Broadcom’s New Combo Chip Integrates 802.11n Wi-Fi(R), Bluetooth(R) and FM to Bring Multimedia Applications to Mobile Devices
Broadcom(R) BCM4329 Continues to Raise the Bar for Mobile Connectivity by Delivering Cost Effective Combo Solutions with More Features and Lower Power Consumption
Combination chips have gained tremendous traction as more manufacturers add multiple wireless features to mobile phones and other handheld devices, and will account for nearly one-third of all wireless connectivity solutions shipped in 2012*. To serve this growing market, Broadcom recently announced its plans to introduce a new combination chip every 60 days over the coming months. A variety of products based on the Broadcom BCM4325, the industry’s first Wi-Fi/Bluetooth/FM chip, are already on store shelves, and devices based on the Broadcom BCM2049 Bluetooth/FM chip are currently nearing production. Now the newest member of this award-winning combo family, the BCM4329, adds the most advanced Wi-Fi technology and FM transmit capabilities to enable even more powerful applications in smaller devices.
As mobile phones become more media-centric – with cameras, full-featured browsers and enhanced audio capabilities – many consumers want to share photos, videos, music and data between their portable devices and other electronics such as TVs, PCs, printers, remote speakers, headsets and car stereos. These applications can benefit from the new 802.11n standard, which offers higher throughput, more robust connections and much greater coverage than previous Wi-Fi technologies.
Broadcom continues to raise the bar for mobile connectivity by delivering one of the industry’s first solutions to offer 802.11n for mobile devices. It provides up to 50 Megabits per second (Mbps) of actual wireless throughput, allowing large file transfers to happen more quickly while consuming less total power. In addition, the BCM4329 employs space time block coding (STBC), an 802.11n feature that enables a mobile device to maintain a connection with an access point anywhere within an expanded coverage area.
The BCM4329 includes both FM transmit and receive capabilities. FM transmit enables consumers to stream music directly from a personal media players (PMPs) or mobile phone to car stereos or home theater systems without having to purchase special adapters or use bulky cables. FM receive is already a popular feature that enables consumers to obtain real-time traffic information as well as listen to music, news and sports broadcasts on their mobile phones.
The BCM4329 also integrates Bluetooth, which is already a ubiquitous feature in mobile phones and PMPs, enabling hands-free communications with wireless headsets, cordless data synchronization and stereo music streaming to headphones and speakers. Since Bluetooth and Wi-Fi operate in the same 2.4 GHz band, both the Broadcom BCM4325 and BCM4329 combination chips use innovative co-existence algorithms and a shared antenna system to minimize interference and provide even better performance than products that use separate Bluetooth and Wi-Fi solutions.
“Handset manufacturers are excited about the opportunities that 802.11n brings, but they are looking for single antenna solutions that meet stringent size and power requirements,” said
Technical Information
Since handheld devices lack the space, battery power and processing power to support 802.11n implementations with multiple antennas, the BCM4329 uses single-stream 802.11n to transmit and receive data. This significantly reduces the system’s footprint and power consumption when compared to multi-stream solutions. Despite the use of a single antenna, the BCM4329 provides faster and more reliable wireless connections than current 802.11g products.
In addition to its performance advantages, the BCM4329 is the industry’s smallest and lowest cost dual-band 802.11n solution. Dual-band capabilities allow Wi-Fi users to leverage the less crowded 5 GHz spectrum for media applications that require faster guaranteed bandwidth. To eliminate the cost and size barriers of adding dual-band functionality to mobile devices, the BCM4329 integrates 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz CMOS power amplifiers, which can reduce bill-of-material (BOM) costs by up to
Availability and Pricing
The BCM4329 combination chip is now sampling to early access customers and is scheduled for significant production quantities in 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(R).
Broadcom is one of the world’s largest fabless semiconductor companies, with 2007 revenue of
Broadcom is headquartered in
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 combination chips in mobile devices, the rate at which we will introduce new combination chips, the timing of volume production for the BCM4329, and the ability of the BCM4329 to reduce the cost of mobile devices. 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 BCM4329 Wi-Fi + Bluetooth + FM products include, but are not limited to:
- the rate at which our present and future customers and end-users adopt Broadcom’s Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and FM technologies for mobile applications;
- trends in the wireless networking markets 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; - the gain or loss of a key customer, design win or order;
- the volume of our product sales and pricing concessions on volume sales;
- our ability to timely and accurately predict market requirements and evolving industry standards and to identify opportunities in new markets;
- 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.
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* According to ABI Research
Broadcom Trade Press Contact Broadcom Investor Relations Contact
Henry Rael T. Peter Andrew
Public Relations Manager Vice President, Corporate Communications
949-926-5734 949-926-5663
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SOURCE Broadcom Corporation; BRCM Mobile & Wireless