the world's largest fabless semiconductor companies, with 2008 revenue of $4.66 billion, and holds over 3,650 U.S. and over 1,450 foreign patents, more than 7,750 additional pending patent applications, and one of the broadest intellectual property portfolios addressing both wired and wireless transmission of voice, video, data and multimedia.

A FORTUNE 500® company, 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 demand for service provider switch products and our position in that market. 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 the BCM56630, BCM56685, BCM56330, BCM56130, BCM53280 Ethernet switches for the service provider market, 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, including seasonality in sales of consumer products into which our products are incorporated;
• Delays in the adoption and acceptance of industry standards in those markets;
• 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 volume of our product sales and pricing concessions on volume sales.
  

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/Q42009.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®, the Connecting everything logo, StrataXGS®, XGS(TM) Core and RoboSwitch(TM) are among the trademarks of Broadcom Corporation and/or its affiliates in the United States, certain other countries and/or the EU. Any other trademarks or trade names mentioned are the property of their respective owners.

    Contacts

    Trade Press:                                Investor Relations:
    Heather A. Roberts                          T. Peter Andrew
    Media Relations Manager                     Vice President, Corporate
                                                 Communications
    408-922-8195                                949-926-5663
    hroberts@broadcom.com                       andrewtp@broadcom.com

SOURCE Broadcom Corporation; BRCM Enterprise Networking

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