Compal Selects Broadcom's Next Generation Persona® ICE Solution to Address the Growing Tablet and Connected Home Market

LAS VEGAS, Jan. 7, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- 2011 International CES -- Broadcom Corporation (Nasdaq: BRCM), a global leader in semiconductors for wired and wireless communications, today announced that its next generation Persona® ICE (Information Connectivity Entertainment) applications processor family will be powering new high-performance multimedia tablets from Compal Electronics, one of the leading PC ODMs in the world.  Leveraging Broadcom's strength as a wireless connectivity leader, the Persona ICE platform converges key system and software technologies to deliver unique and intuitive applications across increasingly interconnected consumer electronics devices in the home.

Designed in a low power 40 nanometer (40nm) CMOS silicon process, the Persona ICE family, which includes the BCM11311, consists of  dual-core 1GHz+ ARM® Cortex A9 processors integrated with Broadcom's industry-leading VideoCore® IV graphics and multimedia subsystem and a rich set of peripheral interfaces.  Persona ICE also integrates an additional dedicated digital signal processor enabling Broadcom's SmartAudio® suite of audio enhancement solutions for VoIP and IP Communication applications.  The multi-core architecture leaves the flexible computing power of the ARM cores free to handle user-specific software applications.

Broadcom and Compal Electronics will demonstrate the next generation Persona IP communications platform at this week's International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Highlights/Key Facts:

• Broadcom has created a unique connected home platform by integrating key industry-standards and proprietary technologies from its home, infrastructure and handheld businesses such as DLNA® and Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Wi-Fi Direct™.  The connected home platform enables seamless interaction of devices enabled by Persona ICE with other devices in the connected home such as set top boxes (STBs), smart televisions, mobile phones, smart appliances and smart grid applications.
• The new Persona ICE platform includes:
  • Single or  dual-core ARM Cortex A9 cores at GHz+ frequencies that incorporate the ARM Neon™ 128 bit SIMD (single instruction, multiple data) engine, important for delivering flexible, powerful acceleration and low power operation for consumer multimedia applications such as Adobe Flash®.  
  • Broadcom's industry-leading VideoCore IV intelligent mobile multimedia processor subsystem that delivers full HD videoconferencing capabilities and dual-camera support.  This core has the ability to render 3D mobile games natively at up to 1080p resolution which in combination with an HDMI output, allows a console-quality gaming experience on large screen HDTVs.
  • Tightly integrated software that is architected specifically to leverage the Persona ICE hardware architecture.  The Linux®-based Broadcom MediaxChange™ software enables hardware-accelerated, high performance and low power voice, video and multimedia integration into a variety of high-level operating systems such as Google's Android or proprietary OEM frameworks.  Customers can leverage a common software code base across product portfolios, which in turn, minimizes engineering investment and time-to-market.
• Leveraging Broadcom's position as a wireless connectivity market leader, all Broadcom® Persona ICE solutions incorporate Broadcom's industry-leading connectivity and interoperability technologies.
  • Broadcom's industry-leading Bluetooth®, Wi-Fi®, and GPS, connectivity products are pre-integrated into the Persona ICE platform, enabling OEMs to efficiently add best-in-class wireless technologies and expanded functionality for next generation Tablets.
  • Broadcom's InConcert® co-existence technology applies interference mitigation techniques to make its leading wireless technologies work better together.

Supporting Quotes:

Ray Chen, CEO and Chairman of the Board, Compal Electronics Inc.:

"Compal Electronics is pleased to partner with Broadcom to deliver differentiated tablet platforms to market.  The new Persona ICE platforms are delivered as completely integrated systems enabling Compal to optimally deploy our R&D for fast time to market.  We look forward to leveraging Broadcom's technology and unprecedented market reach to jointly address new market segments."

Robert Rango, Executive Vice President & General Manager, Broadcom's Wireless Connectivity Group:

"Compal is one of the premier designers and manufacturers of mobile PCs in the world.  Our partnership with Compal enables the delivery of a world-class platform allowing us to address our customers' demand for turnkey tablet solutions."

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 high performance applications processors for multimedia and Tablet applications, our position in that space and our continued collaboration with Compal Electronics.  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 next generation Persona ICE platform includes, 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 applications processor space;
• The gain or loss of a key customer, design win or order;
• Our ability to timely and accurately predict market requirements and evolving industry standards and to identify opportunities in new markets;
• 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®, the Connecting everything logo, InConcert®, Persona®, SmartAudio®, VideoCore® and MediaxChange™ 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