Broadcom Announces Industry's First 40nm HD Full-Resolution 3DTV Video Gateway STB SoC Solution

IRVINE, Calif., Dec. 14, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Broadcom Corporation (Nasdaq: BRCM), a global leader in semiconductors for wired and wireless communications, today announced and is sampling a new ultra-high performance dual high definition (HD) set-top box (STB) system-on-a-chip (SoC) video gateway solution with more than two times the performance over previous generations. Designed in 40nm CMOS silicon technology, the BCM7422 achieves breakthrough levels of performance and integration, reducing power consumption and lowering overall costs to meet the need for the next generation connected home experience.  

The BCM7422 is the industry's first SoC to combine a 1.3 GHz multi-threaded MIPS® processor with the latest transmission efficient H.264/MPEG Scalable Video Coding (SVC), and Multiview Video Coding (MVC) standards for enabling 1080p60/50 content distribution and full-resolution HD 3DTV. Complementing this new level of application software and visual performance is a 1G pixel per second OpenGL® ES 2.0 3D GPU for advanced 3D graphics acceleration, as well as integrated whole-home connectivity functionality including MoCA® and DLNA® support to advance the connected home set-top box experience to the next level.

Broadcom will demonstrate the advanced capabilities of its BCM7422 STB SoC at its Analyst Day event on December 14 with a live webcast starting at 8am PST.

Highlights/Key Facts:

• The BCM7422 HD STB SoC solution features an ultra-high performance BRCM 5000 MIPS-based applications processor with 3000 DMIPS of applications processing performance supported by unique and powerful 2D and OpenGL ES 2.0 3D GPU's to further enhance web-based software platforms.
• Its distinctive distributed processing STB architecture features an additional 3000 DMIPS (total of 6000 DMIPS) of multiple high-performance sub-system processors and hardware supporting maximum bandwidth media center services including security termination and transcription, broadcast video to IP encapsulation, and multi-stream connected home IP content distribution.
• Featuring lower power and higher performance 40nm CMOS silicon technology, the BCM7422 supports a greener environment by reducing power requirements and integrates an intelligent power management processor to minimize STB power consumption.
• The BCM7422 is the industry's first STB SoC to feature the MPEG industry standard, SVC, that supports full-resolution HD 3DTV, and also enables a 40 percent bandwidth savings for backward-compatible 1080p60/50 sports content distribution to new and legacy STBs.
• With a separate and high performance (400 DMIPS) integrated MoCA home networking processor sub-system and available DLNA server/player software stack, service providers can easily support multi-room DVR services for five or more MoCA-based IP STB client devices enabling a simpler and cost effective home architecture that dramatically lowers capital costs.
• The BCM7422 also features a customized high performance (430MHz) VLIW (very long instructional word) DSP (digital signal processing) used mainly for audio processing. The DSP is also available to off-load the CPU for programming to support any video Codec and other miscellaneous signal processing applications.  
• Supported by a broad array of time-to-market web-based connected home STB software applications including Adobe Flash® Platform for TV, Webkit HMTL 5.0, Java, Qt, DLNA 1.5, and DirectFB application libraries.
• Unique HD FastRTV channel change acceleration technology that improves channel change speeds by up to 500 percent.
• Supports the latest, advanced security and conditional access technologies including CableCard, Conax, DTCP-IP, Intertrust, Irdeto, Latens, Microsoft Playready®, Nagra, NDS, and Verimatrix.
• Broadcom's BCM7421 HD STB SoC includes the same functionality as the BCM7422, but does not integrate MoCA and is targeted to address non-MoCA deployments.

Quotes:

Linley Gwennap, Principal Analyst, The Linley Group

"Broadcom's new MIPS-compatible CPU, the BRCM 5000, provides the high performance required to enhance the consumer experience in next generation set-top boxes. In this highly competitive market, designing its own CPUs gives Broadcom an edge in reducing cost and power."

Michelle Abraham, Principal Analyst, In-Stat

"Technologies that create the connected 3DTV digital home with networking capabilities are leading the wave of next generation consumer electronics products. 3DTV unit shipments will grow ten-fold between 2010 and 2014.  Worldwide residential media server unit shipments will exceed 3 million in 2011, and grow to over 13 million in 2014."

Dan Marotta, Executive Vice President & General Manager, Broadcom's Broadband Communications Group:

"We continue to provide technology with the very highest levels of performance and integration to allow the high levels of bandwidth required for the next generation connected home. Right now, there is an explosion of entertainment and information content available, and consumer demand for connected apps and 3DTV is driving the market.  The BCM7422 solution supports full-resolution HD 3DTV and advanced connectivity enabling service providers to offer a compelling and leading video content experience, more web-based software applications and the ability to stream content and connect devices in the home and on-the-go."

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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 4,500 U.S. and 1,900 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 full resolution high definition 3DTV and advanced connectivity set-top box technology and our position in that space.  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 its BCM7422 dual HD 3DTV STB SoC solution include, but are not limited to:

• the rate at which our present and future customers and end-users adopt Broadcom's technologies and products for next generation set-top box applications;
• 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/Q42010.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.  Any other trademarks or trade names mentioned are the property of their respective owners.

SOURCE Broadcom Corporation; BRCM Broadband