Broadcom Demonstrates Next-Generation DOCSIS Cable Modem Chip
Enables Cost-Effective Broadband Gateways for Delivery of Voice, Video and Data
IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 10, 1999--Broadcom Corporation (Nasdaq: BRCM), a leading provider of integrated circuits enabling broadband communications to and throughout the home and business, today announced the industry's most advanced single-chip cable modem, establishing the company's leadership position in silicon integration and performance for the rapidly growing cable modem gateway market. This integrated chip is a critical step in enabling Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS) cable modems and cable gateways capable of delivering broadband voice, video, and data into and throughout the home and office.
The Broadcom(R) BCM3350 cable modem chip integrates all of the major silicon components required for a cable modem. Key components in the chip include:
- DOCSIS 1.0/1.1-based Media Access Controller (MAC) and Physical
Layer (PHY), providing all the real-time DOCSIS components in
silicon, enabling Quality of Service (QoS) to support constant
bit rate services like Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and
video streaming.
- 80 MHz RISC CPU, providing all the necessary computational
resources to run a real-time operating system and TCP/IP stack.
- Universal Serial Bus (USB) transceiver, enabling an entirely new
class of plug-and-play modems.
- 10/100BASE-T Ethernet MAC and PHY, substantially reducing the
cost of incorporating Ethernet capability on cable modems.
- Full Internet Protocol Security (IPSEC) module, enabling product
extensions for the rapidly growing Virtual Private Networking
(VPN) market.
- High-speed Time Division Multiplex (TDM) interfaces to support
four voice channels or one video and two voice channels.
- Optimized interface to Broadcom's Home Phoneline Networking
Alliance (HPNA) silicon to enable the networking of voice, video
and data over existing telephone lines in the home.
"The BCM3350 is a significant milestone in the evolution of the DOCSIS cable modem market. With improved performance, new feature additions and component integration, the BCM3350 clearly provides the cable industry with a level of integration and performance that is unmatched," said Rich Nelson, Broadcom's Director of Cable TV. "The BCM3350 is a culmination of three years of expertise and experience gained by Broadcom in the development of the DOCSIS standard, interoperability testing, and production deployments, incorporated into a single silicon solution enabling voice, video and data services to be provided via a single broadband gateway and distributed throughout the home with the Broadcom iLine10(TM) home networking solution.
According to a recent report published by Kinetic Strategies, the North American installed based of cable modems will reach 15.9 million by year-end 2003 with 83% of homes capable of receiving DOCSIS-based services.
The BCM3350 is based on Broadcom's QAMLink(R) DOCSIS-complaint transceiver and MAC silicon technology, which is used in over 90% of the DOCSIS modems shipped today. It supports downstream data rates up to 56 Megabits per second (Mbps) and upstream data rates up to 20 Mbps and is compliant with DOCSIS versions 1.0 and 1.1.
The USB controller in the device allows for easy hookup, enabling true plug-and-play installation of cable modems. This easy plug-and-play solution significantly reduces the time, cost and risk factor of deploying cable modems. Integrating the USB feature into the BCM3350 also eliminates another peripheral chip on the board design, further reducing the cost of cable modems.
The BCM3350 is the first cable modem chip to integrate a 10/100 Ethernet transceiver and MAC. This functionality allows manufacturers to build cable modems with 10/100 Ethernet network connectivity without having to have a separate Ethernet component, making cable modems less expensive and easier to build.
A built-in IPSEC module enables vendors to build extensions to their basic cable modem to support VPN applications. According to a recently published report by In-Stat, the VPN market will end this year at $2.67 billion dollars and grow to $32 billion dollars by 2003 as more corporations establish satellite office locations and the number of corporate employees working from home increases.
BCM3350 Product Information
The BCM3350 front end includes an improved DOCSIS 1.0 and 1.1-based downstream receiver and upstream transmitter. The integrated QAMLink 64/256 Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) receiver in the BCM3350 consists of a 64/256 QAM receiver, a digital demodulator, programmable filters, tracking loops, adaptive equalizer, standards compliant FEC decoder, and a 10-bit A/D converter. Improvements in the receiver design have increased performance in several areas while simultaneously reducing the complexity of the RF front-end. Significant improvements in acquisition time, interference cancellation (multi-path and co-channel) and robustness enable better transmission quality in poor cable plant conditions, very fast channel changing and an overall reduction in system costs and complexity. The integrated QAMLink upstream transmitter consists of a QPSK/16 QAM modulator, a programmable DOCSIS- and DAVIC-compliant FEC encoder and a 10-bit D/A converter.
The Media Access Controller (MAC) provides direct silicon support for DOCSIS 1.0 and 1.1-based functions. The MAC implements all of the low-level, time critical, latency sensitive DOCSIS MAC functions in hardware for maximum throughput and robust performance. Key hardware features include: Support for 16 Service ID's (SID's) with the ability to perform fragmentation and concatenation, in real-time, for each of the 16 SID's; integrated buffer memory for system-level cost reductions and streamlined processing efficiency; and unsolicited grant support, increasing efficiency for constant bit rate services such as Voice over IP (VoIP). Additionally, the seamless pipeline to the embedded MIPS-32 processor enables customization of higher level, non-realtime MAC functions for optimized message handling, creation new messaging options and accelerating system performance for customers specific applications.
The communication processor is a high-performance 80 MHz MIPS-32 CPU. The embedded processor supports all of the system-level software requirements for a DOCSIS cable modem, including management of the TCP IP stack, execution of the real-time operating system (RTOS), routing and bridging functions, interface protocols (i.e., Ethernet, USB), and high-level MAC functions. It also features EJTAG Embedded ICE support and is fully compatible with existing R3000 development tools.
The Ethernet transceiver performs all of the physical layer interface functions for 100BASE-TX Ethernet in full or half duplex mode over Category (CAT) 5 twisted pair cable and 10BASE-T Ethernet in full or half duplex mode over CAT 3, 4, or 5 twisted pair cable. The 10/100 Ethernet MAC incorporates a Media Independent Interface (MII). Broadcom has also incorporated the HP Auto MDIX technology which provides an auto-detect and auto-switch capability, eliminating the need for crossover cables to correct a common problem of mismatched transmit and receive paths found in Ethernet implementations.
The device incorporates a full-speed USB 1.1 compliant slave port with an integrated transceiver. This feature provides true plug-and-play between cable modems and PCs with a USB port, which has been a standard feature in all PC's since 1997.
For Voice IP applications, the device has a direct Time Division Multiplex (TDM) interface that can support 4 voice channels or 1 video and 2 voice channels. With the increased emphasis on voice over cable, this interface will eliminate costly external circuitry required when adding the DSP and Codec functions for the addition of PacketCable Voice features to DOCSIS cable modems.
Available today, the BCM3350 is manufactured in a TSMC .22 micron process and packaged in a 352BGA. The BCM3350 is priced at $50 per chip for quantities of 10,000.
Broadcom provides a complete DOCSIS cable modem reference design (the BCM93350) with integrated home networking (HPNA) enabling gateway services throughout the home and office. The BCM93350 is a working DOCSIS modem, based on the BCM3350 chip, with direct connections for Ethernet and USB. Additionally, the BCM93350 integrates the Broadcom HPNA 1/2 silicon solution (BCM4210/BCM4100), enabling a single cable modem to support multiple PC's over a 10 Mbs network, distributed throughout the home, with no additional wiring. The BCM93350 comes with a complete development package, which includes schematics, bill of materials, Gerber files, software source code and dedicated applications engineering support, which enables vendors to productize a DOCSIS cable modem and cable modem gateway.
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