Broadcom Announces Industry's First 10G EPON Optical Network Unit SoC Solution

IRVINE, Calif., Jan. 5, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Broadcom Corporation (Nasdaq: BRCM), a global leader in semiconductors for wired and wireless communications, today announced the industry's first 10 Gigabit (10G) Ethernet passive optical network (EPON) optical network unit (ONU) system-on-a-chip (SoC).  Designed specifically to address the high-speed connectivity requirements of converging triple-play services (video-on-demand, HD-IPTV, voice over IP and high-speed Internet), together with 3G/4G mobile backhaul and business services, the 10 Gigabit per second (Gbps) Broadcom® BCM55030 SoC solution delivers ten times more bandwidth than current 1G EPON solutions.

By leveraging Broadcom's industry-leading support for multiple logical link identifiers per ONU and superior quality of service (QoS) feature set, the BCM55030 is capable of managing simultaneous transport of traffic from residences alongside mission-critical business services and cell tower backhaul services, all over a common infrastructure. This means time-sensitive mobile backhaul traffic and synchronization data may share the network with video, voice, and Internet data, without added delays, data loss, or QoS degradation, making it an ideal solution for OEMs and service providers serving dense urban areas.

The SoC solution combines unprecedented device integration, ultra-low power and a small footprint to enable cost-effective deployment of value added business and residential services on a single fiber infrastructure.  For fiber-to-the-building (FTTB) multi-dwelling unit (MDU) applications, Broadcom's 10G EPON ONU enables carriers and OEMs to easily upgrade existing equipment deployed over today's 1G EPON networks and deliver true triple-speed services by increasing both bandwidth per subscriber and total subscriber count on the same fiber, thus significantly improving carrier profitability and return on investment. For fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) applications, the device empowers next generation digital homes to benefit from new ultra high-speed latency sensitive services, such as 3D TV and interactive Internet gaming, elevating the consumer broadband experience to the next level.

Market Drivers

• According to a published report* the Internet will be four times larger in 2014 than in 2009 with the equivalent of 12 billion DVDs crossing the Internet each month.
• The bandwidth required for residential access networks is steadily increasing as more customers subscribe to HD-IPTV and service providers add VoD mobile services.
• Business IP traffic* is also expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 21 percent (2009 – 2014), while mobile data traffic is expected to double every year through 2013.
•  Traditional 3G mobile networks are overloaded with customers downloading video content and other online content to their smart phones, and mobile and connectivity to laptops over cellular networks is also increasing.
•  China is aggressively rolling out EPON in an effort to provide high-speed broadband connectivity to high-density housing. Broadcom recently expanded its 10G EPON trials with China's telecom service providers and multi-service operators to provide high-speed broadband connectivity.
• Japan is currently promoting 100 Mbps broadband as service providers compete for subscribers and pent-up demand for more bandwidth continues to increase.
• U.S. MSOs have selected and incorporated 10G EPON as the technology of choice for providing high-speed, high bandwidth, high QoS business services.
• CableLabs® has released DPoE™ specifications for business services which will provide cable operators with a common method of using DOCSIS® back office specifications and service concepts to provision and operate EPON-based products when delivering IP and Ethernet services.

Product Highlights/Key Facts:

• The BCM55030 provides a cost-effective platform for customer premises equipment such as enterprise routers, MDU systems and home gateways.
• Delivers the industry's highest EPON ONU integration including a 10 Gbps media access controller, 10 Gbps EPON serializers/deserializers and forward error correction, a four-port Gigabit Ethernet switch, traffic management, and on-chip memory for both CPU and packet buffers, resulting in no external memory components. The device complies with the new IEEE 802.3av 10G EPON standard including support for 10G EPON and 1G EPON co-existence on the same fiber. The chip supports both 10G/10G and 10G/1G symmetric modes of operation.
• Ideally suited for 4G/LTE (Long Term Evolution) mobile backhaul transport (also known as cell tower back haul), as it supports both QoS-assured bandwidth and timing distribution.
• The device supports Broadcom's 2.5G Turbo EPON™ in addition to both standard 1G and 10G modes.
• Broadcom has already begun sampling the BCM55030 solution to early access customers.

Supporting Quotes:

Jeff Heynen, Directing Analyst, Broadband and Video, Infonetics Research, Inc.

"PON deployments continue to pick up the pace around the world as the number of residential subscribers signing up for fiber-based broadband access grows and as operators receive subsidization from local governments to deploy deep fiber networks. In 2Q10, worldwide PON revenue jumped 28 percent, driven by increased spending on EPON equipment for FTTB and FTTH rollouts. 10G EPON is going to be a game changer, particularly in China for MDU applications, and here in the U.S., for business and mobile backhaul services."

Greg Caltabiano, Senior Director & General Manager, Ethernet Access, Broadcom Corporation

"10G EPON leverages Ethernet to enable cost-effective deployment of future-proof networks with higher speeds, offering new services, and higher performance. Today's introduction builds on our 1G EPON product technology whose advanced QoS and traffic management serve millions of broadband residential subscribers. Going forward this best-in-class technology will be integrated into a family of products that will leverage other Broadcom technology such as switching, voice, and home gateways."

*Cisco White Paper: Networking Solutions, Published 2010

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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, one of the world's largest fabless communications semiconductor companies, with 2009 revenue of $4.49 billion, holds more than 4,500 U.S. and 1,900 foreign patents, and has more than 7,800 additional pending patent applications, and one of the broadest intellectual property portfolios addressing both wired and wireless transmission of voice, video, data and multimedia.

A FORTUNE 500® company, 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 www.broadcom.com.

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 10G EPON solutions, our position in that space and the integration of this technology into our products that will leverage other Broadcom products.  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 its BCM55030 EPON ONU SoC solution include, but are not limited to:

• The rate at which our present and future customers and end-users adopt Broadcom's technologies and products in the 10G EPON space;
• Delays in the adoption and acceptance of industry standards in the 10G EPON space;
• The timing, rescheduling or cancellation of significant customer orders and our ability, as well as the ability of our customers, to manage inventory; and
• 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/Q42010.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, 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. DOCSIS, CableLabs and DPoE are trademarks of Cable Television Laboratories, Inc. Any other trademarks or trade names mentioned are the property of their respective owners.

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