Broadcom's Revolutionary M-Stream Technology Delivers Vastly Superior Voice Quality in Upcoming Palm® Treo(TM) 680
First Commercial Deployment of Broadcom's M-Stream Technology Also Demonstrates Enhanced Signal Quality in Poor Cellular Coverage
IRVINE, Calif., Nov. 9 / - Broadcom Corporation (NASDAQ:BRCM), a global leader in semiconductors for wired and wireless communications, today announced that the new Palm® Treo(TM) 680 smartphone is the first commercial cell phone to implement M-Stream technology from Broadcom. M-Stream technology provides significant improvements in handset reception and voice quality over legacy cell phones for no additional bill of materials (BOM) cost, and without the need for an upgrade or modifications to an existing network infrastructure. The Palm Treo 680 is the third Treo model to integrate Broadcom's baseband processors and industry-leading Bluetooth® solution, and now added M-Stream technology to deliver enhanced user experience through higher voice quality and larger coverage area.
With fewer dropped calls and a noticeable improvement in the quality of voice communications, M-Stream provides consumers with an enhanced mobile phone experience. Utilizing M-Stream technology enables the new Palm Treo 680 to offer dramatically better voice quality compared to other handsets without increasing the overall BOM cost. In addition, the technology enables network operators to maintain call quality while nearly doubling existing cellular network capacity without requiring costly infrastructure upgrades.
"The availability of a commercial handset featuring M-Stream technology is a significant milestone that establishes Broadcom as a leading innovator in the mobile communications market," said Ketan Kamdar, Vice President of Strategic Planning and Network Operators in Broadcom's Mobile Platforms Group. "We're gratified that Palm selected Broadcom's silicon solutions and M-Stream technology to deliver a cost effective smartphone to carriers worldwide to deliver an improved customer calling experience."
Broadcom M-Stream Technology
Millions of cell phone users are familiar with "garbled" conversations due to weak signal reception or signal interference. M-Stream technology applies advanced error correction algorithms to incoming voice streams, and reconstructs lost information to restore reception quality. Based on Broadcom's proprietary signal enhancement algorithms developed for mobile phones, M-Stream technology enables handsets to operate on standard GSM or WCDMA 3G networks with significant improvements in demodulated speech quality in poor signal conditions and measurable improvements in voice clarity.
For GSM networks, M-Stream typically provides a 2 to 3 dB signal/noise improvement over a wide range of channels, including weak signals, fading and in areas where radio interference is present. In WCDMA 3G networks, M-Stream enables a 1 to 1.5 dB typical improvement. Using the industry standard PESQ (perceptive evaluation of speech quality) method of scoring voice quality, M-Stream improves voice intelligibility in poor channel conditions by 0.5-1 unit on the PESQ, where PESQ's quality scale ranges from -1 to 4.5 points. These enhancements provide a direct benefit to consumers by improving call quality while allowing carriers to dramatically increase the number of callers who can be supported on existing networks.
M-Stream is complementary, and not a replacement, to other signal improvement technologies that are commonly deployed in handsets, including Broadcom's own implementation of industry-standard DARP (downlink advanced receiver performance) capabilities. The powerful combination of Broadcom DARP implementation with M-Stream provides up to 6 dB signal/noise improvement under impaired GSM network conditions. This improvement enables carriers to significantly increase their coverage and overall network capacity due to decreased downlink power requirements. DARP -- which is also referred to as single antenna interference cancellation (SAIC) -- is a technique for mitigating high co-channel interference in mobile phones to provide a "cleaner" signal for the handset.
EDGE/GPRS/GSM Baseband Processor
The single-chip BCM2133 baseband processor features a comprehensive EDGE/GPRS/GSM system design that enables broadband-like connectivity with low power consumption. The small footprint baseband solution enables the development of cost effective EDGE feature phones, smart phones, PC cards and embedded modules, and its EDGE Class 12 capability enables receive (RX) and transmit (TX) data speeds in excess of 200 Kbps to achieve broadband-like connectivity. Broadcom also integrates the interface functions and drivers to enable auxiliary components, such as a handset and headset microphone, handset, headset and speakerphone speaker and switching SIM that connects directly to the device.
Advanced Bluetooth Solution
The new Treo 680 smartphone also includes Bluetooth silicon from Broadcom. The Blutonium® BCM2045 is an advanced single-chip solution designed from the ground up to promote and enable the adoption of Bluetooth in phones, computers, peripherals and other devices. The chip addresses every major challenge confronting equipment manufacturers when adopting Bluetooth wireless technology, including power consumption, board space, radio performance and cost. The BCM2045 can provide advantages in all these areas that are unmatched by competing devices developed from older technologies.
In addition to best-in-class power and performance, the BCM2045 also features the highest level of integration in the industry, resulting in approximately 50% lower OEM/ODM external bill of materials and significantly smaller printed circuit board space utilization versus competing Bluetooth solutions. The BCM2045 also supports the new Bluetooth Extended Data Rate (EDR) that provides 3 Megabits per second of raw bandwidth for wireless applications and the broadest range of Bluetooth software 'profiles' in the industry, including those supporting advanced multimedia applications.
Availability
Broadcom's BCM2133 EDGE/GPRS/GSM baseband processor and BCM2045 Bluetooth solution are available today in volume quantities. M-Stream technology is offered with all Broadcom's new Baseband processors.
About Broadcom
Broadcom Corporation is a global leader in semiconductors for wired and wireless communications. Our products enable the delivery of voice, video, data and multimedia to and throughout the home, the office and the mobile environment. Broadcom provides 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 semiconductor companies with 2005 revenue of $2.67 billion, 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.
Broadcom Trade Press Contact
Jeremy Hyatt
Corporate Communications Manager
+1-949-926-5971
jhyatt@broadcom.com
Broadcom Technical Contact
David Foos
Product Marketing Manager, Mobile
+1-858-521-5346
dfoos@broadcom.com
Broadcom Business Contact
Ketan Kamdar
Vice President, Mobile Strategic Planning & Network Operators
+1-949-926-6271
kkamdar@broadcom.com
Source: Broadcom Corporation; BRCM Mobile & Wireless
Web site: www.broadcom.com/
