More on Broadcom's new cable modem chip.......
newsbytes.com
Broadcom Puts Cable Modem Electronics On Single Chip
(09/21/98); 1:45 PM CST
By Steve Gold, Newsbytes
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A.,
Steve Gold, Newsbytes. Broadcom Corp. [NASDAQ:BRCM]
has successfully integrated the circuitry for a cable modem
down from three chips to just one, the company announced
today.
The move, officials say, will push the price of so-called cable
modems down significantly, as well as opening up the
possibility of cable modem facilities being easily integrated
in third-party devices, such as TVs, VCRs and even desktop
PCs, as standard issue.
Traditionally, Newsbytes notes, cable modems have cost
around the $500 mark -- Broadcom reckons that the volume
price for its new chipset will be around 10 percent of that
price, even for relatively small runs of the chip. Company
officials are also suggesting that volume supply pricing of the
chip could fall as low as $25, and even lower, once the chip
starts being manufactured in very large volumes
Newsbytes notes that Broadcom's chip breakthrough is for
cable modems -- communications devices that work across
the coaxial cables that typically feed down from cable TV
companies' networks.
This is distinct from DSL (digital subscriber line) systems
which work at speeds of a few megabits per second (Mbps)
across the twisted copper pair cabling that ordinary phone
lines use. Cable modems are capable of moving data at
speeds of several tens of Mbps, Newsbytes notes.
According to Henry Nicholas, Broadcom's president, the
company's new chip will allow manufacturers to deliver
advanced, standards-based cable modems at very attractive
consumer price points.
"Cable operators are now in a very competitive position to
provide high-speed Internet access over cable, and, by
offering features such as telephony over cable, they can
generate profitable new revenue streams," he said.
Nicholas went on to say that the QAMLink cable modem
chip, the BCM3300, will allow cable operators to offer
multiple access speeds at different price points, support
videoconferencing, and provide Internet push services such
as stock tickers and news
According to Broadcom, its integration of all of the cable
modem media access control (MAC) and physical layer
(PHY) transmission functionality into a single chip, will allow
its customers and end- users to benefit from the lower cost,
smaller size and improved features of next-generation cable
modems.
The cable modem technology, the firm says, will enable
existing coaxial cable networks to deliver data, digital video,
telephony and Internet access at speeds up to 56 Mbps
downstream, and 20 Mbps upstream.
According to Broadcom, the BCM3300 chipset is compatible
with the Multimedia Cable Network Systems (MCNS) Data
Over Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS) version
1.0 and will support next- generation modems with a variety
of new features.
Newsbytes notes that the BCM3300 chipset integrates a
64/256-QAM (quadrature amplitude modulation) receiver, a
4/16-QAM transmitter and an MCNS/DOCSIS 1.0 MAC with
enhancements into a single chip.
Interestingly, the integrated MAC also includes support for
baseline privacy encryption/decryption for Internet security
with 56-bit DES cipher block chaining. Newsbytes notes that
this will allow cable modem-equipped devices to support
encrypted transmissions, for e-mail, home banking and the
like.
To support third-party companies in their development of
cable modem- equipped hardware, Broadcom has also
developed the BCM93300 cable modem reference design.
The BCM93300, Newsbytes notes, is a fully operational
cable modem reference design that supports all of the
MCNS/DOCSIS 1.0 PHY and MAC protocol functions, as
well as the advanced features incorporated in the BCM3300.
In addition to this, the BCM93300 is billed as providing
interfaces for 10Base-T Ethernet, Universal Serial Bus
(USB), Voice over IP (Internet Protocol) and video
teleconferencing implementations.
Although Broadcom is not talking about when devices such
as TVs and advanced set-top boxes (STBs) will appear,
Newsbytes understands that devices using the new chipset
should be on the market by next summer.
Broadcom's Web site is at broadcom.com .
Reported by Newsbytes News Network,
newsbytes.com . |
