Wi-Fi Router Chip features optimized performance/efficiency.
Press Release Summary:
Broadcom BCM5356 WLAN chip includes 802.11 media access controller; baseband, 2.4 GHz radio; 333 MHz MIPS® 74K(TM) CPU core; 5-port Fast Ethernet switch; and PHY device as well as CMOS power amplifier. Data rates of up to 150 Mbps are possible over single antenna when connected to 802.11n device and units' processing core delivers wireless throughput of over 100 Mbps. It incorporates Accelerange technology to optimize coverage and Green Wi-Fi Mode to minimize power consumption.
Original Press Release:
Broadcom Announces Industry's Most Integrated Wi-Fi® Router Chip, Raising the Performance Bar of Entry-Level Products
New Wi-Fi Solution Provides 4x Greater Performance and Leverages Accelerange(TM) Technology to Double the Coverage Area of Routers at Comparable Price Points
LAS VEGAS, Jan. 8 / / - 2009 International CES - Broadcom Corporation (NASDAQ:BRCM), a global leader in semiconductors for wired and wireless communications, today announced a new single-chip Wi-Fi® router solution that delivers unprecedented levels of system integration while increasing routing performance by a factor of four. Broadcom's new solution can be used to build entry-level Wi-Fi routers that provide the speed and reliability of higher-end models. With higher wireless throughput and twice the range of comparable routers, products based on the new Broadcom® chip will allow consumers to wirelessly transfer digital video between PCs, TVs and set-top boxes (STBs) in different rooms, stream music to remote speakers, and send photos to wireless printers or digital picture frames. The new chip is also optimized with features that reduce power consumption, providing energy conscious consumers with a "green" home networking alternative.
Announced today is the Broadcom BCM5356 chip, which achieves the highest level of integration and is the most cost effective wireless LAN (WLAN) router solution on the market. As a result, the BCM5356 requires fewer external components than competitors' solutions, which enables extremely small router designs and can reduce the total system cost(i) by up to 33 percent versus previous 802.11g designs.
The BCM5356 integrates everything needed to build a router onto a single chip, including an 802.11 media access controller (MAC) and baseband, a 2.4 GHz radio, a 333 MHz MIPS® 74K(TM) CPU core, a 5-port Fast Ethernet switch and physical layer (PHY) device, and several options for system memory interfaces. The new Wi-Fi chip also integrates the highly efficient CMOS power amplifier that has shipped in millions of devices and provides the same level of output power as solutions with external power amplifiers.
Approximately 60 percent of today's retail Wi-Fi routers are basic models that use older WLAN technologies such as 802.11g, enhanced G and pre-standard MIMO (multiple input/multiple output). Although basic routers are the least expensive, they tend to offer varied performance and often deliver inconsistent coverage. Broadcom's BCM5356 enables Wi-Fi vendors to deliver entry-level routers with throughput and range that are similar to more expensive 802.11n routers. Consumers will soon use these routers to transfer a 30-minute HD video file in approximately 2.5 minutes, instead of using a low-end 802.11g router to transfer that file in ten minutes within a smaller coverage radius.
"Routers based on the BCM5356 will allow Wi-Fi users to upgrade the wireless experience throughout their home without breaking the bank," said Satish Ganesan, Product Manager for Broadcom's WLAN line of business. "Broadcom continues to drive down the cost of retail Wi-Fi products by achieving new levels of silicon and system integration. At the same time, we are raising the performance bar to support the most demanding wireless applications in the most cost-effective way."
The Broadcom BCM5356 Wi-Fi router solution leverages elements of the new 802.11n standard to achieve data rates of up to 150 Megabits per second (Mbps) over a single antenna (when connected to an 802.11n device). It features a high performance processing core that delivers wireless throughput in excess of 100 Mbps, with spare cycles that allow the processor to perform other CPU-intensive applications. The BCM5356 solution also offers Broadcom's unique Accelerange technology, which uses space time block coding (STBC), enhanced output power, and a superior radio and digital architecture to provide more robust connections in the far corners of a home. STBC eliminates the "cold spots" that often plague legacy products, and improves the coverage of single-stream Wi-Fi devices such as mobile phones based on Broadcom's new BCM4329 Wi-Fi/Bluetooth/FM solution.
Due to its extreme integration, the BCM5356 enables manufacturers to build products that appeal to environmentally-conscious Wi-Fi users. Designed using 65 nanometer (nm) CMOS process technology, the BCM5356 consumes 25 percent less power of previous 802.11g solutions. It also features a unique "Green Wi-Fi Mode" that reduces a router's overall power consumption by dynamically adjusting system parameters, based on the router's typical usage patterns. In addition to saving power, the BCM5356 decreases the amount of metal and ceramic material that is used to build a Wi-Fi router. It not only requires fewer components and interconnects, but also enables the use of 2-layer printed circuit board (PCB), rather than the typical 4-layer PCBs.
Like all of Broadcom's award-winning Wi-Fi products, the new router solutions leverage OneDriver(TM) software to provide a consistent set of features that deliver superior performance, ease-of-use and security. OneDriver software also includes support for Linux®, VxWorks® and eCos operating systems.
Availability and Pricing
Broadcom is demonstrating the BCM5356 at the 2009 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The new Wi-Fi router chip and turnkey BCM95356SSNR reference design are now sampling to early access customers with volume production scheduled for Q1 of 2009. Pricing is available upon request.
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 is one of the world's largest fabless semiconductor companies, with 2007 revenue of $3.78 billion, and holds over 3,000 U.S. and over 1,300 foreign patents, more than 7,500 additional pending patent applications, and one of the broadest intellectual property portfolios addressing both wired and wireless transmission of voice, video, data and multimedia.
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/.
Important factors that may cause such a difference for Broadcom in connection with BCM5356 Wi-Fi router processors include, but are not limited to
o the rate at which our present and future customers and end-users adopt Broadcom's technologies for wireless networking applications;
o trends in the wireless networking market in various geographic regions, including seasonality in sales of consumer products into which our products are incorporated, and possible disruption in commercial activities related to terrorist activity or armed conflict in the United States and other locations;
o the gain or loss of a key customer, design win or order; and
o 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/Q42008.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, Accelerange(TM) and OneDriver(TM) are among the trademarks of Broadcom Corporation and/or its affiliates in the United States, certain other countries and/or the EU. MIPS® and 74K(TM) are trademarks of MIPS Technologies, Inc. VxWorks® is a trademark of Wind River Systems, Inc. Linux® is a trademark of Linus Torvalds. Wi-Fi® is a trademark of the Wi-Fi Alliance. Any other trademarks or trade names mentioned are the property of their respective owners.
(i) Including bill of materials (BOM), printed circuit boards and other manufacturing costs
Source: Broadcom Corporation; BRCM Mobile & Wireless
Web site: http://www.broadcom.com/
