Broadcom Adds Low Power Media Processing in New Bluetooth(R) + GPS + FM Combo Chip Solution

IRVINE, Calif., Feb. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Broadcom Corporation (Nasdaq: BRCM), a global leader in semiconductors for wired and wireless communications, today announced a new Bluetooth® + GPS + FM combination ('combo') chip solution that integrates advanced media processing, providing a power-efficient connected audio subsystem for multimedia smartphones and other handset devices. This new single-chip solution delivers high performance Bluetooth connectivity while enabling a range of media playback and recording functions that would otherwise have to be performed by the phone's host processor.

The new Broadcom® InConcert® BCM20751 combo chip is a powerful communications and media subsystem that enables key smartphone connectivity (including GPS and FM radio) while also providing sophisticated audio processing. It offloads host processing from the phone's baseband processor to achieve significant power savings, increasing playback time by as much as 100 percent in multimedia handsets. This new combo chip solution will be demonstrated at next week's 2010 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain.

Highlights/Key Facts:

• Technology advancements are driving high quality multimedia functionality from single function personal music players into smartphones and other handsets. In most cases, music playback requires processing by the device's baseband processor which typically consumes substantial power, reduces battery life and often discourages extensive use of this functionality on handsets.
• With the introduction of the Broadcom BCM20751 combo chip, smartphones will now be more readily used as music players and Bluetooth stereo headsets without significantly affecting battery life. The new chip can perform music recording, playback and Bluetooth functionality while minimizing the use of the phone's baseband processor, resulting in very low power operation for media capabilities.
• The BCM20751 is based on the Broadcom BCM2075 InConcert combo chip, and includes the technologies that enable the total phone system to consume less power with the following capabilities:
  • The processor includes additional memory buffering (up to 90 Kb) and integrated MP3 and ACC+ decoders, as well as an on-chip 5-band audio equalizer that enables the BCM20751 to perform high quality music playback of popular music file formats while the baseband sleeps.
  • It enables an increase in total estimated music playback time so that a mobile handset with the BCM20751 could support about 70 hours of music playback (in comparison to 40 hours of music playback for popular standalone MP3 players).
  • It includes Broadcom's Stereo Headset emulation that allows the handset to operate as a Bluetooth stereo headset using the wired earphones, and provides up to 50 hours of Bluetooth music listening.
• The BCM20751's integrated FM radio technology enables innovative MP3 recordings of FM music, sports and news programming with up to 50 hours of recording time possible. The recording and playback capabilities also facilitate FM radio 'time-shifting' functions that are similar to digital video recorders (DVRs) in which they allow 'pause' and 'rewind' functions on live FM programming.
• Broadcom's combo chip approach enables OEMs to add innovative audio processing capabilities to smartphone devices while also adding the most sought after wireless connectivity options:
  • The Bluetooth portion of the BCM20751 is Bluetooth 3.0 with Broadcom's light stack operation that offloads typical Bluetooth functions from the host.
  • The FM radio capabilities are among the most advanced in the industry with integrated receive and transmit functions that enable live programs as well as transmission for playback in a car or home audio system.
  • The GPS core uses a host-based integration architecture that splits the processing duties between the BCM20751 and the host CPU. It provides the lowest power consuming GPS available, delivering 50 percent better power performance when compared to today's leading solutions.
• Broadcom InConcert technology enables wireless devices to collaboratively co-exist within the same radio frequency, providing products enabled with Broadcom wireless connectivity chips the ability to intelligently share the radio frequency spectrum, synchronizing transmissions to maximize throughput and performance for both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi® standards.
  • The addition of the Maestro™ software platform, a new component of InConcert, also enhances the customer experience by eliminating the need to manually choose, establish and manage the underlying wireless network.

Supporting Quotes:

Craig Ochikubo, Vice President & General Manager, Broadcom's Wireless Personal Area Networking line of business

"We continue to find unique ways to deliver a better end-user experience for connected devices like smartphones and media players. By combining Bluetooth, GPS, FM radio and audio processing into a single chip solution, we provide a vital low power subsystem that can enable dramatically longer battery life for multimedia phones, making these devices increasingly viable as consumer's primary media player."

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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, one of the world's largest fabless communications semiconductor companies, with 2009 revenue of $4.49 billion, holds more than 3,800 U.S. and 1,550 foreign patents, and has more than 7,800 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 combo chip solutions that include Bluetooth, GPS, FM radio and audio processing, our position in that market, and references to smartphones being more readily used as music players and Bluetooth headsets as a result of the introduction of the Broadcom BCM20751 combo chip.  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 BCM20751 Bluetooth combo chip solution include, but are not limited to:

• the rate at which our present and future customers and end-users adopt Broadcom's Bluetooth technologies for mobile applications;
• trends in the wireless networking markets in various geographic regions, including seasonality in sales of consumer products into which our products are incorporated;
• the gain or loss of a key customer, design win or order;
• the volume of our product sales and pricing concessions on volume sales;
• our ability to timely and accurately predict market requirements and evolving industry standards and to identify opportunities in new markets; and
• 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.

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/Q12010.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, InConcert and Maestro™ 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.

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SOURCE Broadcom Corporation; BRCM Mobile & Wireless