Broadcom Announces Industry's Lowest Power 10 Gigabit Physical Layer Devices for SONET/SDH and Optical Transport Networks

New Multi-rate 10G Physical Layer Devices Reduce Power Consumption by 50% Compared to Competing Solutions

BRUSSELS, Belgium, Sept 22, 2008 -- ECOC 2008 -- Broadcom Corporation (Nasdaq: BRCM), a global leader in semiconductors for wired and wireless communications, today announced the industry's first family of 65 nanometer (nm) 10 Gigabit (10G) physical layer (PHY) devices that support data rates ranging from 9.953 Gigabits per second (Gbps) to 11.35 Gbps. Combining the industry's lowest power consumption with industry-leading long reach jitter performance, these next generation PHYs are fully integrated, Multi Source Agreement (MSA)-compliant devices that support multi-rate applications including OC-192 SONET/SDH, 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GbE), 10G Fibre Channel (10FC), and optical transport networks (OTN).

Optical modules and high density line cards accept electrical signals and convert them to serial optical signals for transmitting and receiving data throughout an optical network (and is the preferred method for transmitting data at high speeds over long distances). The new family of Broadcom® 10G PHY devices is designed to reside within 10G hot-pluggable modules and high density line cards supporting optical switches and routers within metropolitan area networks (MANs), multi-service switching platforms, add/drop multiplexors (ADMs) and long-haul dense wave division multiplexing (DWDM) transport equipment.

Announced today are the Broadcom BCM8154 and BCM8156 transceivers, as well as the BCM8108 and BCM8109 multiplexor and de-multiplexor that operate in conjunction with either the BCM8154 or BCM8156 solution. This new family of 10G devices enables Broadcom to continue its leadership in the OC-192 transceiver market by providing the industry's lowest power and highest performance for SONET/SDH applications.

Utilizing 65nm CMOS process technology, the BCM8154 is the company's next generation 10G transceiver that extends the feature set of Broadcom's earlier generation BCM8152 transceiver and associated BCM8128 and BCM8129 multiplexor/de-multiplexor. The BCM8154, in combination with the new BCM8108 and BCM8109 multiplexor/de-multiplexor, provides significant power savings along with superior performance that enables the development of high performance 300-pin MSA modules, especially in a small form factor (SFF).

The BCM8156 10G transceiver is also designed using 65nm CMOS process technology and is targeted for high density multi-port line cards that support SONET/SDH, OTN, 40G and 100G applications, for use with XFP and SFP+ optical modules.

"Our new family of 65nm PHY devices represents our fourth generation of 10GbE CMOS telecom products and achieves 50% lower power consumption and best-in-class performance, continuing our leadership in this market," said Lorenzo Longo, Senior Director & General Manager of Broadcom's High Speed Interconnect Products line of business. "Our long-term investment strategy in this market will help enable the deployment of lower power, higher density and cost effective 10G transmission equipment."

Technical Information

The Broadcom BCM8154/BCM8156 are fully integrated MSA-compliant, multi-rate SONET/SDH, 10GbE, 10FC and forward error correction (FEC) optical transport network transceivers that operate at OC-192 (9.953 Gbps), 10GbE (10.3125 Gbps), 10FC (10.513 Gbps) or FEC data rates (i.e. 10.664/10.709/11.096/11.318/11.352 Gbps). The BCM8154 supports both non- return to-zero and duo-binary applications, and includes transmit pre-emphasis and receive equalization for ISI compensation on long FR-4 traces in line card applications. With extremely low jitter generation of less than 200 femtoseconds (or 2mUI RMS), the BCM8154/BCM8156 each provides ample margin for designs required to meet the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and Telcordia® maximum specification limit of 10mUI RMS for jitter generation.

The BCM8154 incorporates advanced features such as a duo-binary encoder, dispersion compensation, 10GHz clock output and 10G transmit pre-emphasis. With a dissipation of less than 600mW, the BCM8154/BCM8156 are the industry's lowest power 10G transceivers that enable the design of SFF modules and multi-port, high density line cards.

Green by Design

Broadcom and its foundry partners are leveraging today's most advanced lithographic node for manufacturing semiconductors. By designing solutions in 65nm process technology, Broadcom is able to provide significant environmental benefits over competitive solutions in 90nm and 130nm processes by enabling lower power consumption, smaller size and higher yields while providing higher levels of integration that result in fewer components. Additionally, Broadcom supports the current industry initiatives to remove lead (Pb) and other hazardous materials, such as halogens like bromide and chlorine, from all products. With the depth and breadth of Broadcom's advanced portfolio of market-proven IP, the company is able to drive innovative new products to market while reducing the impact on human health and the environment.

Availability and Pricing

The BCM8154 and BCM8156 10G transceivers, as well as the BCM8108 and BCM8109 multiplexor/de-multiplexor, have been sampling to customers since Q2 2008. 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 2,800 U.S. and 1,200 foreign patents, more than 7,300 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.

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 ability of our strategy to enable the deployment of lower power, higher density and cost effective 10G transmission equipment. 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 BCM8154 and BCM8156 PHY transceivers, and BCM8108 and BCM8109 multiplexor/de-multiplexor products include, but are not limited to:

-- General economic and political conditions and specific conditions in the markets we address, including the volatility in the technology sector and semiconductor industry;

-- Delays in the adoption and acceptance of industry standards in the markets for SONET/SDH and optical transport network equipment;

-- The timing of customer-industry qualification and certification of our products and the risks of non-qualification or non-certification;

-- The effects of natural disasters, public health emergencies, international conflicts and other events beyond our control;

-- The level of orders received that can be shipped in a fiscal quarter; and other factors.

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/Q32008.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. Telcordia® is a trademark of Telcordia Technologies, Inc. Any other trademarks or trade names mentioned are the property of their respective owners.

Broadcom Trade Press Contact
Heather A. Roberts
Media Relations Manager
408-922-8195
hroberts@broadcom.com

Broadcom Investor Relations Contact
T. Peter Andrew
Vice President, Corporate Communications
949-926-5663
andrewtp@broadcom.com

SOURCE Broadcom Corporation; BRCM Enterprise Networking

http://www.broadcom.com