Broadcom Announces New Embedded NFC Tag Technology to Simplify Wireless Device Connectivity

IRVINE, Calif., Dec. 14, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Broadcom Corporation (Nasdaq: BRCM), a global leader in semiconductors for wired and wireless communications, today launched the BCM20203 near field communications (NFC) tag solution for consumer devices.  

NFC technology has evolved to enable simple connectivity and service initiation with just a touch.  By adding NFC to their products, original equipment manufacturers (OEM's) simplify the wireless connectivity process and greatly improve the user experience for all consumers.

Highlights/Key Facts:

• Near field communications is a very short-range wireless standard that has evolved from a combination of contactless technologies.  Products with built-in NFC will dramatically simplify how consumer devices can be connected and used.  NFC enables simple connectivity, by bridging the physical world to the digital world through proximity.  With a simple touch users can now establish a connection and initiate a data transfer.  
• NFC operates at 13.56 MHz which is a global standard that can operate around the world and transfers data up to 424 Kilobits per second (Kbps), It is both a 'read' and 'write' technology that involves an interaction between an active reader device and a tag.  Communications between two NFC-compatible devices occurs when they are brought within a few centimeters of one another.  Since the transmission range is so close, NFC-enabled communication is inherently secure.
• The underlying layers comply with universally implemented ISO, ECMA and ETSI standards.
• NFC can be used with a variety of consumer devices from mobile phones, tablets, and digital TVs to remote controls, wireless mice, and Bluetooth headsets, all to enable simple connectivity.
• Announced today is the Broadcom BCM20203 NFC type 1 tag solution developed to address low cost NFC consumer device applications. The BCM20203 is so low power that it has been designed to be powered only through the energy harvested from the reader on the other side of the connection.  The BCM20203 NFC tag solution enables a tag based NFC implementation in wireless devices such as headsets, mice, keyboards, 3D glasses, and remote controls.
  • The BCM20203 has on-chip, non-volatile memory that allows for multiple read/write cycles.
  • The tag embedded into the device may be passive, not requiring a separate power supply such as a battery, as it is field-powered when it is brought within range of the reader, making it more cost and energy efficient.  
• The Broadcom BCM20203 NFC tag solution is now sampling.

Supporting Quotes:

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

"With the stabilization of global standards, NFC is now emerging as the technology of choice for device manufacturers building wireless consumer electronics, and looking to simplify the end user experience. With our BCM20203, wireless peripherals such as keyboards, mice, 3D glasses, and gaming controllers, can be setup and configured with just a touch, which addresses one of the biggest concerns with any peer to peer communications technology, and that is usability."

Subscribe to RSS Feed: Broadcom Mobile & Wireless Group http://bit.ly/4BDSLs

Other Supporting Resources: – www.nfc-forum.org

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, demand for NFC connectivity in consumer devices, our position in that space, and the impact of the BCM20203 NFC solution on the user experience.  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 BCM20203 NFC solution include, but are not limited to:

• trends in the wireless connectivity markets in various geographic regions, including seasonality in sales of consumer devices into which our products are incorporated;
• the rate at which our present and future customers and end-users adopt Broadcom's NFC solutions in consumer devices for wireless connectivity;
• delays in the adoption and acceptance of industry standards in the NFC space;
• the timing of customer-industry qualification and certification of our products and the risks of non-qualification or non-certification; 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/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 Mobile & Wireless