Reference Design supports Blu-ray and HD DVD standards.

Press Release Summary:



Offered as reference design platform for OEMs and ODMs, BCM97440 provides turnkey solution for developing HD optical disc players. It is built around BCM7440 SoC solution, which fully supports requirements of Blu-ray Disc® as well as HD DVD standards, and incorporates complete software stacks that meet Blu-ray(TM), HD DVD, and universal player requirements. Aside from multiple processing cores and software stacks, solution offers range of analog and digital outputs.



Original Press Release:



Broadcom's New Turnkey Blu-ray Disc® and HD DVD Reference Design Allows Manufacturers to Bring Products to Market Quickly



Industry's Most Advanced High Definition Optical Disc Player Design Platform Enables Low Price Points for Widespread Consumer Adoption

LAS VEGAS, Jan. 7 -- 2008 International CES -- Broadcom Corporation (NASDAQ:BRCM), a global leader in semiconductors for wired and wireless communications, today announced a new reference design platform for qualified OEMs and ODMs that provides a turnkey solution for developing the world's newest generation of high definition (HD) optical disc players.

Announced today is the Broadcom(R) BCM97440 reference design, which is built around the Broadcom BCM7440 system-on-a-chip (SoC) solution currently shipping in the world's only universal players -- the BD-UP5000 from Samsung Electronics and the BH200 from LG Electronics. The BCM7440 continues to be the industry's only single-chip solution that fully supports the demanding requirements of both Blu-ray Disc(R) and HD DVD standards. With the BCM7440 SoC as the foundation, the new BCM97440 reference design incorporates complete software stacks that meet Blu-ray(TM), HD DVD and universal player requirements enabling manufacturers to introduce mass market HD solutions to market quickly, and at the right price points for widespread consumer adoption.

With two high definition optical disc media player options currently available, consumers are often confused when it comes to choosing one format over the other. The BCM97440 reference design alleviates this industry dilemma by providing media player manufacturers with the design tools capable of meeting the demanding processing requirements of both Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD standards. Featuring multiple processing cores and software stacks, the BCM97440 reference design provides the necessary performance to support next generation interactive technologies and network connected applications currently being developed by Hollywood studios using sophisticated BD-Java (Blu-ray Disc) and HDi (HD DVD) technologies.

"Our highly integrated universal BCM7440 SoC leverages our field proven expertise in software to provide a turnkey solution for manufacturers looking to develop Blu-ray, HD DVD and universal players," said Dan Eiref, Vice President and General Manager of Broadcom's Consumer Electronics line of business. "With this new turnkey platform, Broadcom is driving the availability of HD optical disc players by enabling manufacturers to easily develop mass market products at low system costs."

BCM97440 Platform Information

The BCM7440 Blu-ray/HD DVD SoC offers OEMs a high performance, single-chip media player design platform that incorporates the decoding, processing and memory functions for both Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD media players, eliminating the need for manufacturers to build two different hardware platforms. It integrates a multiple core MIPS(R) architecture, a multi-stream HD video decoder, dedicated graphics engines, digital signal processing (DSP)-based audio processors, a security processor, double data rate (DDR) interfaces, integrated video and audio outputs and a complete array of system and network connectivity interfaces.

To complete its capabilities, the BCM97440 reference platform offers a full range of analog and digital outputs including full 1080p HDMI 1.3 digital output, HD component and standard definition baseband video analog outputs, SPDIF and stereo analog outputs, an optional multi-channel analog output module, optical drive interfaces, a 10/100 Base-T Ethernet port, and a USB 2.0 expansion port.

The BCM97440 reference design supports a complete software stack that meets Blu-ray, HD DVD and universal player requirements, and has been designed to allow OEMs or ODMs to easily customize the overall look and feel of the splash screens and system menus. The software stack includes support for easily adding additional languages and remote control codes.

Availability and Pricing

The BCM97440C reference design with a Blu-ray Disc and legacy DVD application software stack is available now to qualified customers. The HD DVD and universal dual format application software will be available in the first half of 2008. Pricing is available upon request.

Broadcom's Broadband Communications Group

Broadcom offers manufacturers a range of broadband communications and consumer electronics SoC solutions that enable voice, video and data services over residential wired and wireless networks. These highly integrated silicon solutions continue to enable the most advanced system solutions on the market, which include digital cable, satellite and IP set-top boxes and media servers, broadband modems and residential gateways, high definition and digital televisions, HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc players, DVD recorders and personal video recorders.

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(R).

Broadcom is one of the world's largest fabless semiconductor companies, with 2006 revenue of $3.67 billion, and holds over 2,300 U.S. and 1,000 foreign patents, more than 7,100 additional pending patent applications, and one of the broadest intellectual property portfolios addressing both wired and wireless transmission of voice, video and data.

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 http://www.broadcom.com/.

Broadcom(R), the pulse logo, Connecting everything(R), 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. Blu-ray-Disc(R) is a trademark of Sony Corporation. Dolby(R) is a trademark of Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation. MIPS(R) is a trademark of MIPS Technologies, Inc. Blu-ray(TM) is a trademark of Blu-ray Disc Association. Any other trademarks or trade names mentioned are the property of their respective owners.

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