Broadcom Demonstrates Industry's First Single-Chip High Definition Set-Top Box Solution With China AVS Support

BEIJING (Map) - BEIJING, March 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CCBN 2008 -- Broadcom Corporation (Nasdaq: BRCM), a global leader in semiconductors for wired and wireless communications, today announced that it is the first company to demonstrate single-chip high definition (HD) audio video coding standard (AVS) for digital set-top box (STB) applications. The highly integrated system-on-a-chip (SoC) solution will enable set-top box manufacturers to rapidly design and deploy HD boxes compliant with China's new AVS specification. The new Broadcom(R) AVS-compliant high definition STB SoC will be demonstrated at this week's China Content Broadcasting Network (CCBN) Conference in Booth #3501.

AVS was approved as a Chinese national standard in March 2006 and is now being implemented in IPTV trials by China Netcom, a leading broadband communications and fixed-line telecommunications operator in China. China Netcom decided to use AVS in its IPTV roll-outs instead of MPEG-4 or H.264/AVC and is planning to deploy 300,000 AVS-based IP set-top boxes in the Dalian, Liaoning province this year. AVS is also supported by the Ministry of Information Industry in China, who is encouraging companies to make AVS a required part of the STB specification.

"Broadcom is leading the market in supporting AVS technology and is paving the way to make high definition TV a reality in China," said Gao Wen, Principal Scientist of China Netcom.

The AVS specification provides one of the most comprehensive standardization solutions for the Chinese digital video and audio industry because it addresses system level content transport, video/audio coding formats and media copyright management. It also provides video coding efficiency that is 2 to 3 times more efficient than MPEG-2 (and equivalent to H.264).

To address China's AVS market opportunity, Broadcom's highly integrated BCM7405 multi-format, high definition video/audio SoC solution provides AVS support and advanced capabilities such as networked personal video recording (PVR) with high-performance media server functionality. Additional system benefits include support for low cost, high-speed DDR2 and NAND flash technologies.

The BCM7405 has been selected by Sunniwell, a leading service provider of IP set-top box solutions, for its S-Box7500 HD set-top box. The high performance S-Box7500 supports digital video formats including AVS, H.264 and VC-1, advanced applications such as PVR and VoIP, and support for both IPTV and broadcast DVB applications.

"As a major STB manufacturer and long term customer of Broadcom, we are pleased to continue working with them to deliver an advanced, high definition AVS IP set-top box solution for the Chinese market," said Jiang Wen, CEO and General Manager of Sunniwell. "Utilizing Broadcom's BCM7405 within the S-Box7500 will enable end users to continue to enjoy high quality digital video content without inconvenience as the industry transitions to this new standard."

The BCM7405 is designed in a 65 nanometer (nm) CMOS process that provides significant benefits over previous geometries by enabling lower power consumption, higher CPU and memory performance, and higher levels of integration. Furthermore, support for high-speed DDR2 and NAND flash memory technologies will enable equipment manufacturers to significantly reduce bill of materials (BOM) costs.

"Our set-top box demonstration at CCBN is the first of its kind to show high definition AVS support and underlines our strong commitment to China and the business opportunities it presents," said Dan Marotta, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Broadcom's Broadband Communications Group. "The BCM7405 anticipates the future needs of our customers and service providers as the industry transitions to support this new Chinese video/audio standard."

AVS is championed by the AVS Industry Alliance (AVSA), an organization established to foster the development of the new audio and video coding standard through industry collaboration and technological advancement. Since its inception in 2002, AVSA has been supported by academic societies, governmental agencies and industry leaders.

"Broadcom's BCM7405 chip provides a ready-to-deploy, high definition set-top box solution that will greatly accelerate the commercialization and adoption of AVS," said Zhang Weimin, the Secretary General of the AVS Alliance.

Technical Information

The BCM7405 is a high performance, high definition, cable, satellite, IPTV and terrestrial set-top box system-on-chip solution with DVR capabilities. It combines a fast 1100-DMIPS MIPS32(R)/MIPS16e(TM)-class CPU, high-speed graphics processing (including video scaling and motion adaptive de-interlacing), a very flexible data transport processor, an MPEG-4/VC-1/MPEG-2/AVS-compliant video decoder, a programmable audio decoder, six video DACs, stereo high-fidelity audio DACs, dual Fast Ethernet ports (one with an integrated PHY), triple USB 2.0, a PCI 2.3/expansion bus, a high-speed DDR2-800 memory controller, and a peripheral control unit that provides a variety of set-top box control functions.

Designed in a 65nm CMOS process, the BCM7405 offers one of the highest levels of single-chip system performance available for STB applications. Key features include:

    -- HD and SD simultaneous decode
    -- Very high performance graphics scaling, blitting and blending
    -- PC client usage modes to support PC-oriented content viewing on
       televisions
    -- Standby modes that offer equipment vendors significant flexibility in
       configuring various low power standby modes of operation
    -- An integrated and highly developed security processor that supports
       real-time encryption and decryption for advanced conditional access and
       digital rights management (DRM).

Availability and Pricing

The BCM7405 digital video/audio set-top box SoC is now sampling to early access customers. Pricing is available upon request to set-top box manufacturers.

About Broadcom's Broadband Communications Group

Broadcom offers manufacturers a range of broadband communications and consumer electronics system-on-a-chip (SoC) solutions that enable voice, video, data and multimedia 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, Blu-ray Disc(R) players and recorders and personal video recorders and media PC technology.

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 2007 revenue of $3.78 billion, and holds over 2,500 U.S. and 1,100 foreign patents, more than 7,400 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.

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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. 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.

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