Broadcom Demonstrates Integrated IP Telephony and IP Videoconferencing Solution for Cable
December 3, 1998
ANAHEIM, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)
Broadcom's Solution Leverages Cable
Bandwidth to Allow
Multiple Phone Lines and Simultaneous
Full-Motion
Videoconferencing Capabilities
Broadcom Corporation, a leading developer of
integrated circuits enabling high-speed
broadband communications to the home and
business, today introduced the cable
industry's first reference design that
integrates cable modem, Internet Protocol
(IP) telephony and full-motion IP
videoconferencing functions into a single
system. Broadcom's reference design, which
is built around the Broadcom BCM3300
QAMLink Single-Chip Cable Modem, will
enable manufacturers to easily incorporate IP
telephony and videoconferencing capabilities
into next-generation cable modems, external
wall-mounted network interface units (NIUs),
and cable-TV set-top boxes. These
next-generation products will allow cable
operators to provide consumers with a
complete product-service offering of voice,
data, and full-motion videoconferencing. The
Company is demonstrating the reference
design at the Western Cable Show, which
opens today at the Anaheim Convention
Center.
"Robust IP telephony and IP
videoconferencing capabilities in cable
appliances will enable consumers for the first
time to purchase toll-quality IP telephony
services from their local cable operator," said
Dr. Henry Nicholas, Broadcom's President and
CEO.
"Broadcom continues to bring advanced,
reliable technology to the cable industry,"
said Steve Craddock, Vice President of New
Media Development, of Comcast Corporation.
"We are excited to see the Company extend
their expertise to support technology for IP
telephony and videoconferencing capabilities.
Broadcom's integrated cable reference design
is an important step toward the development
of IP based equipment from the cable
industry."
The Broadcom BCM93300-IP Internet
Protocol Telephony reference design is the
industry's first dual-purpose solution that can
support IP telephony and IP
videoconferencing in the same system, using
the Audacity Internet Telephony Processor
(ITP) from 8x8, Inc. It is capable of
supporting four lines of audio simultaneously
with each line capable of supporting a
different audio algorithm. The reference
design supports G.711, G.722, G.723, and
G.728 asymmetrical voice encoding and
decoding as well as the Simple Gateway
Control Protocol (SGCP) which is the core of
the newly announced Media Gateway Control
Protocol and the H.323 Internet telephony
standard. For IP videoconferencing,
Broadcom's reference design supports the
H.323 standard operating at 384
kilobits-per-second (kbps) using H.263 video
and G.711 audio compression.
As a contributing author of the PacketCable
IP Telephony Specification, Broadcom has
incorporated this on-going work into its
reference design. The PacketCable IP
Telephony Specification will provide a
seamless interface to existing phone
networks and give customers the same
quality and services offered today by local
carriers, such as call waiting, call forwarding,
voice mail, and three-way calling.
Manufacturers can incorporate Broadcom's
reference design into cable modems, which
can be used for Voice-over-IP (VoIP) or
Internet applications. The four-line audio
support function enables the reference
design also to be used in external
wall-mounted NIUs, which will allow cable
operators to distribute up to four lines of
voice and data traffic in one household.
Manufacturers of next-generation cable-TV
set-top boxes can also use the design, which
will enable consumers to receive the
additional services of telephony, Internet,
and full-motion videoconferencing through
their television.
The BCM93300-IP is a fully operational IP
telephony and IP videoconferencing
reference design. It includes a cable modem
and an IP telephony and videoconferencing
card. The cable modem function uses the
Broadcom BCM3300 QAMLink cable modem
chip, which supports fragmentation and
enables the device to provision constant bit
rate services for applications such as cable
telephony and videoconferencing. The IP
telephony and videoconferencing card
incorporates the 8x8, Inc. Audacity ITP chip
for audio and video compression, which
enables the system to support four lines of
voice and full-motion videoconferencing.
Demonstrations of Broadcom's IP telephony
and IP videoconferencing reference design
can be seen in the PacketCable section of
the CableNET Booth (No. 4488) at the
Western Cable Show in the Anaheim
Convention Center from Dec. 2 - Dec. 4.
The Broadcom BCM93300-IP reference design
is available today. It comes with schematics,
a bill of materials, software and drivers.
About Broadcom
Broadcom Corporation is a leading developer
of highly integrated silicon solutions that
enable broadband digital data transmission to
the home and within the business enterprise.
Using proprietary technologies and advanced
design methodologies, the Company has
designed and developed integrated circuits
for some of the most significant broadband
communications markets, including the
markets for cable set-top boxes, cable
modems, high-speed networking products,
direct broadcast satellite and terrestrial
digital broadcast, and digital subscriber line
(xDSL). Broadcom is based in Irvine,
California, and can be contacted at
949/450-8700 or at
broadcom.com.
Safe Harbor Statement under the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995
This release may contain forward-looking
statements involving risks, uncertainties and
assumptions that may cause actual future
events or results to differ materially and
adversely from those described in the
forward-looking statements. Important
factors that may cause such a difference for
Broadcom include, but are not limited to, the
volume of product sales and pricing
concessions on volume sales; the timing,
rescheduling or cancellation of significant
customer orders; the loss of a significant
customer; the timing of customer
qualification and industry interoperability
certification of new products and the risk of
non-qualification or non-certification; the
rate of adoption by customers and end-users
of new and emerging technologies in the
high-speed data networking, cable set-top
box, cable modem, direct broadcast satellite
and terrestrial digital broadcast, and digital
subscriber line (xDSL) markets; the rate of
adoption and acceptance of new industry
standards in the foregoing markets; the
Company's ability to specify, develop,
introduce and market new products and
technologies on a timely basis; the
qualification, availability and pricing of
competing products and technologies from
other vendors; fluctuations in manufacturing
yields and other problems or delays in the
fabrication, assembly, testing or delivery of
products; uncertainties associated with
international operations; the Company's
ability to retain and hire key executives,
technical personnel and other employees in
the numbers, with the capabilities and at the
compensation levels needed to implement its
business and product plans; problems or
delays in achieving higher levels of design
integration and in migrating product designs
to smaller geometry processes; intellectual
property disputes; changes in product or
customer mix; the quality of the Company's
products; the level of orders received that
can be shipped in a quarter; potential
business disruptions and other difficulties
resulting from "Year 2000" problems in
computer-based systems used by the
Company, its suppliers or customers; the
effects on operations and management of
facility relocations; general economic
conditions and market conditions in the
markets addressed by Broadcom; and the
other factors discussed in the Company's
filings from time to time with the Securities
and Exchange Commission, including but not
limited to the Registration Statement on
Form S-1 (Amendment No. 1) dated October
14, 1998, the Final Prospectus dated
October 20, 1998, and the Company's
quarterly filings on Form 10-Q. Broadcom
disclaims any obligation to revise or update
any forward-looking statement that may be
made from time to time by it or on its behalf.
Note to Editors: Broadcom is a registered
trademark of Broadcom Corporation. QAMLink
is a trademark of Broadcom Corporation.
CONTACT: Broadcom Corporation | Technical
Contact: | Rich Nelson, 949/450-8700 |
Director of Marketing for Cable-TV Products |
richn@broadcom.com | Trade Press
Contacts: | Laura Brandlin, 949/450-8700 |
Director, Marketing Communications |
lbrandlin@broadcom.com | Catherine
Batchelor, 760/944-8933 |
batchelor@broadcom.com | Business Press
Contact: | Cristine Morris, 949/450-8700 |
Director, Corporate Communications |
cmorris@broadcom.com
[Copyright 1998, Business Wire] |
