Broadcom Introduces First Femtocell Chip to Integrate RF and Baseband Modem

BARCELONA, Spain, Feb. 25, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Mobile World Congress 2013 --

News Highlights:

• Industry's first integrated digital baseband processor and RF transceiver for 3G small cell base stations and femtocell access points
• CMOS SoC provides low cost, power efficient and small form factor solution
• High-performance, single-chip design accelerates small cell development and deployment time

Broadcom Corporation (NASDAQ: BRCM), a global innovation leader in semiconductor solutions for wired and wireless communications, today introduced a highly integrated digital baseband processor and RF transceiver designed for 3G femtocell residential access points. With the new system-on-a-chip (SoC), mobile operator OEMs and ODMs have a powerful, low-cost, power efficient device to support small cell strategies and meet growing mobile traffic demands. Visit Broadcom @ Mobile World Congress for more news.

"As on-the-go content consumption continues to drive traffic growth, mobile operators must meet consumers' increasing demand for higher bandwidth without sacrificing quality of service," said Greg Fischer, Broadcom's Vice President and General Manager for Broadband Carrier Access. "Broadcom's BCM61630 SoCs deliver a low-power, cost-efficient device for residential small cells to leverage existing mobile infrastructure and deliver faster data speeds through a smaller form factor."

The new devices further integrate a multiband CMOS RF transceiver with GPS and full time sniffing capability while maintaining software compatibility with all previous Broadcom WCDMA physical layer and backhauling interface architectures. Embedding a high speed CPU and Broadcom's field-proven Layer 1 modem and peripherals, these devices provide a complete low power single chip solution for residential and small enterprise 3G small cell deployments.

Market Drivers

• Residential small cells, also known as femtocells, address quality of service issues for users in and around the home by extending mobile operator reach
• Small cells address rapid growth of mobile data traffic and quality of service issues compounded by the migration to 3G by offloading traffic from the macro network¹
• The 3G femtocell market is expected to grow at a global compounded annual growth rate of 94 percent from 2011-2016²

Key Features of the BCM61630

• Highly integrated CMOS device
• Second generation in Broadcom's line of WCDMA femtocell access point SoCs
• High HSPA data rates with maximum throughput at up to 21.6 Mbps
• Advanced SON and sniffing capabilities without addition of external components
• Highly integrated multiband RF and soft GPS receiver enable ultra-low power³ and lowest cost bill of materials
• USIM Interface

Availability

Volume production for the BCM61630 is slated for 1H 2013.

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Resources

¹  ABI Research, 2013.
²  Infonetics, 2012.
³  BCM61630 delivers ultra-low power consumption 1.5W nominal (Digital Baseband, RF and Ethernet).

About Broadcom

Broadcom Corporation (NASDAQ: BRCM), a FORTUNE 500® company, is a global leader and innovator in semiconductor solutions for wired and wireless communications. Broadcom® products seamlessly deliver voice, video, data and multimedia connectivity in the home, office and mobile environments. With the industry's broadest portfolio of state-of-the-art system-on-a-chip and embedded software solutions, Broadcom is changing the world by Connecting everything®. For more information, go to www.broadcom.com.

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.  Any other trademarks or trade names mentioned are the property of their respective owners.

SOURCE Broadcom Corporation; BRCM Broadband